This year 82 black candidates are vying for federal office, a record number, beating by 10 candidates the previous record set in 2012.
USA Today reports that out of the “82 candidates running, 64 are Democrats and 18 are Republicans, and all but three are seeking election to the U.S. House.”
The three who are not eyeing House seats are vying for the Senate: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson of South Carolina, who is going for Scott’s seat.
USA Today’s political analysts predict that a lot of black candidates are going to clean house come November, “which means next January will bring in a Congress with the highest number of blacks serving in U.S. history.”
In fact, the current Congress is already historic, according to USA Today: “After the 2012 elections, House Democrats became the first congressional faction in history to be more than half women and minorities. The 2014 election slate suggests that trend will not reverse itself anytime soon.”
Read more at USA Today.