A growing number of Latino U.S. Congressional incumbents and challengers are seeking seats in non-Hispanic majority districts — a phenomenon that was rare a decade ago.
Why it matters: The shifting political landscape illustrates how Latinos are increasingly dispersed around the U.S. and how more Latino candidates are appealing to voters across racial and ethnic lines.
What they’re saying: Hispanic candidates — especially Latinas — have increasingly appealed to non-Latino voters by tailoring their messages to their constituencies, Arturo Vargas, the CEO of the NALEO Educational Fund, tells Axios.
- “These candidates are not running to be Latino representatives. They are running to be representatives of the communities where they’re from.”
Context: There’s no clear tally of Latinos in Congress, but it’s at least 40 in the House. Most current Latino members of Congress come from districts that are 50% or more Hispanic.
- But in recent years, more Latino leaders have emerged in places with small Hispanic populations and run in local and state elections, creating a new bench of candidates for federal office.
Zoom in: An Axios review of U.S. House races heading into the 2024 Election identified at least 10 contests with Latino incumbents or challengers seeking seats in districts where Hispanics are not the majority.
- This does not include the dozen or so undecided U.S. House primaries in states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
Case in point: Freshmen Democratic U.S. Reps. Yadira Caraveo (Colorado), Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (Washington) and Andrea Salinas (Oregon) are running in districts where Latinos make up small portions of districts’ populations.
- Caraveo’s district is 39% Hispanic, Gluesenkamp Pérez’s is 11% and Salinas’ is 21%.
- Freshmen GOP U.S. Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Oregon) and Anna Paulina Luna (Florida) are seeking to keep seats in districts with Latino populations that are less than 11%.
As for new challengers, Democrats are seeking to make history by electing Sam Liccardo, a descendant of original Hispanic California settlers, to the state’s 16th district. The district is along the coast of the Bay Area.
- Liccardo is facing off against fellow Democrat Evan Low, who is Asian American, in a district where only 20% of the population is Latino. Under California law, the top two vote-getters move on to the general election regardless of party.
- In Nebraska, Democrat Tony Vargas is seeking to become the state’s first Latino member of Congress in a district that is only 13% Hispanic.
Eddie Carmona, director of campaigns for the advocacy group PICO California, tells Axios that it’s “not just identity politics any more or ethnic politics.” PICO is California’s largest faith-based community organizing network.
- “You have to be able to cross over, and it is kind of what we are doing just in our grassroots organizing.”
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