Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) announced his candidacy Wednesday to lead the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), succeeding Rep. Joyce Beatty.
The Nevada Independent reports Horsford wrote a letter to Beatty citing the diversity of his congressional district, which includes Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and much of the state’s rural center, his record of bipartisanship, both as a state legislator and a member of Congress where he worked with Republican governors as Nevada’s Senate Majority Leader.
“While we were able to deliver For the People this past term under challenging circumstances, the next Congress will be just as challenging,” Horsford wrote, according to the Independent.
“The CBC will face new barriers, calling on us to strengthen and forge new alliances while working with the other side of the aisle.”
Beatty, the current Caucus leader, is stepping down to run for another leadership position in the Democratic Caucus.
According to a bipartisanship index from the Lugar Center at Georgetown University, Horsford ranked around the middle of all house members, ranking 251 out of 435.
Horsford, a gun control advocate who lost his father at the age of 19 due to gun violence, has a stellar résumé that includes spending a decade running the Culinary Training Academy, the largest job training program in Nevada, which helped bring a first
of its kind workforce development program for youth and young adults to Nevada. He also helped launch a food recovery program in Nevada to help address food insecurity among needy children, families, and seniors.Horsford’s bid for Black Caucus chair comes during a time of transition as Democrats are set to cede control to the Republican Party in the next session of Congress. Horsford currently serves as first vice chair for the Black Caucus and briefly served as the Black Caucus’ liaison with the Biden
White House transition team after Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election.Created in 1971, the Congressional Black Caucus currently has 58 members in Congress, as the Caucus has grown in recent years to combine young, newly elected Democrats with veteran Black politicians.