A record of 47 Hispanic Americans will be serving in the new Congress.
By BETHANY BLANKLEY
THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) – After 14 Hispanic Americans are sworn into office on Tuesday, a record 47 will be serving in Congress.
Five are Republicans; nine are Democrats, according to an analysis by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.
“As Latino communities across the country continue to grow, so does our representation at the very highest levels of elected office,” Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO Educational Fund, said. “Latino candidates on both sides of the aisle had historic success this cycle by speaking to the distinct issues affecting our nation’s diverse communities. Latinos continue to demonstrate their commitment to making our country stronger through public service in the top positions where critical decisions are made that affect the lives of all Americans.”
In total, the Hispanic delegation in Congress will be composed of 35 Democrats and 12 Republicans, including 29 men and 18 women.
The newly elected Republicans made history in their states. Juan Ciscomani is the first Latino Republican to be elected to Arizona.
Anna Paulina Luna, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is the first Mexican American elected to represent Florida.
Monica De La Cruz, who was also endorsed by Mr. Trump, is the first Republican and first woman to represent her South Texas district, which includes border counties.
Retired police detective Anthony D’Esposito is the first Republican to represent New York’s 4th Congressional District in over two decades.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer is one of two Latinas first elected to represent Oregon.
After they are sworn in, a record 12 Hispanic Republicans will serve in the 118th Congress, the largest number in GOP history.
They will do so after a poll found that recently elected Republican U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores in south Texas, who lost her reelection in November, had a higher net favorability rating nationally among Hispanics than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. And after a majority of Hispanic Texas voters said in polling the GOP better reflected their values, and after more Hispanic voters backed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over his Democratic challenger and helped flip several south Florida counties red in November.
Democrats also made history in their states.
Yadira Caraveo is the first Latina elected to represent Colorado; Delia Ramirez is the first Latina elected to represent Illinois, and Andrea Salinas is one of the first two Latinas elected to represent Oregon.
Maxwell Alejandro Frost, FL-10, was the second member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress. NALEA, and subsequently others, misreported that Mr. Frost was the first member of Generation Z to be elected. The first was Madison Cawthorn, a Republican who was elected in 2020 to serve North Carolina’s 11th district when he was 25. He served for only one term.
Robert Garcia, CA-42, is the first to be elected to Congress who openly identifies as LGBTQ and is a Peruvian immigrant.
Other newly elected Democrats include Robert Menendez, Jr., NJ-8, Gabriel Vasquez, NM-2, Greg Casar, TX-35, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, WA-3.
Some have already expressed support for amnesty for those in the U.S. illegally and defunding the police.
Ms. Ramirez was born in the U.S. after her Guatemalan mother “crossed the U.S.-Mexico border while pregnant with her, nearly drowning in the Rio Grande along the way,” the Washington Post reported. Her husband has been living in the U.S. through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has been ruled illegal by the courts.
Mr. Casar helped lead the charge to defund the Austin Police Department and expand homeless camps, which contributed to increased crime in the Texas capital. His and the city council’s actions prompted the Texas legislature to pass legislation to penalize cities that defund their police departments.
Of the Senate’s Hispanic delegation, six are incumbents composed of four Democrats and two Republicans. Three were reelected in November: Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Alex Padilla, D-CA. Three weren’t up for reelection: Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, and Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey.
