WASHINGTON — Editor's note: The above video aired in a late October newscast.
As expected, the Latino vote made a difference during the 2020 election and now the president-elect, Joe Biden, is expected to represent the minority that gave him the win over President Donald Trump.
Among the names of potential candidates for Biden’s cabinet are U.S. Reps. Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego, according to NBC News.
Both Grijalva and Gallego were re-elected in November for another term.
Grijalva has served Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District since 2003 and Gallego has been serving Arizona’s 7th Congressional District since 2015.
Biden was able to flip traditionally Republican states such as Arizona and, according to NBC, exit polls show that Biden had 66% of the Latino vote.
In Florida, even though Trump won Florida and gained Latino voters, Biden kept 53% of the Latino vote and Trump 45%. According to NBC News exit polls, 55% of Cuban Americans, 30% of Puerto Ricans and 48% of other Latinos voted for Trump.
Now Biden is expected to include no less than five Latinos in cabinet positions. During Obama’s two terms, he had a total of six Latinos in his cabinet.
Even when names of those being considered are not being made public by Biden’s transition team, there is a list created by Latino leaders and groups.
Here are some of the suggested names for the cabinet:
- Xavier Becerra -- California Attorney General for U.S. Attorney General or Head of the Department of Homeland Security
- Tom Perez -- chair of the Democratic National Committee for U.S. Attorney General
- Ali Mayorkas – for Department of Homeland Security Secretary
- Louis Caldera – for Department of Homeland Security Secretary
- Raúl Grijalva – U.S. Representative for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District for head of the Department of Interior
- Michelle Lujan Grisham – former New Mexico’s health director for Health and Human Services or Energy
- Lily Eskelsen-Garcia – teacher from Utah for the National Education Association
- Pedro Rivera – former Pennsylvania secretary of education for the National Education Association
- Julián Castro – presidential candidate from Texas for Labor, Commerce, U.N. ambassador or consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Ruben Gallego – U.S. Representative for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District for U.N. ambassador
- Jimmy Gomez – California’s Representative for Labor Department of U.S. trade representative
- Eric Garcetti – Los Angeles Mayor for Transportation Secretary
If any of the above candidates get selected to be part of Biden’s cabinet and they’re currently serving in a position finding a replacement would be the next step.
For any Democrats who have been elected for the U.S. House, that would involve a special election for a replacement since that would mean a smaller majority in the House.
According to NBC, NHLA wrote a letter to Biden urging him to increase the Hispanic representation in federal personal from the current 8.4% to 20%.
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