8 Latinas Who Paved the Way For Our Generation

Born in Havana, Cuba, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was the first Cuban-American elected to the United States Congress and the first Republican woman elected from Florida. She was also the first Latina to be elected for Congress. She has been elected to 14 full terms beginning in 1990 and ending in 2019, the last year she served.

Ros-Lehtinen is known for being conservative with a liberal vein. She was the first Republican member to support the Respect For Marriage Act, which supported same-sex marriage. She also gave the first Republican response to the State of the Union address in Spanish in 2011.