Their numbers growing, Latinos gain clout in new Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — A record 43 Latinos elected to Congress are set to take the oath of office in January, including the youngest woman ever elected, two Latinas from Texas, the first Latino to represent Ohio and a woman born in Ecuador.

A few are ascending to leadership roles, demonstrating the growing clout of the 57 million Latinos who live in the United States. New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan will move into the fourth-highest position in Democratic leadership, becoming the highest-ranking Latino in the history of the House.

In the Senate, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will become the first Latina ever in charge of the Democratic Party's campaign arm for Senate races.

Francisco Pedraza, a political scientist at University of California, Riverside, attributed the largest Latino representation ever to a larger turnout propelled by rhetoric from President Donald Trump about immigrants, but he said much more needs to be done to bring out the Latino vote.

Latinos are the nation's largest minority and constitute 18 percent of the total population, yet their political impact is diluted due to their low electoral turnout.

"Just being annoyed is not enough," Pedraza said.

One of the power centers for Latinos in Congress is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, where Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas is set to serve as chairman. Castro said the caucus will pursue a long list of priorities next year, including comprehensive immigration reform, reconstruction in parts of Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria, raising minimum wages, lowering the cost of health care and dealing with climate change.

Ten of the Latinos coming to Congress are incoming freshmen. As such, they will be relegated to the lower rungs of committees, yet faced with the challenge of keeping their promises to voters back home.

The task will be made even tougher by divided government, with Democrats set to control the House but Republicans holding power in the Senate and White House.

Among the newcomers is California Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros, a former naval officer and 2010 Mega Millions lottery winner whose great-grandmother was born in Los Angeles when it was still part of Mexico. He expressed optimism that Congress can come up with the first immigration reform in 30 years to define the status of 11 million immigrants, mostly from Latin America, who are living in the country illegally.

Rep. Mike Levin, another newly elected California Democrat, also thinks there are some on the Republican side of the aisle who want to see "common-sense" immigration reform.