Nine new Black members of Congress elected in U.S. House as Blue Wave hits shore

By Lauren Victoria Burke
Contributing Writer

(NNPA Newswire) – After a long Election Day and night, the results for the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus are clear: The CBC will have the numbers to be the most powerful caucus in Congress. There will be a historic number of women in Congress. But there will also be a historic number of Black members.

Should they all join the CBC, at least nine new members will be added to the ranks of the Congressional Black Caucus, which will increase the membership to at least 56 members, including two in the U.S. Senate with Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA).

The new members, elected on November 6, will be sworn in to the 116th Congress in early January 2019.

Unless there is one hell of an unforeseen data error, the new members of the CBC will likely include: Lucy McBath (GA-06), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Lauren Underwood (IL14), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Colin Allred (TX-32), Illhan Omar (MN-08) and Jahanna Hayes (CT-02).

Steve Horsford makes his return to Congress representing Las Vegas after unexpectedly losing his seat four years ago. Gun control advocate Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis who was shot to death, pulled a shocker of a victory in Georgia. Collin Allred defeated long time Texas Republican Pete Sessions.

Two Black Republicans lost on Election Day: Reps. Will Hurd (TX-23) and Mia Love (UT-04). Votes are still being counted in the Hurd race as of this filing.

Election night 2018 will be known as the night that the Congressional Black Caucus gained more power in Congress and more members than at any time in history.

Lauren Victoria Burke can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.

This article originally published in the November 12, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.