In a week, voters will be heading to the polls to cast their ballots for candidates in the 2014 mid-term elections--five of those candidates in the U.S Congressional race being Hispanics.

The mid-terms could have a strong Latino showing from those angry at the lack of action on immigration reform or they could stay away. New voting patterns could appear with the influx of Latino voters in southern states, and we could see more Latino candidates being voted into elected office.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials has identified five Latino candidates running in the tough, competitive congressional races. 

California

There are two competitive races in the state with Latino candidates.

Amanda Renteria is running against Republican incumbent David Valadao for the 21st congressional district seat -- Central Valley. The district is a rich agricultural industry with a nearly 73 percent Latino population. Both candidates support immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but they disagree on raising minimum wage. Renteria is a daughter of a Mexican immigrant farmworker and was the first Latina to serve as chief of staff in the U.S. Senate. Polls show the race is going to be tight to determine a winner, with Valado leading Renteria by five points. In September, he was leading by 19 points.

In the state's 36th congressional district, Palm Springs, U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., faces a challenge to his re-election from Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande. Ruiz is the son of farmworkers and went from living in a trailer to graduating from the University of California in Los Angeles and earning three graduate degrees from Harvard. He also worked as an emergency room physician. As an elected representative, he has been an advocate for creating new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and seeking funds to support local small businesses. Real Clear Politics suggests Ruiz is the favorite to win.

Florida

Representative Joe Garcia, D-Fla., is considered one of the most vulnerable congressional Democratic incumbent running for re-election. He's had to defend himself against allegations of corruption. His former chief of staff was convicted of absentee ballot fraud, and federal investigators are looking into whether the Garcia campaign helped fund a "shadow candidate" in 2010, when he first ran against Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., and lost. He is running against Miami Dade County School Board member Carlos Curbelo. They are both sons of Cuban exiles, in a district where 62 percent of the vote is Latino, and the polls show a tight race.

New Hampshire

Called a rising star by the Republican Party at its 2013 Republican National Convention, Marilinda Garcia is a four-term New Hampshire state representative, and she is trying to unseat the Democratic incumbent Ann McLane Kuster in the 2nd Congressional District. The latest New England College poll shows Garcia trailing Kuster -- 49.2 voters supporting Kuster with 42.9 percent in favor of Garcia. Throughout the campaign, Garcia has tried to tie Kuster to President Barack Obama, who has a low approval rating among New Hampshire residents, and Kuster has tried to frame Garcia as a tea party extremist. 

Garcia is an accomplished musician and was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2006 at the age of 26. She has an Italian immigrant mother and Mexican-American father, who was born in Nebraska. Her sister Bianca is also a New Hampshire representative. In an interview in Latino Magazine, Ruben Navarrette Jr. asked about her choosing to be a Republican, and the idea that could be seen as "anti-Latino." 

"I'm probably considered a traitor," Garcia said. "I think I've read that before somewhere. But again here, they're assuming that because my name is 'Garcia' I'm a traitor to the Latino cause because I'm not out there advocating for it or whatever. ... It's not as if I don't care. But to be honest, you can't blame me. ... I identify as an Italian more really because I grew up with my Italian relatives."

But she said she is not running away from being Latina, she said.

"I accept it," she said. "I'm proud of it. And it's great. But I would just ask that people work with me, accept my strengths and weaknesses, and educate me as to how I can best be a positive influence however I can."

Texas

Representative Pete Gallego, D-Texas, is fighting to hold his seat in Texas's 23rd Congressional District, which is 70 percent Latino and home to many military families. He is running against a Republican challenger, Will Hurd, a former CIA operative who started his own security firm. Hurd's platform is his national security expertise and foreign policy knowledge of South Asia and the Middle East. Hurd criticized Gallego for being a career politician. Gallego was first elected to Congress in 2012, is a former state representative, and was born and raised in the district. Political pundits said Gallego will win, but by a small margin.