Carlton's district is 35 percent Hispanic. AP Photo Seventy four percent of Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning's District 28 constituents are Hispanic, the largest percentage of any district in the state. Chowning speaks Spanish and attended college in Mexico and is confident she can represent the interests of Hispanics. Figures exceed 100 percent because Hispanics are considered an ethnic group who can be of any race. This quaint city of 52,000 nestled near the snow-capped Sierra Nevada has become a microcosm of the new Nevada, a state becoming increasingly Hispanic.
Hispanic people do the hard work.
They are the cooks in the restaurants, the hotel maids and the landscapers. They run auto repair shops and automobile rental agencies. Some are doctors, lawyers and business owners. But in the Legislature Building, there are no Spanish-surnamed people among the 63 legislators. Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, has a Hispanic mother, but none of the other 62 legislators has a Hispanic connection.