Two Hispanics practically assured of House seats

LAWRENCEVILLE - State officials believe two state House candidates from Gwinnett County will be Georgia&#39;s first Hispanic legislators because no one filed to run against either of them. <br> <br> Republican David Casas, a teacher from Lilburn, and Democrat Pedro ``Pete&#39;&#39; Marin, a community activist from Duluth, will be elected in November barring an unlikely upset by a write-in or third-party candidate. <br> <br> Each signed up to represent a political district carved from other population-bloated district during last year&#39;s redrawing of political boundaries. <br> <br> Gwinnett County&#39;s Latino population increased from about 9,000 to more than 64,000 during the last decade. <br> <br> Casas&#39; 68th District is about 13 percent Hispanic, while Marin&#39;s 66th District is 30 percent, according to 2000 Census figures. <br> <br> Casas, 30, whose family left Cuba for Spain and then came to the United States in 1974, teaches social studies and political science at McEachern High School in Cobb County. <br> <br> Marin, 44, was born in Puerto Rico. He is program manager for the Gwinnett Housing Resources Partnership, a nonprofit agency that helps Hispanics find housing.