Thirty years ago, political activity in the Latino community was relatively unknown at the national level. While there were Hispanic elected officials (HEOs) and Latino community activism, no one spoke of “Latino” politics or the “Hispanic” vote in national politics (Moore and Pachon 1985, chap. 10; Jennings and Rivera 1984). When analysts examined Latino politics, study was confined to the Southwestern states, New York City and perhaps Dade County, Florida. Now, however, Hispanics are one of this country's largest ethnic groups. Hispanics will be the largest ethnic minority group in the nation early in the 21st century (Edmonston and Passel 1991). Consequently, the political life of this community is coming under increasing attention. As examples, see May 1987; Didion 1987.

This overview examines one facet of the increasing Latino political presence—the growing number of Hispanics elected to office at all levels of government. Because the reapportionment and redistricting that will take place in the next two years will increase the number of districts containing a majority Latino population, this discussion is particularly timely. Many newly apportioned districts will elect Latinos to office for the first time. Thus, this overview may be used to assess Latino office holding in 1990 and will serve as a baseline for measuring the impact of post-1990 redistricting on Latino public-officeholding.