The incoming Congress will be historic for many reasons, including the House of Representatives’ highest share of Latino lawmakers ever. Fourteen newly elected candidates will join the 34 incumbents who held their seats this cycle, meaning the next House will be nearly 11 percent Latino.
Those 14 new members represent all kinds of communities: rural, suburban, and urban; they’re from competitive swing districts and partisan strongholds; and from states with newly burgeoning Latino populations and those with longstanding Latino communities. Together, they demonstrate the increasing ideological diversity of Latinos in the United States.
Both sides’ additions to Congress will bring many firsts, including the first Congress member from Generation Z (elected in Florida), the first gay immigrant (elected in California), and the first Midwestern Latina (from Illinois). It will also bring new representation from states that haven’t elected a Latino before, like two representatives from Oregon and one from Washington state, as well as the official election of a Latino senator from California and the reelection of the first and only Latina in the Senate.
Beyond those historic firsts is what these Republicans and Democrats reveal about America: that the country is in a moment of growing Latino power that’s inclusive of differing ideas of what it means to be Latino and American. The new class will showcase the breadth of Latino perspectives on the role of government, racial or ethnic solidarity, and religious and family values.
Congress, and much of the country, hasn’t seen some of the Latino identities and politics this new class will bring. The next two years will be an experiment in what Latino diversity looks like and how it can be used to govern. Below is an introduction to these new members, arranged by party and political philosophy.
The safe-seat (mostly) progressives
Open, safe seats for Democrats — made available through retirements, their previous occupants running for other offices, and redistricting — brought the majority of new Democratic Latino members to Congress.
Unsurprisingly, all five came from states that have previously elected Latino Democrats and have large Latino populations. Nearly all belong to the political left and advocated for progressive policies like raising the minimum wage, enacting stronger gun control laws, and expanding access to affordable health care during their primary campaigns.
Though serving in the minority, each will likely push the party, and the caucus, to be more outspoken on immigration and civil rights. Many are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Four have joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the group of over 100 members that form the bulk of the party’s left flank in Congress; and at least three are seen as likely to join the ultra-progressive group of Democrats known as the Squad.
Robert Garcia, the mayor of Long Beach, California, will be the first LGBTQ immigrant to be elected to Congress, after serving two terms as the first gay mayor of Long Beach. His district, which covers majority Latino cities south of Los Angeles and the port city he led, was created through redistricting this year after California lost a congressional seat for the first time in its history.
Read More: Meet the new class of Latinos in Congress