Pedro Cortes was sworn in Monday as secretary of state of Pennsylvania.

Cortes started his term as acting secretary of the commonwealth Last January.

He had previously been in the same position during Ed Rendell’s administration from 2003 to 2011, which makes Cortes the longest serving secretary of state in the history of Pennsylvania.

Cortes was the first Latino to be part of a Pennsylvania state government, and was also president of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs (GACLA) for three years.