Hispanic candidates fared well during the midterm elections, with Hispanic Democrats doing exceptionally well in the House of Representatives and Hispanic Republicans taking one U.S. Senate seat and two governorships.
Republican Marco Rubio beat out two other candidates to win the U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Republican Brian Sandoval was elected governor of Nevada, and Republican Susana Martinez won her race in New Mexico, becoming the first female Hispanic governor in the United States. A third Republican, Abel Maldanado, failed in his bid to become lieutenant governor of California.
The conservative Rubio had strong support from the Tea Party contingent in the Republican Party. He told Channel 13 News in Florida: "The reason why we won this campaign was a clear set of principals and an even clearer set of ideas. ... Last night was nothing more than a second chance to be the party that we claim to be and that we want to be."
On her campaign website, Martinez thanked those who voted for her and wrote: "As I travel to Santa Fe to serve as your next governor, I will carry with me the counsel and concerns each one of you has communicated to me as I traveled the state."
Sandoval was quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as telling his supporters Tuesday night, "The Silver State has a history of coming together in difficult times, and as we confront the challenge before us, we can, and we must, join forces to get Nevada working again."
Maldanado had been seeking to keep the position he had been appointed to by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but lost the lieutenant governor race to Gavin Newsom, the Democratic mayor of San Francisco.
In 28 congressional districts across the country, Hispanic Democratic candidates won 17 races and lost six. Hispanic Republican candidates won in five races and lost in five others. In some cases, the losses came in races where Hispanic candidates ran against each other. California's 20th Congressional District has still not been declared.
Two congressional seats were unopposed. Those of Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., breezed easily to re-election. Diaz-Balart had been the representative for the 25th District in Florida, but campaigned for the 21st District when his brother, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, decided not to seek re-election.
All in all, 24 Hispanics have been declared winners in their congressional district races, with the possibility of one more once the final two races are determined.
There are two non-voting Hispanic members of Congress, Gregorio Sablan, the delegate at-large from the Northern Mariana Islands, and Pedro Pierluisi, the delegate at-large from Puerto Rico. Both are Democrats. Sablan won re-election Tuesday and Pierluisi doesn't have to run again until 2012.
The final makeup of Hispanics in the House now stands at 26--27 if Democrat Jim Costa wins in California. That would be one less than in the previous Congress.
