One of the most powerful members of the Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), would seem to be the obvious choice to succeed Nellie Pou — who moves on to Congress next month — to lead the 12-member Legislative Latino Caucus.

The caucus, which has been chaired by Pou for almost two decades, has reflected her low-key approach which Latino leaders across the state say has proven effective.

“If you look at just drivers licenses for undocumented as an example, that was an issue that was very thorny, very hard to navigate, but Nellie and the caucus worked with us and the governor’s office worked with us and other groups, and it’s something that you probably wouldn’t see in another state,” said Javier Robles, president of the Latino Action Network.

The caucus, like all legislative caucuses, reflects the priorities of its members, based in this case on their shared ethnicity. But while immigration is an obvious priority, housing, economic opportunity and education are also part of the caucus’ focus.

Caucus members weren’t commenting Wednesday on who will succeed Pou. State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) is one whose name has also been mentioned, but she is said to not be interested. As for Ruiz, who as majority leader doesn’t really need the extra clout caucus leadership would bring, she said she’d serve if asked, but wasn’t making any calls on her own behalf.

A vote is expected before the end of the year.