(AP) -- SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The soaring Hispanic population in Texas may not help Hispanic congressional hopefuls in the state's primary elections Tuesday.
Texas' Hispanic population grew by 2.8 million in the last decade, second only to California.
That drove a population boom that rewarded with Texas four new U.S. House seats, but there's no guarantee voters will elect more Hispanics to Congress.
Two of the new districts are predominantly Hispanic. But the front-runner in one is nine-term U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who is white, while Hispanic candidates in the other face a strong opponent in state lawmaker Mark Veasey, who is black.
Hispanic leaders largely blame how the districts were drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Despite the surge in Hispanic residents, Texas hasn't sent more than six Hispanics to Congress since 1997.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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