Despite a sweeping Democratic midterm victory that flipped control of Congress, Black representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to fall next year. An NPR analysis based on Associated Press race calls through Thursday afternoon shows the incoming House will include at least 60 Black members, including nonvoting delegates, down from 63 currently. That net drop stops just one seat shy of the post-Reconstruction record loss of four Black representatives following the 1876 election; mid-decade redistricting and retirements drove the decline.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in Louisiana v. Callais weakened Voting Rights Act safeguards against racial discrimination in congressional mapmaking. Following that decision, Republican state lawmakers in Alabama redrew the 2nd Congressional District to lean heavily GOP, putting first-term Black Democratic Representative Shomari Figures in grave jeopardy. However, surging Black voter turnout across the South propelled Figures to reelection against steep structural odds.
In North Carolina, Representative Don Davis also defended his redrawn seat. Democratic newcomers Cyril Jefferson and LaKesha Womack flipped two districts long held by white Republicans, while Melat Kiros in Colorado and Donavan McKinney in Michigan added fresh seats.
New congressional maps in Texas and Florida dismantled several Black-represented districts, while Louisiana Representative Cleo Fields opted against seeking reelection after the Callais decision struck down his opportunity district. Normal political churn, including retirements and campaigns for higher office, further trimmed the House total from 63 to at least 60. By contrast, the U.S. Senate reached a historic milestone of seven Black senators in the incoming Congress. That record cohort includes Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom, who is set to become the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction.
