WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House that takes office in January will have slightly fewer Black members than the current one, even after a Democratic wave in last week’s midterms, while the Senate is on track for a record number of Black senators.
Current tallies put the incoming House at 58 Black voting members, plus two nonvoting delegates, for 60 in all. The outgoing House has 61 Black voting members and 63 counting delegates, so the net loss is about three seats. That would come within one of the largest drop on record, the loss of four Black members after the 1876 election as Reconstruction ended.
The decline is driven largely by Republicans. All four Black House Republicans are leaving. Three of them, from Florida, Texas and Michigan, ran for other offices, and the fourth, Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah, had his district redrawn. Retirements and new district maps in Texas and Louisiana also cost Black Democrats seats, and the Louisiana seat held by Rep. Cleo Fields will not be settled until a Dec. 12 runoff.
Several Black Democrats held on under tougher maps, including Rep. Shomari Figures in Alabama’s 2nd District, which the state’s Republican legislature redrew after this year’s Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais narrowed the Voting Rights Act. Rep. Don Davis also kept his redrawn North Carolina seat. Among the newcomers is Colorado Democrat Melat Kiros, who will be the first Black woman to represent that state in Congress.
In the Senate, Juliana Stratton of Illinois won an open seat and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey was re-elected, bringing the count to six. Scott Colom’s win in Mississippi makes it seven, the most Black senators ever to serve at once.
Section: More Washington DC politics news
Filed under: Washington DC Politics News
