For nearly four years, we've highlighted Latinos of all nationalities and political ideologies — their successes and struggles. But the work isn't over.

Why it matters: Latinos make up 19% of the U.S. population, and that share will only grow as the country moves toward having no majority racial or ethnic group.

• Latinos are also on average a lot younger than most other demographic groups, and, in the wise words of the late Whitney Houston, we believe that children are our future. 
• U.S. Latinos contribute billions of dollars in economic growth and launch small businesses at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups. 

Stunning stat: U.S. Latinos' economic output reached $3.6 trillion in 2022, per the latest available data.

State of play: Today, there are countless disparities between Latinos and non-Hispanic white Americans when it comes to health care, banking, funding and educational access. These are important to highlight — but so are all of Latinos' achievements.

• Even though the newsletter is ending, we'll still be covering these stories.

In the meantime, here are some things we think everyone should be paying attention to: 

Latino voters 

We've been reporting on this for years — Latinos are not as reliably Democratic as many in the party thought they were.

• In fact, Latinos are the ultimate swing voters.

Zoom in: The share of Latinos who voted for President-elect Trump grew from 32% in 2020 to 46% in November.

• 65% of Latino voters cast a ballot for President Biden in 2020; 51% did for Harris this year.
• Whether this is a long-term trend or a blip will hinge on how the parties reach out to Latinos.  

Latino politicians

For a long time, it's been the standard for political parties (largely the Democratic Party) to recruit Latinos to run for federal office in Latino-majority districts. 

• It's no longer a given that a Latino will be elected to represent a Latino district — or that a Latino can only successfully run in a Latino district. 

What it means: Latinos are in the mainstream, baby. Latinos are here and there and everywhere, and are continuing to amass political power in unexpected places.

Yes, but: Growth in numbers alone doesn't equal growth in power. Latinos make up only 2% of elected officials nationwide, and political leaders need to build a bench of Hispanic politicians in both parties to help that percentage grow.

Cultural contributors 

A decade ago, it seemed unthinkable that a comedian could sell out venues all over the country with a Spanish-only set. With Venezuelan comedian Angelo Colina, that time is here. 

• Puerto Rican powerhouse Lin-Manuel Miranda has radically changed the Broadway/Disney/pop culture game. 
• Spanish-language music, including the super hot regional genre, has gone global, and is no longer a niche scene. 

The fine print: Latinos are still woefully underrepresented in the film and TV worlds, comprising a tiny fraction of leading roles, directors and writers. 

• How Latinos continue to make their mark in culture and Hollywood — and how many doors gatekeepers open for them — is something to keep an eye on.

Latin America

What happens in Latin America reverberates in the U.S. and beyond.

• The fallout from the Venezuelan July elections, the rising insecurity in Ecuador and the crackdown on dissent in Nicaragua have all prompted more people to emigrate to the U.S.
• But the region also offers some lessons learned and best practices: Latin America has examples of successful policies to curb kids' sugar intake, tackle the mental health crisis, and address the environmental and social impacts of a changing climate and water scarcity.

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We published hundreds of stories since Axios Latino was born on March 25, 2021. Here are some of our favorites.

Marina: I loved when we put a spotlight on Latino creators in pop culture (gaming, classic venues, House of the Dragon, The Penguin).

• I also loved to highlight Latinas' inroads in industries like beauty and VC funds, along with environmental, health and tech initiatives and accomplishments, and projects addressing major issues in Latin America.

Russell: My favorite stories tended to deal with tales that surprised everyone: The rise of Latino country music stars, uncovering the Underground Railroad to Mexico, the "souldies" comeback, Latina lowriders, the link between tamales and the blues, and the rise of white nationalist Hispanics.

• One of the most my viewed pieces was Axios Explains: The myth of a U.S.-Mexico "open border." It provoked angry reactions for months after a Fox News reporter posted it on X and tried to get me in a social media fight. I declined. The story was accurate.

Astrid: The stories I cherish most are those that came from you, the readers. When we asked you if you used accent marks in your names, the number and variety of responses was so wide, we built a whole newsletter around them.

• Later, we asked what you consider to be the "first generation" in the U.S. Most of you were wrong (I was too), and it so beautifully illustrated how the immigrant experience has shaped our Latinidad.

The now-defunct Houston Post's Hispanic insert, Viva Magazine, published my first professional piece of journalism in 1994. It was about Latino immigrants passing U.S. citizenship tests and the celebrations that followed.

Why it matters: My Mexican-born grandmother, Guadalupe "Lita" Ramos, was among the first to see the piece. She cut it out and saved the clipping.

Yes, but: She couldn't read it. Lita was semi-literate and could barely decipher words in English.

• During my later visits to her home, she would tell me about events in her Houston North Side neighborhood that I should investigate.
• She was convinced that I had the skills to figure out who ruined the sidewalk in front, why gunshots always went off at 12:15 am on Tuesday. Why there's a ghost camping in her backyard who sang when the moon was half full.

Zoom in: I never got down to the bottom of any of that, but 30 years later, I now understand what she was trying to say: We matter, and our stories matter.

• Will someone please pay attention?

The big picture: For most of my professional career, I've been seeking those answers in my journalism.

• The Axios Latino newsletter allowed me, for a brief few years, to explore these questions and show you, the reader, what I'm finding for people who share a similar background.
• You see, for decades we've been estranged from our stories, from our past.
• History books often exclude us, movies forget we exist, and when we do appear in news stories, most of the time, someone else is telling us who we are and what we're thinking.
• I tried to do all I could to fix that with stories.

The bottom line: I've been chasing that story of estrangement my whole professional life. I'm still looking at the neighborhood while Lita's spirit looks at me.

• Somewhere, in some other time, someone will figure out a business model that allows these stories to be born and shared beyond small but intense surges of happiness.
• We will hold those stories and smile, even as those stories look out and see a future we can't even imagine. Yet.

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Being a part of this newsletter — luckily, since its inception — was an honor and a privilege.

• It has been a journey of discovering new ways to tell stories about the community we're a part of, and of reevaluating how not to just reiterate how and when there are gaps or shortfalls that affect the community, but to help spotlight how some projects are working to tackle them. 

Why it matters: It's been amazing fun to get to do a newsletter that, because it's about Latinos, can be about books and health and politics and the world, and also movies and the environment and businesses. 

• We have a hand in all of these jars and (without going into the "not a monolith" truism) we have such varied interests.
• It's been eye-opening to get to see what my colleagues write and feel enriched by even when I'm technically on the same publication, with feedback and bouncing of ideas that I'll hold dear to me for the rest of my professional life. 

Also, as someone who more regularly had been writing stories in Spanish given my past jobs, it's been a blast getting to practice doing more in English, and Spanglish even.

• I'm better off, no doubt, as a result of the people I was lucky enough to work with on this, the people we've interviewed for stories, the stories we've covered, and our readers. Gracias, de corazón.

Not long after I became editor of Axios Latino, my grandma found a letter I'd written to her in 2017, when I was doing my first newspaper internship. I had written that I hoped to devote my career to writing about Latino communities. 

Why it matters: I'd long forgotten about that dream, having made detours into pretty much every other journalism beat one can cover. But it all clicked. I was meant to be here. 

State of play: I've learned a million things since becoming editor of this newsletter three years ago. (Huge thanks to my former editor, Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath, and my current one, Alison Snyder).

Most importantly, I've learned that there is no limit to the ways we can tell stories about Latinos. 

• We are wildly diverse, fast-growing, versatile and critical to the U.S. in many ways. 
• I couldn't have learned all this without Russell, Marina, our readers and Latinos all across the country who helped make this newsletter a success. Thank you.

Our final pachanga goes to Mando Rayo, the producer at Identity, a production network bringing shows to life that reflect the lives of people of color.

• Mando is a digital story-teller who uses his Latino identity to inspire and build bridges through his multicultural marketing agency, Mando Rayo + Collective.
• He's also the producer and co-author of a book, 'The Tacos of Texas."

Congrats on your many accomplishments!