ABSTRACT
A new wave of Latino representation on Beacon Hill was established with the election of three Latino legislators to the Massachusetts State legislature in November 1998. 1 The 200-seat Massachusetts State Legislature is comprised of 160 House seats plus 40 Senate seats. Three Latino legislators in a sea of representatives may seem like a miniscule number, but the political science literature reveals that there are concrete benefits that ethnic groups are likely to receive as a result of having a small but growing number of elected officials.
