399 Determinants of Latino Representation LEGISLATIVE STUDIES QUARTERLY, XXXIV, 3, August 2009 399 JASON P. CASELLAS The University of Texas at Austin The Institutional and Demographic Determinants of Latino Representation Under what conditions are Latino candidates elected to Congress and state legislatures? How much does the ethnic composition of a district affect the chances that a Latino candidate will be elected in that district? Latinos constitute the single largest minority group in the country, one that is growing at an exponential rate. Post-2000 redistricting created more majority-Latino districts, but the absolute number of Latino legislators did not increase correspondingly. My analysis demonstrates that states with citizen legislatures and with higher legislative turnover rates are more conducive to the election of Latino candidates than are other states. Institutional and demographic differences among states affect the states’ Latino descriptive represen- tation. Namely, the institutional design of the legislature matters in terms of electoral responsiveness, with Arizona and California being the most responsive bodies and New York and the U.S. House the least responsive. Latino membership 1 in American legislative institutions has no doubt increased in the past decade, but Latinos are still descriptively underrepresented in Congress and state legislatures. This article examines Latino representation in all 50 states by tracking the number of Latino representatives serving in legislatures over the past decade and comparing the percentage of Latinos in the state population with the percentage of Latinos in each legislature. Congress has long been the focal point for studies of representation, but this is the first comparative analysis of Congress and state legislatures. This analysis offers significant advantages. First, it increases the number of Latino legislators who can be studied. Only 23 Latinos currently serve in Congress (excluding Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico), so focusing exclusively on how those politicians gained office does not provide adequate leverage on the central questions of Latino representation. Approximately 220 Latino representatives serve in the 50 state legislatures, offering scholars a