Being the new kids on the block is always fraught with challenges. Perhaps no one knows that better than Pedro "Pete" Marin (D-Duluth) and David Casas (R-Lilburn), the first members of the Georgia House of Representatives to claim Hispanic ancestry.

Georgia tops the list of states with the fast-growing Latino populations, having added nearly 17 percent between July 2000 and July 2002 to reach 516,000 residents. It wasn't until last year that Marin and Casas became the first to represent that slice of the population in the House.

At the same time, the Georgia Senate welcomed its first Hispanic member, Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta).
But Marin and Casas share more than the honor of being Georgia's first Hispanic representatives. Both were sworn into public office for the first time last year; both represent segments of Gwinnett County; both have been involved in a variety of community projects; and both came from newly-formed districts where they ran unopposed.

The most glaring difference between the two is party affiliation: Marin is a Democrat; Casas, a Republican. But their learning curves have been quite similar, particularly when it comes to figuring out protocol.

"When you're a part-time legislator, you only have so much time to do things, " Marin said. "You have to draw up the bill, get signatures, present it, put it through committees and subcommittees, then it goes to the Senate and comes back. It's all part of the business." Working through that drawn-out procedural process came as a surprise to Casas.

"As a social studies teacher, I'm big on procedure, " said Casas, who teaches at McEachern High School in Cobb County. "But I soon learned that you don't just introduce a bill and then sit back and wait for it to go through." "The most important thing for me has been establishing personal connections. This is a big people business and sometimes that's more important than explaining to a committee chairman how I feel about a bill." Marin admits to arriving at the state Capitol for his first House session last year with more than a bit of trepidation.

"I'm a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico and I consider myself Latino, but I was worried about how I would be received, " he said. "As it turns out, I was incredibly well-received by everybody – white and black, man and woman, Republican and Democrat. I now have people who try to speak Spanish to me – in that bad language they learned in high school." Becoming a state legislator seemed a natural progression for Marin, who has developed extensive contacts through projects he's worked on in the Latino community.

"I was a Scout leader for 15 years and worked with the Boy Scouts' Northeast Georgia Council, " he said. "Doing that, I spent a lot of time knocking on doors trying to bring Latino families into the program and I saw needs in all areas, from health to housing. And I developed a Latino initiative for the Gwinnett Housing Resource Partnership." In 2002, Marin became the executive director of the nonprofit Mexican Center of Atlanta. In the course of his job, he quickly became an outspoken community leader. But that's not the focus of his political career.

"I ran not as a Latino, but just as anybody else who happens to have a Latino name, " said Marin, whose district is 30 percent Latino and 25 percent African-American. "I had my name on more than 28 pieces of legislation about different issues." Marin's graffiti bill, which uses inmate labor to clean up gang graffiti, marked the first time a Latino legislator presented a bill that became law. It inspired him to continue working on gang-related issues, particularly to increase penalties for gang activities.

"I don't want anyone to think because I ran unopposed I'm not doing my job, " he said.

For years, Casas envisioned himself working behind the political scene, developing policies that focused largely on education. His passion was obvious even to students, one of whom he credits with getting him to think about running for office.

Casas started by getting involved with the Republican Party in Gwinnett in 2000 and, two years later, running in a district with a 22 percent minority population.

Though his first session last year centered largely on the debate about drivers' licenses for immigrants, Casas' chief interests still lie in education.

"For example, school councils were always principal-driven, but we opened them up for anyone who wants to be on them, " he said. "It's the epitome of local control, with people from the community controlling budget allocations, school improvements and curriculum direction." Casas also worked on a successful bill to reduce the burden of technology training requirements for veteran teachers.

"The law had them taking intensive training on things such as Web site development that most teachers don't need when you only use PowerPoint and e-mail, " he said.

Casas' attention also has been largely centered on two big issues facing the state: the budget and redistricting. But he's still thinking about education as he works on a bill that would require county commissioners to consider the impact on schools when making zoning decisions.

"The biggest difference for me this year is that I'm more pragmatic, " he said. "When I wasn't an elected official, I had issues I was passionate about. Now I know there's only so much you can get done."