Every black Republican is leaving the US House, erasing diversity gains
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All four black Republicans in the House are leaving Congress in 2027 - a reflection of the striking and persistent lack of diversity in the GOP ranks of Congress.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Annie Karni
WASHINGTON – Eight years ago, Kevin McCarthy, then the House Republican leader, embarked on a push to recruit more black Republicans to run for Congress, arguing that the GOP needed to diversify to survive.
By 2022, his efforts had yielded modest success, helping pave the way for four black Republicans to be elected to the House that year, which boosted the total number of black Republicans serving in Congress to five, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
That progress is about to be erased.
All four black Republicans in the House are leaving Congress in 2027: Three are seeking statewide office, and one is retiring because redistricting in his state effectively boxed him out of his seat.
The exodus is a reflection of the striking and persistent lack of diversity in the GOP ranks of Congress, something that Mr McCarthy has acknowledged is still an issue even years after his efforts to address it.
“When you look at the Democrats, they actually look like America,” he said, shortly after leaving Congress in 2023. “When I look at my party, we look like the most restrictive country club in America.”
Republican leaders who for a time focused heavily on recruiting and electing more black candidates appear to have allowed those efforts to flag during the second Trump presidency, as the president has denounced and eliminated diversity programmes, fired black officials while installing an overwhelmingly white senior team, and presided over an administration that routinely circulates material echoing white-supremacist references, including a racist meme he posted himself.
With the president’s gains with black men dwindling, there are few black Republicans running for Congress this year, and none regarded as likely to win.
That threatens to make the freshman class photo in 2025 look more like the stodgy country club that Mr McCarthy described as a major political problem for the GOP.
“The more diverse the party is, the more opportunity we have,” he said in an interview. “You want to expand the opportunity for more people to come in.”
As some of the oldest and most powerful black Democrats resist leaving Congress, the few black Republicans who are serving in the House, none of whom hold leadership positions, are heading for the exit. NYTIMES
