Republican leaders from across the state and country gathered at the National Constitution Center on Friday to launch the party's first Hispanic Advisory Council in Pennsylvania.

Joined by leaders of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican Party of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hispanic State Director Antori Miranda introduced himself as head of the council that consists of Latino leaders from Philadelphia, Lebanon, Chester, Lancaster and Lehigh. Part of the RNC's outreach effort includes installing fully staffed, year-round community offices and Latino media engagement in 10 states and Washington, D.C. 

"By cultivating and developing relationships with members of Pennsylvania's Hispanic community, our party can share it's core principals of individual freedom and economic opportunity with more voters than ever before," Miranda said. 

The push is part of an effort to inform and help voters identify with Republican values and beliefs, but not necessarily change policies to attract Latino voters. 

"If you get the policy right but you don't have a conduit in the community explaining what it is that you believe in, then nobody's going to do your bidding for you," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus explained. 

According to a Pew survey, 32 percent of Latinos characterize their political views as conservative, but just 10 percent identify with the Republican party. In contrast, the same percentage of Latinos describe their political views as liberal, but 49 percent identify with the Democratic Party. Priebus said that those statistics represent a failure in outreach. However, critics of the party's strategy for recruiting Latino voters point out that policies and rhetoric surrounding areas such as immigration may alienate Latinos from identifying with Republican leaders.