What do you know about the 54 Latinos elected to statewide office in California? Find out.

The final votes have been counted … and state Sen. Melissa Hurtado became the last of 54 Latinos to win election in a statewide contest.

Hurtado had trailed Republican challenger David Shepard in the 16th District since Election Day until recent vote updates from Fresno and Kern counties gave her a slight lead that ranged from 12 votes to 45 votes.

Thursday, her advantage was 20 votes. She won by .008 percentage points.

Here is a look Latino candidates who won in statewide races:

State Senate

Marie Alvarado-Gil, a Democrat, finished second in a field of eight primary candidates and then won the general election with 52.7% of the vote in District 4. The heavily Republican district (six GOP candidates, including former Congressman George Radanovich, split about 60% of the primary vote) covers all or parts of 13 counties and includes portions of Madera, Merced and Stanislaus counties. Fact: The public school educator raised $14,000 in contributions and had no major endorsements for the primary.

Anna Caballero, a 67-year-old Democrat, was reelected with 56.1% of the District 14 vote. Caballero avoided an intraparty race when colleague Melissa Hurtado moved into a neighboring district. Caballero has served on the Salinas City Council and state Assembly. Born to a family of copper miners in Arizona, she went on to earn a law degree and worked for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. Fact: For her swearing-in ceremony, Caballero took two buses of supporters to the Capitol.

Melissa Hurtado, a 34-year-old Democrat made history four years ago by becoming the youngest person elected to the state Legislature. This year, she made history by winning the 16th District in one of the closest races in state history by 24 votes over Republican challenger David Shepard. Fact: While awaiting the election count, Hurtado traveled to a climate change conference in Egypt and also got engaged.

Steve Padilla, a 55-year-old Democrat, was elected with 59.8% of the vote in District 18. The former police detective is a lifelong resident of Chula Vista. He was first elected to the Chula Vista City Council in 1996 and took a 10-year break before running for the council in 2016. Fact: Padilla is the first Latino and first openly LGBTQ person to be elected to the Chula Vista City Council.

Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat whose parents immigrated from El Salvador, won the 22nd District with 58.5% of the vote. A lifelong resident of the San Fernando Valley, she is a Marine Corps veteran. Menjivar earned a bachelor of arts from Cal State Northridge and a master of social work from UCLA. Fact: Menjivar, who identifies as LGBTQ, worked for Los Ángeles City Councilmember Nury Martínez and worked for Mayor Garcetti’s Gender Equity Office.

Susan Rubio, a 51-year-old Democrat born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México, won a second term when voters in the 22nd District gave her 58.5% of their votes. Rubio has served on the Baldwin Park City Council, and has worked as a public school teacher for 17 years. Fact: Her ex-husband is former Assemblymember Roger Hernández, and her sister, Blanca Rubio, is in the state Assembly.

María Elena Durazo, a 69-year-old Democrat, was reelected with 82.9% of the vote in District 26. Before winning a state Senate seat in 2018, she was the most powerful union leader in Los Ángeles as the secretary-treasurer of the Los Ángeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Her late husband, Dinuba native Miguel Contreras, had held that post. Fact: She was born to farmworker parents in Madera.

Bob Archuleta, a 77-year-old Democrat, was reelected with 61% of the vote in District 30. A U.S. Army veteran, he was first elected to the state Senate in 2018. He served on the Pico Rivera City Council. Fact: He was a reserve officer with the Montebello Police Department.

State Assembly

Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat, won her reelection with 66.2% of the vote in District 4. She was first elected in 2016. Aguiar-Curry, 68, co-owns the family walnut farm in Winters. She earned a degree in business administration from San José State. Fact: She is the first woman to serve as mayor of Winters.

Josh Hoover, a Republican, defeated Democratic incumbent Ken Cooley with 50.4% of the vote in District 7. Hoover had been chief of staff for Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, who was elected to Congress. Hoover, who was born in Fresno, earned degrees from UCLA and USC. Fact: His family, whose mother’s roots are from Spain and México, moved to the Folsom area in 1999.

Carlos Villapudua defeated a fellow Democrat to win reelection with 60.6% of the vote in District 13. Villapudua, who was first elected in 2020, had previously served on the San Joaquín County Board of Supervisors. Fact: He was succeeded by his cousin, Miguel Villapudua, on the board of supervisors.

Mía Bonta, a Democrat, was elected by 89.9% of the vote in District 18. She won a special election to fill the post after Gov. Gavin Newsom picked her husband, Rob Bonta, as state attorney general. Bonta, who is Puerto Rican, earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard. Fact: Growing up, she and her family moved 13 times in 16 years.

Liz Ortega, a Democrat, was reelected with 62.1% of the vote in District 20. She was statewide political director for the AFSCME from 2013 to 2017. Ortega was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México and came to the U.S. when she was 3. Fact: She was the first Latina to serve as executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council.

Juan Alanis, a Republican won District 22 with 58.1% of the vote. He has 27 years of law enforcement experience, including as a member of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office where he was most recently a sergeant. Alanis had previously run for sheriff. Fact: His son Corbin is a member of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

Esmeralda Soria, a Democrat, was elected to the 27th District with 51.3% of the vote. She previously served eight years on the Fresno City Council. Soria, who grew up in Lindsay as the daughter of farmworkers, earned her law degree from UC Davis. She was policy director for former state Sen. Michael Rubio. Fact: Her sisters Perla Soria (Lindsay school board) and Ivet Soria (Lindsay Hospital District) also serve in elected office.

Robert Rivas, a Democrat, was reelected with 63.8% of the vote in District 29. A native of Nevada, Rivas was first elected to the Assembly in 2018 and has been chosen to succeed the current Assembly Speaker. He served two terms on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors. Fact: His grandfather was a strong advocate of the United Farm Workers, and worked alongside César E. Chávez.

Joaquín Arámbula, a Democrat, was reelected with 60.7% of the vote in District 31 against a Democratic opponent. Arámbula won a special election in 2016 to the Assembly. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Juan Arámbula, who served three terms in the Assembly. Fact: Arámula is the first Latino doctor to be elected to the Assembly.

Eduardo García, a Democrat, was reelected with 53.4% of the vote in District 36. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2014. García is a native of Indio, and graduated from UC Riverside. Fact: He was 29 years old when he became the first elected mayor of Coachella.

Juan Carrillo, a Democrat, was elected with 57% of the vote in District 39. Born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, he moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 15. He worked as a city planner for 15 years, including 10 with the city of Palmdale. Fact: Carrillo was the only Democrat on any city council in the Antelope Valley.

Luz Marie Rivas, a Democrat, was reelected with 74.6% over the vote in District 43. She was first elected in 2018 in a special election. Rivas, who was born in Los Ángeles, earned a degree in electrical engineering from MIT, and a master’s of education from Harvard. Fact: Rivas started a non-profit organization DIY Girls to encourage girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

James C. Ramos, a Democrat, was reelected with 60.8% of the vote in District 45. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2018. He previously served on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Fact: Ramos, a lifelong resident of the San Miguel Indian Reservation, is the first Native American elected to the Assembly.

Blanca Rubio, a Democrat, was reelected with 60.8% of the vote in District 48. She was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México and was undocumented. She became a U.S. citizen in 1994. Rubio graduated from Azusa Pacific and worked as a teacher. Fact: Rubio’s sister, Susan, is a state Senator.

Eloise Gómez Reyes, a Democrat, was reelected with 56.9% of the vote in District 50. She was first elected to the Assembly in 2016. Gómez Reyes earned her law degree from Loyola Law School after graduating from USC. Fact: In 2020, she became the first Latina to serve as Assembly Majority Leader.

Rick Chávez Zbur, a Democrat, was elected to the 51st District with 54.9% of the vote. He is a longtime attorney who has fought on behalf of environmental and LGBTQ issues. He served in the Korean War with the U.S. Air Force. Fact: Chávez Zbur grew up in the Río Grande Valley of New México, where his mother’s family lived for generations.

Wendy Carrillo, a Democrat, was reelected with 56.9% of the vote in District 52. She was first elected in a 2017 special election. Carrillo was born in El Salvador, and was a child when her mother fled the country’s civil war to settle in Los Ángeles. She graduated from Cal State Los Ángeles and earned her master’s at USC. Fact: She was among 13 candidates who ran in the special election, and finished first with 22.2% of the vote.

Freddie Rodríguez, a Democrat, was reelected with 60.1% of the vote in District 53. He was first elected in 2013. Rodríguez served on the Pomona City Council. He worked as a first responder in the San Gabriel Valley for more than 30 years. Fact: In 205, he helped victims of Hurricanes Kartina and Rita in Texas, Louisiana and Texas as an EMT.

Miguel Santiago, a Democrat, was reelected with 78.6% of the vote in District 54. He was first elected in 2014. Santiago worked as a district director for former Assembly Speaker John Pérez. Santiago has served on the Los Ángeles Community College District board of directors. Fact: He was the first in his family to graduate from college (UCLA).

Liz Calderón, a Democrat, was reelected with 58.5% of the vote in District 56. She was first elected in 2020. She was government affairs director for Edison International, and was a legislative aide to former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. Fact: She is not the only family member in politics. Her husband, Charles Calderón, served in the state Senate and Assembly. Her stepson, Ian Calderón, served in the Assembly.

Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat, was reelected with 53.6% of the vote in District 58. She was first elected in 2016 when she defeated a Republican incumbent. Cervantes graduated from UC Riverside. Fact: In 2020, she became the first California legislator to give birth to triplets when she had two boys and a girl.

Anthony Rendón, a Democrat and Assembly Speaker, was reelected with 63.9% of the vote in District 62. The grandson of Mexican immigrants, he was first elected in 2012. He was an adjunct professor at Cal State Fullerton, where he earned his bachelor and master’s degrees. Fact: Rendón is the fifth-longest serving Assembly Speaker.

Blanca Pacheco, a Democrat, was elected with 61.4% of the vote in District 64. Her mother is on the Cerritos College Board of Trustees, and her father worked as a school bus driver and school district locksmith. Fact: She was the first Latina elected to the Downey City Council and its first Latina mayor.

Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat, was reelected with 53.3% of the vote in District 67. She was first elected in 2012. She earned degrees from UCLA and Cal State Fullerton. Quirk-Silva was a teacher for more than 30 years. Fact: Quirk-Silva served as mayor of Fullerton, as did her husband, Jesús Silva, who is currently on the council.

Avelino Valencia, a Democrat, was elected with 62.3% of the vote in District 68. He was a staff member for Assemblymember Tom Daley when he won a seat on the Anaheim City Council. The 34-year-old Valencia is the son of immigrants and a first-generation college graduate. Fact: He played football at San José State as a tight end.

Kate Sánchez, a Republican, was elected with 51.3% of the vote in District 71 against a fellow Republican. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Salve Regina University, a private college in Rhode Island. Fact: Sánchez once worked for Democratic Congressman Ed Roybal.

David Álvarez, a Democrat, was reelected with 69.3% of the vote in District 80 against fellow Democrat Georgette Gómez. Álvarez won a special election in June to win an Assembly seat. He served eight years on the San Diego City Council. Fact: He was a community liaison for former state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny.

House of Representatives

Salud Carbajal, a Democrat who was first elected in 2016, got 60.7% of the vote in the 24th Congressional District to easily win reelection. The 58-year-old was born in Moroleón, Guanajuato, México and migrated with his family to Arizona and then Oxnard where the family worked in the fields. The Marine Corps veteran served three terms on the Santa Bárbara Board of Supervisors. Fact: Of the 14 Latinos in the House, Carbajal represents the northernmost district.

Raúl Ruiz, a 50-year-old Democrat who has been in the House since 2013, won reelection with 57.4% of the vote in the Palm Desert-centered 25th Congressional District. He was born in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, México and grew up in Coachella. He worked as an emergency room physician in Rancho Mirage. Fact: Ruiz is the first Latino to earn three graduate degrees (Doctor of Medicine, Master of Public Policy, and Master of Public Health) from Harvard.

Mike García, a 46-year-old Republican and former U.S. Navy pilot, was reelected with 53.2% of the vote in the 27th Congressional District. Fact: In all three of his election wins, including a 2020 special election, García defeated Democratic candidate Christy Smith in the district surrounding Santa Clarita.

Tony Cárdenas, a 58-year-old Democrat first elected to Congress in 2012, won reelection to the 29th District with 58.6% of the vote. He served in the state Assembly (1996-2002) before being elected to the Los Ángeles City Council. Fact: He is among 11 children born to immigrants from Jalisco, México. His father picked crops near Stockton when he first arrived in California.

Grace Napolitano, a Democrat and the sixth-oldest member of Congress at age 86, won reelection to the 31st District with 59.5% of the vote. Napolitano, who represented the San Gabriel area in Congress since 1999, also served in the state Assembly (1992-98). Napolitano was elected to the Norwalk City Council by 28 votes in 1986. Fact: Napolitano was an executive at Ford Motor Company for 21 years before retiring in 1992.

Peter Aguilar, the 43-year-old Democrat was reelected with 57.7% of the vote in the 33rd District. Aguilar, who also served as Redlands mayor, was first elected to Congress in 2014. In 2006, he became the youngest-ever member of the Redlands City Council when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. Fact: Aguilar was named by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Jimmy Gómez, a 48-year-old Democrat, was reelected to the 34th District with 51.2% of the vote. He won a special election in 2017 to fill the vacancy created when Xavier Becerra was elected state attorney general. Gómez was a labor organizer. Fact: His father worked as a bracero before marrying and raising his children in México. Gómez was born in Fullerton.

Norma J. Torres, a 58-year-old Democrat who was born in Guatemala, was reelected with 57.4% of the vote in the 35th District. She has previously served in the state Senate, state Assembly, the Pomona City Council and as Pomona mayor. She worked as a dispatcher for the Los Ángeles Police Department. Fact: In late November, Torres accused El Salvador President Nayib Bukele of participating in “foreign election interference” when he encouraged a no vote for her.

Linda T. Sánchez, a 53-year-old Democrat, won reelection with 58.1% of the vote in the 38th District. She earned her law degree from UCLA School of Law. She was first elected in 2002, and later became part of the first sisters to serve in the House alongside her sister Loretta Sánchez. Fact: Sánchez became the eighth House member to give birth while in office.

Robert García, a 43-year-old Democrat who was born in Perú, was elected to the 42nd District with 68.4% of the vote. He was elected Long Beach mayor in 2014. On Dec. 2, he was elected freshman class president of the 118th Congress. Fact: García is the first LGBTQ+ immigrant elected to the House.

Nanette Díaz Barragán, the 46-year-old Democrat from Los Ángeles was reelected with 72.2% of the vote in the 44th District. She was on the Hermosa Beach City Council (2013-15), was first elected to Congress in 2016. She earned her law degree from USC, and a bachelor’s in political science from UCLA. Fact: She is one of 11 children born to an immigrant family from México.

Lou Correa, a 64-year-old Democrat from East Los Ángeles, was reelected to Congress with 61.8% of the vote in District 46. Correa served on the state Senate, state Assembly and the Orange County Board of Supervisors before getting elected to Congress in 2016. Fact: Correa, who now lives in Santa Ana, was 2 when his mother died in a car accident in México and his father moved the family to Zacatecas.

Mike Levin, the 44-year-old Democrat was reelected with 52.6% of the vote in the 49th District. He was first elected in 2018. Levin, whose mother is Mexican American, was raised in both the Catholic and Jewish faiths. He was student body president at Stanford. Fact: In the 2018 primary, Levin was among 16 candidates on the ballot. He finished second and went on to win the general election.

Juan Vargas, the 61-year-old Democrat was reelected with 66.7% of the vote in the 52nd District. He was first elected to Congress in 2012 after having served in the state Senate, state Assembly and the San Diego City Council. His father was a bracero. Fact: Vargas earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Barack Obama.

Sen. Alex Padilla, Democrat

The 49-year-old Angelino actually won twice: A full, 6-year-term to the U.S. Senate and the rest of the term for his predecessor, Kamala Harris, for which Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to. Padilla won easily with 61.1% and 60.9%, respectively. He previously served as California Secretary of State, as well as in the state Senate

Fact: Padilla was the first Latino and youngest person elected Los Ángeles City Council President in 2001 at age 28. He is also the first Latino to be chosen president of the California League of Cities.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Democrat

Lara – the 48-year-old son of a formerly undocumented factory worker and seamstress from México – easily won reelection with 60% of the vote against Robert Howell, a Republican businessman. Lara was the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in California. Lara previously served in the state Senate and Assembly.

Fact: As a state Senator, he introduced a single-payer healthcare plan in 2017 that would cover all Californians with a publicly operated plan. Lara also ran into a scandal when he accepted campaign contributions from healthcare providers after vowing during his 2018 campaign that he wouldn’t do so.

Secretary of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond

Thurmond, the son of a U.S. soldier and an immigrant mother from Panamá, easily won reelection with 63.7% of the vote. He previously served in the state Assembly. The office is non-partisan, but Thurmond is a Democrat.

Fact: His father left the family, leaving them in poverty Thurmond, who remembers living on government food handouts like cheese, was Temple University student body president and earned two master degrees at Bryn Mawr College.

Board of Equalization District 3 Tony Vázquez

Vázquez cruised to reelection with 70.4% of the vote to represent a district that includes all of Ventura County, most of Los Ángeles County and a part of San Bernardino County. The board is responsible for tax administration and fee collection, including property taxes and sales/use taxes.

Fact: Vázquez was the first Latino to be elected to the board, and the first and only Latino to be elected mayor of Santa Mónica.

This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 9:48 AM with the headline "What do you know about the 54 Latinos elected to statewide office in California? Find out.."