Big Increase in Latino Elected Officials

Latinos have increased their presence at all levels of government by 37 percent over the last 10 years, a Hispanic political group reports.

At the start of 2006, 5,132 Hispanics were in elected office around the country, compared to 3,743 in 1996, according to a study announced at the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"It's in everyone's interest, it's in every party's interest, to cultivate the number of Hispanic elected officials," said Adam J. Segal, director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University.

Latino elected officials now hold office in 43 states, although 42 percent of them are in Texas.

Most other Latino officials were elected in areas with large Hispanic populations, such as California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Illinois, the Houston Chronicle reports.

In 1996, there were no Latino senators and some states had no Hispanics in office. Now there are three Hispanics in the U.S. Senate, representing Colorado (Ken Salazar), Florida (Mel Martinez) and New Jersey (Robert Menendez).

Although they hold the posts of governors, federal officials and state lawmakers, two-thirds of the country's Latino officeholders are working at either the municipal or school board level.

In 2004, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was considered a strong choice to be John Kerry's running mate. Richardson is now running for a second term as governor in November and has been mentioned as a possible name on the Democratic ticket in the next presidential election.

"I think Americans are getting used to voting for Hispanics," Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, told the Chronicle. "It was a novelty before."