Explained: Black voters help propel Democrats, including history makers, in sweeping midterm victories

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures won reelection in Alabama despite Republicans reshaping his district to reduce Black voting-age population from 48% to 40%

Voting Rights Act

1965 federal law signed by President Lyndon Johnson protecting voting rights, recently weakened by a Supreme Court decision

Bloody Sunday

1965 attack on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, months before the Voting Rights Act was signed

Congressional Black Caucus

Group of Black members of Congress who warned they could lose up to 19 seats due to redistricting

AP Voter Poll

Polling data cited to show voting patterns among Black men and women in the 2025 elections

redistricting

Process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, used by Republican-led states to weaken Black congressional representation