Columbus Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty chosen to lead Congressional Black Caucus

U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio has been elected the 27th Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. The powerful CBC will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in 2021 and voted on Thursday to have Beatty lead them. Beatty represents Ohio’s 3rd District which includes Columbus and has been vice-chair of the CBC since November 2018.

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty will be the new leader of the Congressional Black Caucus.

On Thursday, the 59-member caucus voted Beatty, who in January will begin her fifth term representing the 3rd Congressional District, as its chairwoman. She was the caucus' first vice chair, and she will succeed Congresswoman Karen Bass, of California.

Beatty is the third Ohioan to serve as chair of the caucus. Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Cleveland held the post from 2013 to 2015, and Rep. Louis Stokes was chair from 1972 to 1974.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to be voted by my peers to lead the Congressional Black Caucus in the 117th Congress. Right now, our nation is facing three pandemics that have disproportionately impacted the lives of Black Americans: COVID-19, economic turmoil, and social injustice," she said in a prepared statement.

"As chair, I will work with the Biden Administration, House and Senate Leadership, as well as my congressional colleagues, to defeat the pandemic and ensure better days lie ahead for all of us. Moreover, I will use my voice to address enduring economic and health disparities and fight to break the chains of systemic racism that have held back the Black community for far too long."