The Nation - News from Aug. 31, 1989
“The Cubans won!” salsa singer Celia Cruz shouted in Spanish as Cuban-Americans and southern Republicans celebrated Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s election to Congress in Miami. Ros-Lehtinen defeated Gerald Richman after an ethnically divisive campaign for the late Claude Pepper’s seat. “Now it’s time for healing, now we have to reach out to all those (ethnically divided) sections,” Ros-Lehtinen declared. Ros-Lehtinen is the first Cuban-American elected to Congress. Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater expressed delight at the GOP’s latest Southern success; the party picked up a seat held by a liberal Democrat for 27 years and won its first congressional victory in Dade County.
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