While most minority members of Congress serve as Democrats, progress in the 118th Congress was made on the Republican side. Republican gains were albeit on a much lower level. The House of Representatives includes 26 minority Republicans, up from 21 two years ago. In the Senate, the picture is still more lopsided than in the House. A total 12 of 100 senators are non-white and/or of Latino ancestry, an increase from 11 two years ago due to Republicans gaining junior Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Cherokee Nation member from Oklahoma.
Otherwise, the Republicans gained mostly Latino members in 2023. There are now 16 Latino Republican Representatives, six of them first-term lawmakers. These include moderate former town councilman Anthony D'Esposito, who flipped New York’s 4th, and Republican-Libertarian cross-filer and former mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. On the other side of the spectrum are freedom caucus member Anna Paulina Luna from Florida, who endorsed by Trump embraced conspiracy theories during her campaign. Another Trump-endorsed Republican newcomer is Monica De La Cruz from Texas, who flipped another redrawn district - which actually included fewer Latino voters than before. Also likely standing further to the right is one of the most infamous Republican first-year Congresspeople - George Santos of New York's 3rd district, who has appeared on the podcast of former Trump advisor Stephen Bannon and has described himself as a MAGA candidate.

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