Latina Elected Officials Make History in States like Colorado, Illinois
*This is a big political, legislative year for Latinas. Many firsts in state legislatures and assemblies. VL
By Patricia Guadalupe, NBC News (9 minute read) 
Latina elected officials are making strides not just on the federal level with the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate and sworn in on Tuesday, but on the state and local level.
Colorado in particular stands out: It’s making history in 2017 with two Latinas in top positions.
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Democrat Crisanta Durán becomes the state’s first-ever Speaker of the House. Fellow Democrat Lucía Guzmán was re-elected Senate Minority Leader.
“This is a great honor (to be elected Speaker). I never would have imagined being Speaker of the House,” Durán tells NBC Latino, adding that she first decided to run for office because she felt “frustrated” by the lack of attention to several important issues. “There were a lot of issues in my community that I wanted to raise at the state level.”
[Photos courtesy of NBC News, Daniel X. O’Neil/Flickr]
