Latinos turn up the heat on Obama: Remember, you owe us more!

After the withdrawal of Bill Richardson’s name as an Obama administration Cabinet nominee, Hispanic leaders say they expect the president-elect to name another Latino to head the Commerce Department.

An Obama transition team source said a veteran California congressman, Xavier Becerra, has emerged as the leading congressional candidate to replace Richardson, the Hispanic governor of New Mexico, as President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for a job that will include overseeing the 2010 U.S. Census…

…San Antonio Congressman Charlie Gonzalez said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is meeting in Washington this week, “will be coalescing with other groups on a specific person to recommend” as Richardson’s replacement. He declined to name any candidate.

He said Hispanic groups would strongly push to have a qualified Hispanic named as Richardson’s replacement because of the need to have minorities, especially Hispanics, properly accounted for in the Census.