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According to the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund, Democrat Ben R. Luján’s election to Congress boosts the number of Hispanic voting members in Congress to 24. Three are in the Senate: Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. Puerto Rico also elected another Hispanic member — attorney Pedro Pierluisi — to become Congress’ non-voting Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.
Although New Mexico’s population is 45 percent Hispanic — the highest in the nation, according to the Pew Hispanic Center — there hasn’t been a Hispanic member representing the state in Congress since Bill Richardson left to join President Bill Clinton’s administration in 1997, according to NALEO.
Luján, 36, is public regulation commissioner in New Mexico and a former state treasurer. His father, Ben Luján, is New Mexico’s Speaker of the House.
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