November’s election made clear that Latinos are the American electorate’s biggest swing vote for the foreseeable future. Exit polls show that Democrat Kamala Harris received approximately 52% of the Latino vote, compared to Republican Donald Trump’s 46%—a substantial increase for the GOP presidential nominee, who improved his share of Latino voters by 14 percentage points from the 2020 election. But a story that’s largely flown under the national news radar is the new cohort of Latinos arriving for freshman orientation at the Capitol. At least seven new Latino lawmakers will serve their first term in either the House or Senate in the 119th Congress.

Two Latinos will be sworn in as United States Senators in January. In Arizona, Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego won the open Senate seat vacated by retiring independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, defeating Republican Kari Lake, a former TV news broadcaster and conspiracy theorist who still hasn’t conceded her failed gubernatorial bid two years ago.

Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran of Mexican descent who grew up in a working-class family in Chicago, has served in the House since 2014, representing Arizona’s 7th District, which includes Phoenix and parts of Glendale. His campaign raised over $56 million to defeat Lake, including nearly $9 million from the retirement industry and over $1 million from the financial services industry, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.

A former member of the House Progressive Caucus, Gallego moderated his messaging to win statewide, running a disciplined campaign focused on pocketbook issues like reducing the cost of consumer goods and securing water rights in Arizona’s tribal areas. Advocating for Native Americans has been central to Gallego’s legislative efforts in the House.

Gallego sponsored two bills that passed the House in 2020-21, providing funding for healthcare and educational services to Native veterans. In addition to serving on the House Natural Resources Committee, Gallego was also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, where he championed a hard-fought $95 billion aid package to allies in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which President Joe Biden signed in April.

Senator-elect Gallego will join Latino Democrats Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Alex Padilla of California in the upper chamber of Congress.

In Ohio, Republican challenger Bernie Moreno defeated three-term Democratic incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown, winning 50.2% of the vote to Brown’s 46.4%. Moreno, who migrated from Bogotá, Colombia, to Florida at age five with his family, will be Ohio’s first Latino senator.

Moreno built his fortune and name recognition in Ohio by founding a series of luxury automobile dealerships. He first ran for the Senate in 2021 to replace retiring GOP Senator Rob Portman but dropped out after meeting with Donald Trump, who favored now Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for the seat.

Formerly a supporter of citizenship pathways for undocumented migrants, Moreno took a hard-right turn in recent years, calling for an end to birthright citizenship and mass deportations. He is also a vocal supporter of Trump’s border wall and opposed a bipartisan border bill that failed to pass the Senate twice this year.

As a candidate, Moreno named energy policy as his top priority, potentially foreshadowing a committee assignment on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He supports increasing domestic production of coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power. A longtime advocate of LGBTQ rights, Moreno has a gay son, and his businesses sponsored the 2014 Gay Games in Akron

Moreno will join Latino Republican Ted Cruz of Texas in the Senate. Florida Senator Marco Rubio will most likely be leaving Congress to serve as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State.

The House of Representatives will welcome at least five new Latinos freshmen in January, four Democrats and one Republican. Democrat Luz Rivas won California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the city of San Fernando and parts of Los Angeles. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rivas studied engineering at MIT and education at Harvard before serving in the California State Assembly, where she passed a resolution to remove the term “alien” when referring to migrants in state law. Rivas won her election in a landslide over GOP challenger Benny Bernal, succeeding retiring Democrat Tony Cárdenas.

Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a Democrat of Mexican and Sicilian descent, won California’s 16th Congressional District. Liccardo’s Mexican family roots trace back to California’s founding. First elected mayor in 2014, Liccardo eased construction restrictions to increase housing units and expanded mass transit options, such as buses and bike lanes, to alleviate traffic congestion around the city. His congressional campaign focused on housing affordability in the Bay Area and defending democracy by making voting more accessible. Liccardo won in a landslide over fellow Democratic challenger Evan Low.

Democrat Laura Gillen won New York’s 4th Congressional District, becoming the first Latina to represent Long Island in Congress. Gillen, the former town supervisor of Hempstead, is of Puerto Rican descent. She ran on gun safety, citizenship pathways for migrants, and supporting Israel, narrowly defeating incumbent House Republican Anthony D’Esposito 51-49%.

Democrat Nellie Pou, also of Puerto Rican heritage, won New Jersey’s 9th District, becoming the first Latina to represent the Garden State in Congress. A career civil servant in Bergen County, Pou has served nearly three decades in the statehouse, including as Latino caucus chair in the senate. She won her four-way race against Republican Billy Prempeh and two independent candidates by less than four points for the seat vacated by the late Congressman Bill Pascrel who died in August.

Republican Abe Hamadeh, of Syrian and Venezuelan descent, won Arizona’s 8th District, which includes parts of Phoenix and Maricopa County. A former Army intelligence officer, Hamadeh was endorsed by Trump in a midterm race he lost two years ago. This year he found a winning message emphasizing sanctions on China, immigration enforcement, and denying the result of the 2020 election. He beat Democrat Gregory Whitten in a landslide to replace retiring Republican Deb Lesko.

As this issue goes to press, several Congressional races remain undecided, though it appears Republicans will maintain control of the House. That will give the GOP a trifecta, the White House as well as the House and Senate, along with a supermajority in the Supreme Court.