At a gathering on Friday at the DNC offices, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign arm greeted the most Democratic Latino members of Congress who had been elected.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who serves as the chair of CHC BOLD PAC, stated this week that maintaining contact with Latino communities and young voters will be essential to regaining control of the House in 2024.
In three crucial Senate races, in Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, Latino voters turned out in large numbers to support Democrats, according to Gallego. He anticipates that the number of Latino voters in 2024 will surpass that in the midterm elections.
There is, in his opinion, a lot more complexity in how to target young Latinos today than there was in the past. And in 2024, you’ll see that happen once more.
This year’s midterm elections saw a “red wave” being resisted by young Latino and Black voters. Democrats kept control of the Senate, but they suffered a slight loss of seats in the House.
Reps.-elect Andrea Salinas of Oregon, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, Greg Casar of, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Robert Garcia of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state, and Rob Menendez of New Jersey make up this group of newly elected Democratic U.S. House Latino members.
She asserted, “I believe that’s directly tied to the fact that Latinos must discover opportunities where others tell us there is none. “We don’t ask for permission; we just kick down the door and carry out our plan.”
Salinas, a Mexican American and the first Latina to represent Oregon in the federal government, recalled that her parents initially worked in the Rio Grande Valley picking cotton and tomatoes when they first immigrated to the United States.
She stated, “I feel like America is the only country where my father can come here as someone who worked in the fields and witness his daughter get sworn in as a member of Congress on January 3.”
The swearing-in ceremony for new Congress members takes place on January 3.
The majority of the state’s Latinos live in Salinas’ district, which is Oregon’s 6th Congressional District.
The first Latina to serve the state in the federal government is doctor Caraveo, who represents Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.
Frost, an Afro-Cuban, will be the first representative from Generation Z. After U.S. Rep. Val Demings, who held the position, decided to run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Marco Rubio, he decided to run in Florida’s 10th Congressional District.
Alex Padilla, a Democrat and the first Latino elected from California, also made history. He had been chosen by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to complete Kamala Harris’s term, who is currently the Vice President.
The Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who serves as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, is the father of Menendez, who represents New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District.
Republican Latino candidates for Congress were Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, and George Santos of New York.
And a lot of those upcoming MPs have already contributed to history.
Santos will be the first non-incumbent Republican elected to Congress who is out LGBTQ. Both Luna and Ciscomani will make history as the first Republican Latino women elected to Congress from Florida and Arizona, respectively.
Chavez-DeRemer is the first Latina to represent Oregon in Congress and she did it by winning a Democratic-held seat.Â
