WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Last week, Ramona E. Romero, the HNBA National President, formally congratulated President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden for their victory in the 2008 presidential election. In her letter, Ms. Romero noted that two-thirds of the Latino electorate joined President-Elect Obama’s diverse base of supporters to contribute to his win on November 4th. The Latino vote was key in battleground states such as Florida, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. In fact, at least 10 million Latino voters cast ballots, an increase in participation of 32% from the 2004 Presidential Election.

“The power of the Latino vote was evident during this election,” said Ms. Romero. She added that “we are both hopeful and confident that President-Elect Obama will select cabinet members and other advisors whose backgrounds reflect the rich diversity of our Country and of the voters who supported his candidacy.” She concluded by stating that “the HNBA has called on the President-Elect to appoint more Hispanics to the federal bench, and urged him to make history yet again by nominating a Hispanic to fill the first U.S. Supreme Court vacancy that occurs during his term.” No person of Latino origin has ever served on the U.S. Supreme Court.