The Arkansas House of Representatives on June 17, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
Northwest Arkansas, where the Hispanic population has been increasing for three decades, will send its first Latino legislators to Little Rock this month.
Democrat Diana Gonzales Worthen and Republican Randy Torres are members of the Arkansas House’s freshman class who will be sworn in at the start of the legislative session on Jan. 13.
Gonzales Worthen will represent House District 9, the state’s first Hispanic-majority district, after defeating Republican Rep. Deanna Hodges in a rematch of their 2022 race. The Springdale Democrat said she knew she was the state’s first Latina lawmaker, but seeing the impact of that has been “a whole other ball game.”
Just days after November’s election, Gonzales Worthen said she attended an American Heart Association event for Hispanic women where she was surprised by people congratulating her, calling her a role model and asking for photos.