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Politics

In New Congress, More Latinos Than Ever

By Jill Replogle / Fronteras Reporter
Published January 3, 2013 at 12:31 PM PST
This story was published more than 11 years ago.
U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas) walks with his mother and his son to the swearing-in ceremony of the 113th U.S. Congress on Thursday.
twitter.com/petegallego
U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas) walks with his mother and his son to the swearing-in ceremony of the 113th U.S. Congress on Thursday.
In New Congress, More Latinos Than Ever
The new U.S. Congress has more Latinos than ever before.

The 113th U.S. Congress sworn in today includes nine new Latino members, making it the largest Latino class in history.

Latinos now hold 28 House seats and three Senate seats in the new Congress. Just five Latino House representatives are Republican while two of the three Latino senators are Republican.

Rep. Juan Vargas from San Diego is among the new Latino leaders sworn in on Thursday. Vargas, a Democrat, represents the 51st District of California, which stretches along the state’s entire border with Mexico and includes the Imperial Valley. The former state senator is filling new San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s seat.

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Other new Latino members representing border states include Democrats Joaquin Castro and Pete Gallego from Texas, and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.

The bolstered Latino caucus will likely be vocal in anticipated debates this year on reforming immigration laws. President Barack Obama has promised to make immigration reform a priority in his second term.

Politics
Jill Replogle
Jill Replogle is a Fronteras reporter in San Diego. She has been a journalist for more than 10 years, reporting from Central America, Mexico, and California. She has produced radio and video features for PRI's The World, KALW (San Francisco), Current TV, and the Video Journalism Movement. Her print stories have been published in The Miami Herald, Time.com, The Christian Science Monitor and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in Guatemalan newspapers SigloXXI, ElPeriodico and Inforpress Centroamericana. Jill has a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She's covered everything from local and international politics, to crime and drug violence, to environmental and public health issues. When she's not on the job, you might find her biking, scrambling up a rock somewhere, or otherwise exploring the outdoors.
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