The Congressional Black Caucus has elected its new chair: Representative Karen Bass (D-CA). According to the Los Angeles Sentinel, Bass will take office in January when the 116th Congress begins its new session. The CBC election took place on Wednesday, November 28.

As NOLA.com reports, Bass will be taking over from Representative Cedric Richmond (D-LA), who led the 49-member caucus during the first two years of the Trump administration.

I'm so grateful for all of the expressions of good will and support — I will be honored to receive the gavel in January from Chairman @RepRichmond. I want to thank him for his outstanding leadership of the @OfficialCBC this Congress.https://t.co/yvWVafPXKb

— Congressmember Bass (@RepKarenBass) November 29, 2018

There are nine newly elected African Americans Congress members who are expected to join the CBC on January 9, which will help the CBC make history. The new congresspeople will swell its numbers above 50 members for the first time.

Richmond has high hopes for his successor as she takes her post at the start of 2019.

“From her days in the California General Assembly where she became the first African American woman in U.S. history to lead a state legislative body, to her work in Congress to address both domestic and international issues affecting people of African descent, Congresswoman Bass has demonstrated tried and true leadership,” Richmond said. "I am confident Congresswoman Bass will continue to provide strong leadership in this regard.”

Bass first made major waves as speaker of the California State Assembly in 2008, when she became the first Black woman to become a speaker of any state legislature in the country. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and was recently re-elected for her fifth term. Along with serving on the House Committee on the Judiciary, Representative Bass will also become Chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

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Rep. Cedric Richmond

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