Washington DC - Newly-elected progressive representatives held a press conference on Thursday to "set the record straight" on Latino voters and the part they played during the 2022 Midterm Elections.

A Red Wave was supposed to sweep the country on Election Day, and for many pundits and analysts, it was Latino voters who would be the crest of that wave.

While many races remain to be called, one thing is already clear: that Red Wave never materialized. Control over Congress is still very much in the balance, and whichever way things ultimately swing, Republicans won't have the kind of majorities that were predicted.

That's already pretty good news for Democrats, and so are the successes of some of their progressive candidates, who on Thursday were keen to stress one particular message: Latinos aren't moving to the right, they're moving towards elected officials who will represent and fight for them.

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That's exactly what newly-elected Congressmembers Delia Ramirez, Greg Casar, and Maxwell Frost are promising to do.

At a press conference held together with the Working Families Party and the progressive organization Mijente, the three representatives-elect offered a necessary corrective to the pre-election narratives.

As Mijente Executive Director Marisa Franco put it, Latino voters were set up as the "fall guy" ahead of the expected Democratic losses.

"People kept saying there would be a Red Wave. That Red Wave never made it to Illinois," said Delia Ramirez, who became Illinois' first Latina member of Congress. "As a matter a fact, Latinos up and down the ballot in the state of Illinois won their races... These are people who represent their communities."

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It was a point echoed by Casar, the former Austin City Council member who won the race to represent Texas' 35th congressional district: "Across the country, Latino voters did not move to the right. Instead, they showed up for candidates that showed up for working people."

In fact, he pointed out, "there will be more progressive Latinos in Congress than at any other time in American history."

For Casar, as well as his new colleagues, there's no doubt over what kind of political commitments will attract votes: "Despite what you read sometimes in the papers or see on TV, the majority of Latino voters support reproductive freedom, want to see a raised minimum wage, want to see corporate accountability, and support our labor movement."

His proof? Huge majorities in both the Democratic primaries and Tuesday's elections.

Florida Representative-elect Frost, who at the age of just 25 made history as the first Gen Z member of Congress, progressive politics are a natural home for Latinos.

"When it's up to us as Latinos, everybody has shelter... everybody eats. And that's what our message is all about, right? It's housing for everybody, it's healthcare as a human right, it's thrivable wages."

But these values need to be both transmitted consequentially and put into practice for these communities to trust politicians with their vote.

"Latinos want to elect candidates who will represent them," Ramirez insisted, "Because what they need more than ever – and they expect as they should – is people that are going to deliver for them, not just talk about it."

Transactional relationships with elected representatives are no longer an option for those who have been let down by successive governments when it comes to immigration reform and economic change.

Marisa Franco of Mijente expressed that sentiment in even starker terms: "I think that the Democratic Party in particular should not view this [Latino] turnout as a bailout and it should not absolve the responsibility of the party to continue to not only court our community, but to engage and deliver."

That means more support for people power, community solutions, and candidates who, as Ramirez put it, make politics intensely personal.