Rhetoric dehumanizing immigrant and Latino communities may appear more open and in-your-face in the current political climate. But that has not been a barrier for Latinos seeking elective office or high-level roles in government.<\/p>\n
Voters are choosing an increasing number of nonwhite Hispanic leaders to local elective office \u2014 and many of the leaders are the first Latinos to hold their seats. Some political science experts attribute the rise of Latino leadership to years of grassroots organizing, coupled with ongoing demonization of their communities by Trump administration officials and conservative activists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s the difference now, is that there’s this extra incentive of an unrelenting attack on Latinos across the country,\u201d said Anna Sampaio, an ethnic studies professor at Santa Clara University who specializes in race and gender politics.<\/p>\n
There are currently an estimated 7,700 Latino elected officials nationwide, according to data from the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. That’s up from 6,883 officials in 2020.<\/p>\n
Estimated to number as many as 55 million people \u2014 16% of the U.S. population \u2014 Latinos are the largest ethnic minority in the country, with politics, interests and priorities as diverse as the national origins represented within their population. But Latinos also are underrepresented as a demographic across elective offices.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, Latino communities have been a target of his hard-line immigration tactics<\/a>. The feeling of attack doesn’t stop there. From memes shared from the official White House page perpetuating Hispanic stereotypes, a federally led English-only initiative<\/a> and an anti-diversity, equity and inclusion push have painted a target on Latinos across the country. <\/p>\n It’s all led to more Latinos seeking office to defend their communities and give voice to those who may be afraid to speak out in the current political climate. As a result, legislators have proposed measures that include providing community members with protections against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, halting the approval of ICE detention centers in their cities, and calling for a stop to ICE funding, among other actions.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Latino mayor makes history<\/p>\n Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a roughly 40% Hispanic population, recently elected Jaime Arroyo their first Latino mayor. Arroyo took office in January, after being elected with 85% of the vote.<\/p>\n \u201cI think being the first Latino to be in this role and the first person of color to be mayor of Lancaster City has been exciting,\u201d Arroyo told The Associated Press, adding that he finds it \u201cextremely exciting to lead and represent our community in this role.\u201d<\/p>\n With rhetoric and national policies \u2014 such as heightened immigration enforcement \u2014 hurting the Latino communities, Arroyo said, diverse representation in government is more important than ever. He also believes that the rise of elected Latino officials over the last couple of years is the result of generations of Latinos being politically active fighting for civil rights.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re starting to see a lot of the fruits of that labor come to fruition,\u201d Arroyo said. \u201cThere’s never a perfect time to serve your community, there’s the right time. And I think right now is the right time for a lot of Latinos to step up into these roles, especially with everything that is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Latino representation expanding in city councils<\/p>\n Many more Latinos made history when they took office in earlier this year. <\/p>\n In Iowa, Rob Barron was sworn in Jan. 12 as the first Latino representative on the Des Moines City Council. Antonio Pacheco was sworn on Jan. 7 to be the first Latino member of the city council in Conyers, Georgia. In Ohio, Eileen Torres became the first Mexican American women to win a city council seat in Lorain. Sabrina Gonzalez also took office there as the first Puerto Rican women to serve.<\/p>\n And in Michigan, Clara Martinez and Deyanira Nevarez Martinez were sworn in Jan. 1 to the Lansing City Council, making the city the first in the U.S. to have a council with majority Latino representation.<\/p>\n Martinez said her election, and that of Nevarez Martinez, makes a bit statement about \u201cwhat people are truly open to despite the national rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think because of the rhetoric that we are having to face and some of the backlash on the national stage, I think that\u2019s just fueled the fire for so many people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Salt Lake City Council also has a Latino majority, with four of seven seats, after Erika Carlsen, the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, was sworn in on Jan. 5. Carlsen said her success is possible because of current and previous generations that put in the work to create spaces where Latinas were encouraged to take leadership positions.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I’m building on early generations of leadership,\u201d Carlsen said. \u201cThat’s both an honor and responsibility to improve Salt Lake City for the people who live here.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlsen said even if representation at the federal level is not high or visible she said having representation at the local level can have a huge impact.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that it’s critically important that we continue to build on this momentum,\u201d Carlsen said. \u201cThe majority of change that can happen starts locally, it doesn’t start in Washington but in City Hall, school boards and neighborhoods conversations. That’s the kind of momentum I’d love to see all across the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolina Welles, executive director of The First Ask, an organization that supports first-time female candidates at the state level, said the reason why Latino representation is more visible at the local level is because those leaders are able to built trust with their community much easier given their proximity.<\/p>\n \u201cThey actually know what people care about,\u201d Welles said. \u201cThey have a stake because they are facing similar things.\u201d<\/p>\n Local level Latino leadership builds on state and federal representation<\/p>\n It’s not just at the local level. Latinos are making inroads at the federal level too<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 119th Congress has 56 Hispanic or Latino members. That shakes out to 10.35% of total membership, according to the Congressional Research Service.<\/p>\n For comparison, there were only 14 Hispanic or Latino members and all were male in the 99th Congress, 40 years ago. <\/p>\n At the start of 2025, there were seven Hispanic U.S. senators. That number decreased to six when then Sen. Marco Rubio resigned to become the Secretary of State, the first Latino to hold the position<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year also marked a record for Latinas at the state level. Latinas held 214, or 2.9%, of seats in state legislatures, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. That was up from 192 seats in 2024.<\/p>\n Currently, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is the only active Latina governor in the U.S. Only two Latinas have been elected governor in U.S. history, and both were in New Mexico.<\/p>\n