Guest Column
Latinos Achieve New Political Milestones in congress and State Houses
Latinos Achieve
New Political Milestones in congress and State Houses
Latinos in states with emerging communities are writing the next
chapter
of Latino political history
Los Angeles, CA – Latino candidates continue
to reach new milestones in Congress and state houses across the nation,
according to an analysis of Election 2006 conducted by the National
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational
Fund. In state races, Latinos are also demonstrating significant political
progress in communities with emerging Latino populations.
U.S. Senate: In the U.S. Senate, Robert Menendez (D) won election to serve
his first full term as the nation’s first Latino U.S. Senator from New
Jersey. In addition to Menendez, the Latino delegation in the U.S. Senate
continues to include Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Senator Ken Salazar
(D-CO), neither of whom were up for election this year.
U.S. House of Representatives: In the U.S. House, all Latino Democratic
incumbents won their re-election campaigns. They will be joined by State
Representative Albio Sires (D-NJ), who gained the seat formerly held by
Robert Menendez before he was appointed to the U.S. Senate. All three
Latino Republican incumbents in Florida were also successful in their
re-election bids.
As a result of the June 2006 Supreme Court ruling on Texas’ 2003
Congressional redistricting, a panel of federal judges changed the
boundaries of certain Texas Congressional districts, including District
23, currently held by U.S. Representative Henry Bonilla (R). As a result,
the November election in this district was a special election, with five
Democratic candidates challenging Bonilla. To win the special election and
avoid a run-off battle, a candidate needed to get at least a majority of
the vote. None of the candidates received a majority, so U.S.
Representative Bonilla will face former U.S. Representative Ciro Rodriguez
(D) in a run-off contest scheduled for December 2006.
Because both candidates are Latino, this race’s outcome will not affect
the total number of Latinos in the House – that number will be 23.
However, should Bonilla win, there will be 19 Latino Democrats and 4
Latino Republicans. Should Rodriguez win, there will be 20 Latino
Democrats and 3 Latino Republicans. (See Table 1)
As of this writing, unofficial election results from New Mexico indicate
that State Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D) is trailing slightly in
her bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R), and final
election results will not be available until a hand-count of about 5,500
ballots is completed. Should Madrid emerge victorious, there will be
another Democrat in our nation’s Latino Congressional delegation, and the
eighth Latina.
Statewide Officials: In New Mexico, Latinos will hold three statewide
positions. Gov.Bill Richardson (D) won his re-election bid. Bernalillo
County Clerk Mary Herrera (D) will become the new Secretary of State and
State Representative Hector Balderas (D) will serve as State Auditor. In
Idaho, Republican Tom Luna emerged victorious in his race for State
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In Oregon, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo
garnered enough votes in Oregon’s May primary to win re-election for
another term.
State Senates: Minnesota State Program Administrator Patricia Torres Ray
(D) made history by becoming the first Latina to be elected to the
Minnesota State Senate. The total number of Latino state senators may
decline from 60 to 58, depending on the outcome of an extremely close
State Senate race in California, where according to the latestunofficial
election results, Orange County Supervisor and former State Assemblymember
Lou Correa (D) trails Republican Lynn Daucher by 138 votes. Should Correa
ultimately win, there will still be a net loss of one Latino State Senate
seat. The NALEO Educational Fund attributes this to some unique political
developments in this election cycle rather than a long-term erosion of
Latino political progress. For example, three Latino State Senators did
not run for re-election, and no Latinos ran to replace them. State Senator
Sam Zamarripa (D-GA), and veteran lawmakers State Senator Philip Jimeno
(D-MD) and State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos (D-TX), all chose to retire
from office. (See Table 2)
State Lower Houses: In state lower houses, Latinos saw a very modest
overall net gain of two seats, bringing the total number of Latinos in
lower state chambers to 180. The Latino Democratic delegations in seven
states each gained one additional member: Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota,
New Hampshire, Nevada, Texas, and Wyoming. Latino Republican delegations
in Idaho, New Mexico and New York also each gained one additional member,
including Schoharie County Clerk and former state legislative staff member
Peter D. Lopez, who is the first Latino to be elected to the State
Assembly from upstate New York. (See Table 3)
Analysis of the lower State House gains also reveals the political
progress of Latino candidates in states with emerging Latino communities.
In the nine states with traditional Latino population concentrations
(Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, and Texas), there was a total net loss of one seat. However, in
the other states, there is a net gain of three seats.
According to Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational
Fund, “Latinos in states with emerging communities are writing the next
chapter of our political history. They are demonstrating that they can
attract votes from and represent diverse constituents. Latinos serving in
top federal and state positions have the power to address the issues that
are most important to our community, and all Americans: education,
economic opportunity, and our involvement in the war in Iraq. Latinos will
continue to show that they can provide leadership on these issues for all
Americans – our future political progress depends on it.”
Enclosures:
NALEO Election 2006 Latino Candidate Results
About NALEO Educational Fund
The NALEO Educational Fund is the leading organization that empowers
Latinos to participate fully in the American political process, from
citizenship to public service. The NALEO Educational Fund is a national
non-profit, non-partisan organization whose constituency includes the more
than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials nationwide.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed by HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)