Increasing Numbers and Diversity of Latinas Candidates Vying for National Office
California and Texas Remain the Epicenter of Latina Congressional Candidates
Increasing Numbers and Diversity of Latinas Candidates Vying for National Office
The midterm election of 2018 was a milestone for Latina congressional candidates, many drawn to the political process by an increasingly hostile political environment that targeted immigrants and Latina/o/x communities with racialized rhetoric and restrictive policies. More Latinas successfully ran for national office in 2018 than in any prior general election and their success proved significant to the shift in political power, particularly Democrats securing control over the House of Representatives during the height of the Trump administration. For Latinas, 2018 was also a groundbreaking election where candidates such as Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico became the first Democratic Latina (and Democratic woman of color) elected governor in the U.S., Democrat Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (NY-14) became the youngest elected member, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida (FL-27) flipped a traditionally Republican seat and became the first South American Latina elected to Congress, and Democrats Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) became the first Latinas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas. In total, 51 Latinas ran for Congress in 2018 and twelve were ultimately elected (or re-elected) to national office. Finally, it was an election where record numbers of Latinas became part of the electoral process as advocates, fundraisers, donors, campaign staff, commentators, canvassers, organizers, and voters (Krogstad, Flores, Lopez 2018; Sampaio 2018a). As Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) succinctly noted: “1992 was declared the year of the woman in politics, and it was a big year for women in politics. But…truly, 2018 was the year of the woman of color.”
While 2018 proved to be a defining election year for women of color generally and Latinas specifically, the volume and diversity of Latina candidates running for national office in both 2020 and 2022 surpassed the records set in 2018 (CAWP, 2020). By July 2020, 75 Latinas had filed as candidates for national office, compared with 51 in 2018. This included 72 (39D, 33R) Latina candidates running for the U.S. House and 3 (2D, 1R) Latina candidates for the U.S. Senate. This group of Latinas represented an even more diverse field than 2018 with almost half (45%) running as Republicans, far surpassing the 35% of Latinas who ran as Republicans for Congress in the 2018 midterm.
In both the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, Latina congressional candidates were most likely to emerge from districts with a large Latina/o/x population and to be successful when more than 2/3 of the district was Latina/o/x. Congressional districts where Latina congressional candidates competed ranged in demographic composition from a low of 13.2% Latina/o/x population in California’s 4th congressional district to a high of 87.6% Latina/o/x in the state’s 40th congressional district. On average, Latinas/os/xs comprised more than half the population in the congressional districts where Latina candidates emerged in both 2018 and 2020. In districts where Latina candidates won (either as incumbents or newly elected candidates), the Latina/o/x population represented more than 70% of the district. This pattern held true in both California and Texas; however, the size of the Latina/o/x population in the congressional districts where Latinas won in 2018 and 2020 was 78.4% as opposed to an average of 71% in California. In short, Latina candidates were more likely to emerge from districts with a majority Latina/o/x population and more likely to win when the population constituted more than 70% of the district.
Despite the concentration of Latina candidates in districts with a large Latina/o/x population, there was a growing diversity of districts where Latinas emerged as candidates during the 2018 and 2020 elections cycles. In 2020 nearly a quarter (24%) of all Latina candidates emerged from non-traditional states where the Latina/o/x electorate constituted less than 30% of voters including Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington (Sampaio 2018b). While none of the Latina candidates from non-traditional states were successful in their congressional bids in 2020, their campaigns laid the groundwork for even more geographic diversity in 2022.
The Trump administration served as a lightning rod for the mobilization of Latina candidates and organizers across the political spectrum particularly in 2018 and 2020. Several Latina Democrats reflected on Trump’s election and specifically the threats to fundamental rights that his administration forecast as a motivating factor to run or to expand their role in electoral politics. For example, Representative Veronica Escobar (TX-16) noted:
“I worked on the Hillary campaign, and so that election night was devastating. It was horrific, it was a nightmare, and I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, we've got to do everything we can to stop this man and to make sure he doesn't win a second term, and to protect vulnerable communities like ours.’ I saw that through my lens of being a county judge and thought about ways that we could stop the administration from harming our community…it was Trump that made me feel like somebody running toward war. You know, I've never served in the military and I don't, in any way, shape, or form mean to equate serving in Congress with serving in a war, but that impetus and that feeling of having to run toward a conflict to try to be on the good guy team, it was overwhelming, and it was overwhelming in large part because of what Trump was doing to my community, to immigrants, to people of color, to women…Running for a fight.”
These sentiments of urgency and preparing for a fight coupled with the concern for protecting marginalized communities and fundamental rights were shared by Jana Sanchez, a 2018 Democratic candidate who ran in Texas’ 6th congressional district.
“I am the daughter of a Mexican immigrant to the U.S. I grew up in a rural area of Texas where most people became Trump supporters, and I was absolutely and completely shocked by the election of Donald Trump. I spent 18 years living in Europe, so I was pretty blissfully unaware of what had been happening back in the states while I was gone. I didn't really understand how horrendously bad things were going, and I still didn't, when I made that decision to run. And I'm going to be completely honest, it was a really stupid decision, on so many levels. I had no idea what I was getting into. The truth is, I was so shocked that Trump won, and that night, I couldn't sleep the whole night. I was up texting with friends in Europe. I was really freaked out.
I really felt like… a member of the French resistance. I mean, that idea of being a resister really resonated with me. I was up all-night texting with friends, even though I had to fly the next day for work. They were all saying, 'You have to come back to Europe. You have to get out of that country. That's crazy. How can you live in a country that would elect Donald Trump?' And I was very weak and emotional.
The next morning, I called a friend of mine who is very active in politics in D.C. — she had been the head of the Democratic Leadership Council. I called her and I said, 'Okay, I have to dedicate my life to fixing this.' I had a very great life...a really nice life for myself...and I said, 'I have to dedicate my life to helping save America. I think maybe I need to get a job as a spokesperson for the Democratic Party, or go to work for Planned Parenthood or the ACLU, something like that.' And my friend said to me, 'You have to run for office.' I said, 'that's crazy.' I literally laughed. I remember laughing out loud when she said that, and she said, 'No, you have to run, because you can win. You know how to win.'
Because my whole career has been in communication – first fundraising and then journalism and then PR – so I thought I knew everything I needed to know about running. So, I decided to run. There were a lot of women like me – it sounds crazy now – but at the time it didn't sound crazy.”
Among Latina Republicans, the ascendance of the Trump administration elicited a mixed reaction from enthusiastic support for his message and the opportunity to advance conservative issues, to open ambivalence and a deep hesitancy to embrace Trump’s hostility toward Latina/o/x immigrants. Candidates such as Jazmina Saavedra, 2018 Republican candidate who ran in California’s 44th congressional district, echoed the more ardent advocates of Trump:
"Well, in my case at least, I was involved in Latinos for Trump. I'm one of the co-founders of the Latinos for Trump here in California. So, the anger of seeing our values attacked and everything – our economy, our Christian values, our family values – I start talking with people, people saw a leadership on me and they encouraged me to go and make a decision and run."
While the Trump administration was clearly a factor among Democrats and Republicans, for many Latina Democrats in 2018 and 2020, it wasn’t the administration alone but the aggressive movement toward racism, sexism, xenophobia, and the targeting of vulnerable communities that had long been at the core of their interests that motivated them to run.
“There were other factors that made me feel like there was an urgency…seeing just how unfair the system is to communities like mine. So, just as an example, infrastructure money. Richer communities or wealthier communities get more money because they can put up more of a match. You know, when you're competing for funds and the federal government says, ‘Oh, if it's $100, I'll send you $60 if you put up $40.’ Well in a poor community, we don't have the $40 to begin with. So, there were things for me that played a role in my wanting to not just go after Trump and serve, but, through governing, change systemic issues that perpetuate inequality and inequity.” (Interview with Democratic U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar [TX-16])
During the 2022 midterm elections, Latina congressional candidates once again broke records as 88 Latinas ran for national office as majority party candidates, including 85 candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives (43D, 42R), and 3 Latina candidates vying for the U.S. Senate (1D, 2R) (Dittmar 2022). While the field of Latina candidates running for Congress has historically been concentrated in the Democratic party, in 2022 Latina Republicans running for Congress outpaced the field of Latina Democrats (43D, 45R). Approximately a third (32%) of Latina Republican candidates emerged from Texas alone, followed by Florida and Arizona.
The emergence of Latina Republican candidates from Texas drew significant political attention in 2022, with multiple news reports predicting a “brown wave” and speculating about an historic realignment among Latina candidates as well as Latina/o/x voters (Brownstein 2023; Hinckley 2022; Zhou 2022; Zitner & Mena 2022). A particularly bright spot for the Republican party of Texas emerged in a special election in June 2022, when Mayra Flores became the first Latina Republican candidate elected to Congress from the 34th congressional district. Representative Flores, whose seat had been redistricted to favor Republican voters subsequent to the 2020 census, lost her bid for re-election during the November 2022 general election to incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez Jr. Despite Flores’ defeat, two additional Latina Republican candidates won primaries in Texas in 2022 — Monica De La Cruz (TX-15) and Cassy Garcia (TX-28). Of the two additional Latina Republican congressional candidates who emerged from the primary, only De La Cruz was successful in the general election, becoming the fourth Latina from Texas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and second Latina Republican elected from the state in 2022. Overall, while the number of Latina Republican candidates emerging from Texas remained the same between 2020 and 2022, these candidates became more competitive owing in large part to an increase in financing and political support. I discuss these competitive advantages in greater detail in the next sections.
Despite the public fascination with Latina Republican candidate in 2022, the most significant increase among Latina congressional candidates in Texas came from a surge of Latina Democrats in the state motivated by a growing Democratic electorate and increased mobilization of Latina/o/x communities across the region. In particular, Latina Democrats competing in congressional elections from Texas more than doubled (from 6 in 2020 to 14 in 2022) while the number of Latina Republicans remained the same between 2020 and 2022.
From Latina Advantage to Weaponized Intersectionality: Intra-racial Challenges Grow Along with Number of Latina Congressional Candidates
As the number of Latina candidates running for national office grew in 2018, 2020, and 2022, so too did the number of Latinas running against other Latinas and against other women of color. Until recently, there were so few women running for Congress that cases where women faced-off against each other as challengers in the same district were rare enough to warrant national media attention. Campaigns in which women of color challenged other women of color for national office were virtually non-existent. However, in 2020 in California alone, 45% of Latina congressional candidates were involved in campaigns against other Latinas or other women of color, and in Texas, 33% of Latina candidates faced challenges from other Latinas.
In both California and Texas, these intra-racial challenges occurred most commonly in districts where Latina Republicans were advanced as challengers against recently elected Latina Democrats. In the preponderance of such cases the Republican challenger lacked political experience, professional capacity, and fundraising, ultimately leading to their defeat. Such was the case in 2018 in California’s 44th congressional district where Democratic incumbent U.S. House Representative Nanette Barragan faced off against two Latina Republicans (Stacey Dash and Jazmina Saavedra), and won re-election. Similarly, in 2020 in Texas, in both the 16th and 20th congressional districts, newly-elected Democratic Representatives Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia faced challenges from two Latina Republicans (Irene Armendariz-Jackson and Jaimy Blanco respectively). Republican Irene Armendariz-Jackson described the process of being recruited to run and specifically to challenge Escobar in the 16th congressional district by a Republican Texas state party representative:
"In 2018 I received a call from the Republican Party of Texas [RPT] at that time…we were just kind of talking about what had happened in Dallas [during the 2018 midterm elections] and stuff, and that's when it was brought up that I should consider running. It was from a Mexican-born U.S. naturalized political consultant that was helping the RPT at the time. Because the incumbent [Representative Escobar]…that was her first time that she ran for Congress and she won, but it's more — she's a Hispanic woman. She’s very deep into politics that has been her entire professional career being a politician. I don't come from a political background, but the reason I ran and considered it was because I was asked.”
Both Irene Armendariz-Jackson and Jaimy Blanco were defeated in the general election and both Representatives Escobar and Garcia subsequently won re-election.
These intra-racial match-ups also occurred in congressional districts with open seats and a sizable Latina/o/x electorate that drew several candidates to the race. These resulted in Latina Democrats challenging each other (particularly in California’s open primary where the top two candidates advance to the general election), as well as Latina Democrats facing off against Latina Republicans. For example, in 2020 in California’s 53rd congressional district (in the seat vacated by former Democrat Susan Davis), where Latinas/os/xs constitute more than 34% of the population, Democrat Georgette Gómez faced Democrat Annette Meza along with over a dozen other challengers that included additional women of color. Gómez was successful in the primary and advanced to the general election but ultimately lost the race to Democrat Sara Jacobs. Similarly, in 2018 in Texas, the race to replace Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the 16th congressional district where 80% of the population are Latina/o/x, drew six Democratic candidates (including both Veronica Escobar and Norma Chavez) as well as two Republican candidates (including Alicia Garcia-Ureste). Escobar eventually won in 2018, becoming, with Democrat Sylvia Garcia, the first two Latinas congressional members elected from the state of Texas.
As noted above, in 2022, the emergence of Latina Republican candidates from Texas drew significant political attention as 14 Latina Republicans ran for the House of Representatives across seven congressional districts. However, the vast preponderance of these Latina Republicans (79%) ran against another Latina challenger. While the 14 Latina Republicans running did not represent an increase over the number of Latina Republicans who ran in 2020, these candidates were more competitive and ultimately more successful in their races, owing in large part to their increased political experience, professional networks of support, and fundraising. In addition, several of the Latina Republicans who ran in 2022 did so in congressional districts that were either newly constructed or heavily redistricted by the Republican controlled Texas state legislature after the 2020 census. That redistricting process heavily favored Republican candidates.
For example, in Texas’s 15th congressional district, Latina Republican Monica De La Cruz and Latina Democrat Michelle Vallejo competed against each other in a newly redistricted open seat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley where Latinas/os/xs constitute more than 83% of the population. De La Cruz had previously run for Congress in 2018 (as Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez) against Democratic incumbent Vincent Gonzalez Jr.; she was handily defeated by Gonzalez as she lacked prior political experience and underperformed in fundraising. In particular, in 2018 De La Cruz raised only $345K, of which three-quarters of the funds came from a single large contribution and the remaining balance was largely self-financed. However, by June 30th, 2022, with significant support from both the Republican Party of Texas and Republican National Committee, De La Cruz raised over $2.8 million dollars, including over $1.3million in large contributions and $278K in PAC contributions. Moreover, while filing data indicate that in 2020 there was a paltry $10K spent by independent expenditure groups against her Democratic opponent and $0 spent supporting her candidacy, in 2022 over $340K in independent expenditures was spent supporting her election. Republican De La Cruz eventually defeated Democrat Vallejo in the general election, becoming the fourth Latina from Texas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and second Latina Republican elected in under a year.
Ultimately, the 2018, 2020, and 2022 election cycles brought forth an increase in Latina candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties vying for national office but also a strategy of challenging incumbent Latinas by other Latina contenders. This occurred most frequently as emerging Latina Republicans candidates in California, Texas, and other states including Florida challenged incumbent Latina Democrats. While most of the Republican challengers were not competitive – lacking prior political experience, professional networks and capacity, and significant fundraising leading to their defeat – their challenge to incumbent Latinas signaled a new concern for the longevity and sustainability of Latinas in Congress. In this way the “Latina advantage” (Bejarano 2013) that some candidates have held – as women, as members of the Latina/o/x community, and as women of color – was simultaneously challenged (particularly for incumbent Latina congressional members) and weaponized (particularly within the Republican party). As Latina congressional candidates continue to emerge in both California and Texas and non-traditional states, we will likely see these types of intra-racial intersectional challenges repeated and expanded.
California and Texas Remain the Epicenter of Latina Congressional Candidates
The largest contingent of Latina congressional candidates has consistently emerged from California and Texas, owing both to the concentration of Latinas/os/xs in these states and their history as sites of Latina/o/x political organizing and mobilization. In 2018, 2020, and 2022 approximately half of all Latina congressional candidates (51% in 2018, 53% in 2020, and 49% in 2022) emerged from these two states. Latinas/os/xs constitute approximately 40% of the population in both California and Texas and are the largest racial/ethnic communities (Krogstad and Passel 2021). Moreover, among the districts where Latina congressional candidates emerged, the Latina/o/x population represented on average more than half the district.
However, the two states represent vastly different political landscapes, with California serving as a Democratic stronghold and Republicans dominating in Texas. This has resulted in significantly different histories, pathways, and outcomes for Latina congressional candidates. While more Latina congressional candidates have emerged from Texas, and their numbers have increased significantly over the past three election cycles – especially among Republicans running in the 2020 and Democrats running in 2022 – Latina candidates from California have been far more successful in winning election and re-election to national office. Despite competing in primarily Latina/o/x majority districts in 2022, Latina congressional candidates in Texas won in districts where Latinas/os/xs were 83% or greater of the population, whereas Latina congressional candidates in California won in districts with an average Latina/o/x population of 63%, suggesting that the threshold of Latina/o/x voters needed to secure a seat in Texas may have been higher in Texas than California.
Overall, California stands out as the most generative site for the election and re-election of Latinas to national office. In fact, “38.1% of all Latinas who have ever served as voting members of Congress representing California” (Dittmar 2022). This pattern held in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 election cycles. With five Latina incumbents running in both 2018 and 2020, Latina congressional candidates from California won in 45% of the general election races in the state in 2018 and 36% in 2020. This figure decreases to 29% with the retirement of Democrat Lucille Roybal-Allard in 2022. By comparison, Latina congressional candidates in Texas won in 13% of the races in 2018, 10% in 2020, and 11% in 2022. Reflecting the dominance of the Democratic party in California since the mid-1990s, all Latina congressional incumbents who ran in 2018, 2020, 2022 were Democrats. Only six Latina congressional candidates ran as Republicans in California between 2018 and 2022.
In Texas, Latinas have successfully ran and won election to local and statewide offices for decades(Bejarano 2013, García, Martinez-Ebers, Coronado, Navarro, and Jaramillo 2008, Navarro, Hernandez; Navarro 2016). However, despite this history of electoral success in local and state races, no Latina had successfully run for national office from Texas until 2018 when Democrats Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) became the first Latina U.S. House Representatives elected from the state.
The prospects for Latina candidates in Texas changed significantly in 2020, as Texas eclipsed California in Latina candidate emergence for national office for the first time in history. With 22 Latina candidates running for national office in 2020 – including 14 Republican Latinas – Texas became an important battleground state for both parties and especially for national organizers seeking to turn out a broader electorate in the state and to mobilize Latina/o/x voters. Investments in the Latina/o/x electorate by the Republican party paid off, particularly in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as exit polling indicate Trump garnered 29% of the Latina/o/x vote and Republicans won in areas like Zapata County, dominated by Latina/o/x voters, for the first time in 100 years (Cadava 2020; Herrera 2020; Latino Decisions Election Eve Poll 2020). However, these gains for Trump and the Republican party didn’t extend to the Latina Republican congressional candidates running for office in 2020 as all 14 lost.
Following the election of Republican Mayra Flores in the June 2022 special election, the emergence of Latina Republicans garnered national attention, leading many to speculate about a new wave of Republican support across the Latina/o/x electorate (and especially among Latinas) in 2022. In the end, the number of Latina Republicans running for Congress in 2022 from Texas remained the same as 2020 (14). The increased number of Latina candidates for Congress from Texas came from a surge in Latina Democrats running, more than doubling in size from 2020 to 2022 (from 6 to 14). By November 2022, there were twice as many Latina congressional candidates running for office in Texas than California (28 candidates in Texas, 14 in California); however, owing to the concentration of Latina candidates in select districts (particularly those with newly elected Latina Democrats and open seats), Latinas ran in virtually the same number of districts in both states (13 in Texas, 12 in California).
While the number of Latina Democratic candidates from Texas increased in 2022, Latina Republican candidates became more competitive, especially as their fundraising and support from large donors and independent expenditures increased and the districts were re-drawn after the 2020 census to favor Republican candidates. Three candidates concentrated in newly re-drawn districts in the Lower Rio Grande Valley – Monica De La Cruz (TX-15), Cassy Garcia (TX-28), and Mayra Flores (TX-24) – all won in primary elections and all faced off against other Latina or Latino Democratic challengers in general election races. Ultimately, both Garcia and Flores lost, while De La Cruz became the second Latina Republican elected to Congress from Texas. In the end, Latina congressional candidates emerging from Texas in 2022 were both more concentrated and more competitive.
Overall, the field of Latina congressional candidates increased significantly through the 2018, 2020, and 2022 general election cycles, with half the candidate field emerging from California and Texas. California continued to elect and re-elect more Latinas to Congress; however, more Latina candidates emerged from Texas during this period. Moreover, the state of Texas set records by electing their first two Latina congressional representatives in 2018 and the first two Latina Republican representatives in 2022. While the number of Latina Republicans running for Congress has grown in both states, Latina Democrats continue to dominate among congressional candidates in California. By 2022, the California contingent of Latina congressional members had decreased from five to four with the retirement of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, while the Texas contingent had grown to three. Looking forward, as the Latina/o/x population continues to expand in both regions, and the field of Latinas with prior political experience continues to grow – especially at the county and state levels – the number of Latina congressional candidates in both California and Texas are likely to continue growing as well. Less clear is how the experiences of these future candidates will compare with those currently in office and previous candidates and whether they will receive the support needed to move from candidate to congressional member.
Despite differences in party and location, Latina congressional candidates in both California and Texas share a number of similar experiences, obstacles, opportunities, and concerns about their campaigns and the election process, as revealed in interviews with over two dozen candidates and professionals supporting their candidacies conducted over the past two years. Recurring themes from these interviews revolved around the significance or race, gender, and intersectionality among candidates’ identities, escalating forms of political violence, relationships with both major political parties, the impact of outside political organizations (particularly in fundraising), and the emergence of alternative strategies for organizing and mobilization to support their campaigns. These themes are explored in greater detail in the next section (Part II) highlighting the experiences of Latina congressional candidates as well as incumbent Latina congressional representatives during the in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 election cycles. This section pays particular attention to the obstacles and gaps in resources identified by Latina congressional candidates throughout the campaign process with an eye toward identifying prescriptions for addressing these shortcomings for future candidates.