HispanicBusiness

One year ago, 53 percent of voters in the country went to the polls and elected the nation's first black president, Barack Obama.

Now that that barrier has been broken, the question begs, who will be the nation's first Hispanic president? And how soon can the country anticipate another historic swearing in?

"The fact that a person of color has been elected gives other minority groups a reasonable amount of hope that in the not too distant future, somebody who looks like them, sounds like them, might be a successful candidate," said Jaime Regalado, executive director of Cal State L.A.'s institute of public affairs and an expert in race relations.

"It does open doors both symbolically and in real ways. If many whites,

Democrats, Independents, supported Obama's candidacy, then other groups who have been left out historically feel a ray of hope," he added.

For years, names such as New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat and an early presidential candidate in 2008, Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Clinton Administration HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros were considered potentials. Though not everyone has written them off, many experts are turning to the next generation of politicians for potential candidates to make history.

"Those who we might have thought of as potential candidates -- Villaraigosa, Richardson, Cisneros -- they all have their crosses to bear, legal and otherwise," Regalado said.

"We just don't see the person yet," he said. "But it doesn't mean that person won't pop up. It all depends on what happens in mid-term elections, who wins governorships."

Tested Candidates

If the traditional presidential trajectory of Senate, governor, or high-level military holds up, only a handful of Latinos are an election away from the post, according to Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).

He points to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, a Democrat whom Colorado voters elected as state Attorney General and to the Senate, and New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat elected to the Senate in 2006.

"We need individuals who are tested on the campaign trail, demonstrated, crossover candidates who have run statewide or have run in jurisdictions where Latinos are not the majority of the population," Vargas said.

"You need that kind of stature, you need to be governor, senator, to have the visibility ... the national network ... the fundraising."

Vargas, Regalado, and others said that more than likely the first Latino president is someone who is sitting in a city council or state assembly seat somewhere.

"It's kind of a funny question. Thinking about Barack Obama, if someone had asked me eight years ago if he would be the first black president, I would have said no way. Eight years ago he lost to Bobby Rush for Congress. It just goes to show, predictions are hard to make," said Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood. "Someone is on a super promising track, and then something happens to derail them. The someone who is relatively unknown suddenly finds a path."

Possibilities abound. There is Marco Rubio, former Florida House Speaker, who is vying for the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez earlier this year.

There is Rafael Anchia, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives that Texas Monthly predicted would be state governor by 2018.

And in California there are a multitude of "bright young people in the state assembly and senate" that really have no place to go because of the state's term limits, Regalado said.