Hispanic political power severely lags population growth

Hispanics now number some 50-million in the U.S., accounting for about one-sixth of the nation’s population, according to recent data from the Census Bureau.

However, that numerical strength has not translated into any significant political power.

There are currently only two U.S. Senator of Hispanic descent, Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey; and Marco Rubio, the newly-elected Republican of Florida.

(Two other Hispanic Senators, Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida; and Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, recently resigned or retired).

Including the aforementioned names, there have only been seven Hispanic U.S. senators in history (the other three all served in the state of New Mexico, the state with the highest percentage of Hispanics).

There are also only two U.S. governors of Hispanic descent: Brian Sandoval of Nevada; and Susana Martinez of New Mexico.

Interestingly, both Sandoval and Martinez are conservative Republicans who have spoken out against illegal immigration.

Also, there are currently only 24 Hispanic members of the U.S. House of Representatives (out of a total of 435). That figure of 24 does not include House Delegates who are non-voting members, like Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico.

That figure might be increased to 27 if one considered three California congressmen (Dennis Cardoza, Jim Costa and Devin Nunes) who are all of Portuguese descent.

Of the 24 Congresspersons, fully half are from either Texas or California. Moreover, the majority (17) are members of the Democratic Party.

Here is the list of active Congresspersons of Hispanic descent:

Joe Baca (D-CA)
Xavier Becerra (D-CA)
Francisco Canseco (R-TX)
Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Bill Flores (R-TX)
Charles A. Gonzalez (D-TX)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Jaime Herrera (R-WA)
Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)
Raul Labrador (R-ID)
Ben Lujan (D-NM)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
David Rivera (R-FL)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
José Serrano (D-NY)
Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)