Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) thought he had a slam dunk. He posted a photo collage of the only four Black Republicans serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and declared, “This is NOT the party of Jim Crow.”
There’s just one problem: every single one of them is leaving.
Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas, John James of Michigan, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Burgess Owens of Utah are all departing Capitol Hill — and the GOP has nobody waiting in the wings to replace them.
Few Black candidates are running for Congress this year, and none are regarded as likely to win. That means Lee’s proud display of Republican diversity could soon be a portrait of a party with zero Black House members.
Come January 2027, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will stand alone as the only Black Republican on Capitol Hill.
The four men were hardly random recruits. All four were originally brought to Congress as part of an effort led by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to diversify the GOP following Democrats’ 2018 House gains. McCarthy famously lamented that his party looked like “the most restrictive country club in America.”
Their reasons for leaving vary. James and Donalds are both running for governor in their respective states. Hunt ran for U.S. Senate but was defeated in the Republican primary. Owens chose not to seek re-election after redistricting created a Democratic-leaning seat.
But the backdrop to their departures is hard to ignore. The exodus comes as the party has escalated attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion under President Donald Trump.
Republican leaders appear to have allowed their diversity recruiting efforts to flag entirely, as the president has denounced and eliminated diversity programs, fired Black officials, and installed an overwhelmingly white senior team.
Critics aren’t mincing words.
“It’s going to be really hard for even the most conservative Black Republican to look at this Republican Party and defend it,” said Chris Taylor, a senior adviser to the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. “This is a Republican Party that is at war with Black America.”
“The message from today’s Republican Party is clear: Black faces are welcome as spokespeople, but Black political power itself is treated like a threat,” added Markus Batchelor, national political director at People For the American Way.
Mike Lee posted four faces to prove his party isn’t racist. Those four faces will soon be gone.
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