A blue wave helped offset for now a falling tally of Black members in the U.S. House

A Supreme Court ruling that further weakened the Voting Rights Act paved the way for a record drop in Black representation in Congress. But a midterm blue wave helped hold off such a decline for now.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2000x1328+0+0/resize/2000x1328!/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7f%2F6a%2F353ed641433c848011d9892cde0a%2F2026-05-16t221611z-364652352-mt1usatoday28978004-rtrmadp-3-u-s-rep-terri-sewell-and-u-s-rep-shomari-figures-speak.JPG' alt='Democratic Reps. Terri Sewell (left) and Shomari Figures of Alabama appear at a voting rights rally in May on the steps of the state's Capitol in Montgomery, Ala.'/><p>A Supreme Court ruling that further weakened the Voting Rights Act paved the way for a record drop in Black representation in Congress. But a midterm blue wave helped hold off such a decline for now.</p><p>(Image credit: Jake Crandall)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-6029640' />