SACRAMENTO — Republican lawmakers, excluded from the Democrat-led California Latino Legislative Caucus, have taken matters into their own hands.
Nine Latino GOP legislators have created the California Hispanic Legislative Caucus to champion priorities that, they say, diverge from those prioritized by their liberal colleagues.
“My experience as a Latino is different than that of my immigrant grandmother,” said Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Acton), a former Assemblymember recently elected to the state Senate who helped create the GOP caucus. “The issues the Latino community want to focus on have been ignored by Sacramento.”
Those changes, she said, have been coming for a long time.
The California Legislature has undergone a historic shift and now includes 44 Latino lawmakers, more than a third of all state lawmakers and the most ever, a group that includes a growing number of Republicans. This comes at a time of evolving voter interests and demographic changes, with Republicans emphasizing that their new caucus will focus on Latino priorities around education, public safety and affordability and less on the “monolithic” issues that Democrats focus on, such as immigration and healthcare.
California’s changing political landscape became evident during the November election.
Overall, 51% of Latino voters voted for the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, but an estimated 54% of Latino men voted for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. Voters in California also helped flip two Democratic districts by electing Republican Assemblymembers Jeff Gonzalez of Indio and Leticia Castillo of Home Gardens, both Latinos.
“I view this as a very healthy development for the Latino community,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant and Latino demographics expert, who said Latino voters “are different” now than they were generations before. “I don’t think either party has ever had a monopoly on the hearts and minds of the Latino community.”
Both parties tend to align on the cost of living and the economy, especially among blue-collar, working-class Latinos. But, Madrid points out, Latino Republicans and Democrats won’t agree on policy issues that relate to abortion rights and immigration or anything “beyond the economy.” Among the top issues Latino voters care about are the cost of living, housing costs, jobs and the economy, according to a poll of 1,000 voters from the nonprofit Latino Community Foundation.
Valladares, who formed the Republican caucus alongside Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Trabuco Canyon) told The Times that “we are not monolithic.”
Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil of Jackson, a Democrat turned Republican, said she felt “shut down” by her Democrat counterparts. She also said the Democratic-led Latino Caucus would support “antiquated solutions” to issues such as farmworker rights that “keep Latinos under the monolithic umbrella of being poor, agricultural workers.”
“That’s not the modern-day Latino,” she said.
California’s Latino population accounts for more than a third of the state’s eligible voters, according to a 2024 study from UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute. Latino Californians remain the most underpaid for hourly work and more lack a high school diploma compared with any other major racial or ethnic group, the study found.
The Public Policy Institute of California found that Latinos are also the fastest-growing segment of the working class and shifted further right last year than in any election since 1994.
The 35-member Latino Caucus, historically led by Democrats after the first Latino lawmakers were elected in 1962, has focused on a wide range of policy priorities, including giving protections and equal access to immigrants regardless of legal status, promoting STEM programs in schools and expanding paid sick leave and housing to farmworkers.
“Even in the Latino Caucus, you have moderates, progressives and everything in between,” Miguel Santiago, a former Democratic assemblymember and Latino Caucus member. “But one thing that has always united us through every argument is our unwavering support for Latino communities, particularly those who are undocumented.”
Santiago said he is “skeptical about the sincerity” of the Hispanic Legislative Caucus representing Latino interests, particularly when it comes to protecting the undocumented and that those differences “are irreconcilable.”
Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), former Assembly speaker who left behind a legacy of progressive reforms, including giving farmworkers overtime pay and expanding childhood education, agrees that there should be a Latino caucus for each party.
“I never understood why they wanted to be part of our caucus other than obstructing us,” he said. “They would just yell, we’d take a vote, and they’d lose.”
This isn’t the first time Republicans have been excluded from joining the Latino Caucus. In 2014, Assemblymember Rocky Chavez was barred from joining, sparking a discussion over the diversity of opinion and policy goals among Latino policymakers.
Madrid said the increasing number of Latino Republicans is “a healthy sign” of diversity within the community and believes that the political system should allow for these differences, without forcing consensus on racial or cultural issues. Latinos are viewing the world less through the lens of their ethnicity and, he said, “that is progress.”
The Republican-led Hispanic Legislative Caucus will have nine members. It is currently registered as a nonprofit and a political action committee said Valladares, and they will begin supporting the reelection of incumbents and targeting other seats.
They await official recognition from legislative leadership and approval for “equal” funding as the Latino Caucus for staffing, an amount Valladares said is around $500,000. Legislative leaders as of Friday afternoon were not available to answer whether they would approve that funding.
