Despite recent gains, it is no major secret that Latinos are underrepresented in the American government. For example, Latino representation in Congress continues to lag in comparison with the total Latino population in the United States. While many factors contribute to this underrepresentation, one potential opening for Latino activists to shrink the representation gap is through community organization at the local level. Latino Mayors is among the first books to systematically examine the election of Latinos to mayoral positions both in traditional and new Latino destinations. As such, it offers a glimpse into the pipeline of prominent and upcoming Latino candidates, as well as an analysis of strategy for Latino mayors in a variety of geographical and governmental contexts. Perhaps even more importantly, the book speaks not only to the importance of mobilization, coalition-building, and leadership, but also to the changing conditions of America's cities in a postindustrial economy. These topics and the accessible nature of the case studies position the book to be of use to a variety of audiences: scholars and students of identity and urban politics, local political organizations and activists, and general readers interested in the past, present, and future of local politics.

The edited volume begins with a valuable introduction to contextualize the research and compare the rise of Latino mayors to that of other racial and ethnic groups, including African Americans and the Irish. It importantly notes that the path of Latino elected officials is not equivalent to these groups, given the economic and social changes that have faced American cities. The introduction is followed by a descriptive analysis of Latino mayors from 1984 to 2016 broken out by region of the country. More data-driven than the case studies that follow, this chapter neatly lays the groundwork for the theoretical development offered by the six cases that follow. The book groups the case studies into two regions, the West and Southwest and the East and South, before wrapping up with a concluding chapter that discusses the challenges facing postindustrial cities that Latino mayors find themselves leading. Ultimately, the book offers in-depth analysis of Latino mayors in Denver, Hartford, Los Angeles, Providence, San Antonio, and Miami-Dade County with clear connections to many more.

Of particular interest will be chapters 3 (San Antonio) and 5 (Los Angeles), which deal with the mayorships of Julián Castro and Antonio Villaraigosa, respectively. Both are potential candidates for state or federal office, with Villaraigosa recently coming in third place in the CA gubernatorial primary. While the two differ in style, these chapters highlight the challenge of building electoral and governing coalitions out of groups with different political interests. One theme that the editors of the book suggest is common across each of the mayors’ candidacies, however, is that they frequently downplay efforts to frame them as “the Latino candidate,” instead trying to build coalitions even in cities with large Latino populations.

Outside of traditional Latino destinations where one may expect to find Latino mayors, the case of two Latino mayors elected in Hartford, CT, Eddie Perez, and Pedro Segarra, is an especially fascinating chapter of the book. Hartford is now majority Latino and is characterized by a significant Puerto Rican activist base. Despite victories that promised hope for economically struggling Latinos and two divergent mayoral strategies, the authors find that the mayors had limited success in lifting the status of Latinos in Hartford. This highlights the difficult realities facing municipal leaders and the need for new strategies to revitalize postindustrial cities. The chapter also features a unique content analysis of State of the City addresses—a helpful methodology to provide evidence for the policy agendas of the case subjects.

The narratives are compelling throughout, but some readers may at times wish for additional evidence to back up general claims made in the case studies. Nonetheless, the book leaves room for a wealth of further research; for example, how might Latino mayors find success in smaller cities, in different partisan contexts, or in the Midwest, the region with the lowest occurrence of Latino mayorships? How might immigration issues like the establishment of sanctuary cities and cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement impact the electoral and governing strategies of Latino mayors? These promising avenues for future research underscore the importance of this work and the contribution of the volume to a growing area of study. Thus, Latino Mayors both provides and provokes important conversation—conversations that one could anticipate only growing in importance in the future.