Pew: Majority of Hispanics in US say their community lacks a leader

Sonia Sotomayor (center), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, poses with honorees at the 26th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards presented by Target at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 5, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Latinos in the U.S. say they need a national leader. But when asked to name one, more than 3/4th said they either couldn't, or that no such person exists.

Fully three-quarters of Hispanics living in the U.S. say their community needs a national leader. But the vast majority say they don't know who that person is, or say such a leader simply doesn't exist.

That's one key finding from a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.

According to Pew's Mark Hugo Lopez, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R- Fla.) were the most often mentioned as national leaders. But each were only cited by about 5 percent of survey respondents. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was named by 3 percent.

Among the other findings: 78 percent of those surveyed says Latinos share at least some values in common. More than half refer to themselves by their country of origin, such as Salvadoran or Mexican. Still, nearly half say they consider themselves to be a typical American.

The Latino population in the U.S stands at more than 53 million, and it is among the nation's fastest-growing groups.

The Pew Center surveyed more than 5,000 people, conducting interviews in both Spanish and English.