The Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday elected Rep. Cedric L. Richmond to be chairman of the 49-member group for the 115th Congress.

The Louisiana Democrat ran against Rep. Yvette D. Clarke of New York. The caucus has not released the vote breakdown.

The CBC will have its largest membership in history in the next Congress. It is one of the largest caucuses in the House.

Richmond pledged to focus on what he called challenges involving the economy, voting rights, policing and a criminal justice overhaul.

“I stand on the shoulders of a choir of brave African-American women and men whose struggles made way for our progress,” Richmond said in a statement.

Outgoing chairman G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat, has served as the head of the group since 2014. The caucus elects a new chairman before the start of a new Congress.

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