U.S. Latino candidates set to make history

• Only about half of Latinos eligible to vote are expected to cast ballots
• Some are seeking seats outside of predominantly Hispanic districts
• Together, they have the potential to make history as the largest class of Latinos ever to enter Congress

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) — Democratic candidate for Congress Michelle Lujan Grisham is part of the next generation of college-educated, middle-class Latino congressional candidates. Unlike many of their early predecessors, the new Latino candidates don't come from labor backgrounds, and some are seeking seats outside of predominantly Hispanic districts.

They are the beneficiaries of civil rights gains, demographic changes and new congressional seats created by recent redistricting. They include a former astronaut, a medical doctor with three degrees from Harvard, college professors, attorneys and children of immigrants and civil rights pioneers.

Together they have the potential to make history as the largest class of Latinos ever to enter Congress, in the largest increase in seats held by Latinos in a single election. Depending on how many win, their numbers in the House of Representatives could bring the percentage of House seats held by Latinos nearly on par with their representation in the U.S. population. Latinos now number about 53 million in the U.S., about 17 percent of the population, with some 24 million eligible to vote.

"That diversity has been missing in Congress," said Lujan Grisham, 53, the granddaughter of the first Latino chief justice of New Mexico's Supreme Court and a distant relative of former New Mexico Republican Rep. Manuel Lujan, who held the seat she seeks.

While only about half of Latinos eligible to vote are expected to cast ballots, many are in battleground states that could help decide key races, including the race for the White House.

A total of 49 Latino candidates — 32 Democrats, 16 Republicans and one without a declared party as allowed under a new California law — are seeking House seats this year, according to the bipartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Those numbers don't include Latinos running in third parties.

At least 27 are likely to win on Nov. 6, including 22 incumbents or Latinos who would replace other Latinos, NALEO said, and if they prevail in four additional, competitive races, the total could rise to as many as 31.

While campaigning, they not only speak of reforming immigration law, but also expanding college access, the future of Medicare, the economy and fighting terrorism.

"These are people who aren't political animals," said Arturo Vargas, NALEO's executive director. "They didn't start out in politics but instead, spent time in other professions after going to college at some of the nation's top universities."

Vargas said he thinks this crop of Latino candidates is less ideologically entrenched and ideally could help bridge some efforts at bipartisanship. Those who support immigration reform may make it easier to get an immigration bill passed.

Lujan Grisham faces former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, a Republican, in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. It was historically Republican until 2009.

"It's a generation on the rise," said Texas Democratic Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, retiring chairman of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus and son of the late Democratic Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, one of the caucus' founders. "They are continuing what everyone before them started, but in their own way."

Gonzalez said when his father was in the House, between 1961 and 1999, Congress regularly had only a handful of Hispanics as representatives. "It would be amazing if we could get to 30, when there used to be only a few I could count on one hand," he said.

Juan Gomez-Quinones, a history professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, said previous generations of Latinos who were sent to Congress came mostly from the southwest and had trouble navigating East Coast-based power structures.

But population changes have meant more congressional seats in the southwest. "They're no longer outsiders," said Gomez-Quinones, author of "Chicano Politics 1940-1990."

The new generation "is a sign that the Latino vote, Latino candidates, the makeup of the demography of the Latino candidates is changing with the times," said Maria Cardona, a Washington-based Democratic consultant.

It also reflects the youth of the Hispanic population, whose median age is 27, compared to 37 for the nation overall, while capturing the integration of children of Latino immigrants into American society. Three of the candidates in California are U.S.-born children of immigrants who overcame poverty and highly successful in their careers.

All three House districts in New Mexico, the most Hispanic state in the U.S., have Latino candidates. California is expected to nearly double the number of Latinos in its congressional delegation from 6 to 11.

In Florida, a state with three Republican Latinos in Congress, has one competitive race between Rep. David Rivera and Democratic challenger Joe Garcia in the state's 26th District.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Tony Cardenas and California state Sen. Juan Vargas, both Democrats, are running in open seats where Latino voters have a strong chance to determine the outcome.

Two Democrats, Jose Hernandez and Raul Ruiz, and a Republican, former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, are running in districts where they must also win non-Latino votes. All three are children of farmworkers and at least one immigrant parent with "rags-to-riches" stories that appeal across communities and parties.

Hernandez, 50, is challenging Rep. Jeff Denham, a Republican, in California's newly created 10th Congressional District. He stresses his educational background and dreams of going to space as a child.

"I'm not a politician," he says in the ad. "I'm an astronaut and an engineer."