Minority Gains Fuel Power Plays in Congress : Caucuses: Blacks and Latinos are finding that competition is tougher for leadership posts. Their growing numbers are strengthening influence.

When Congress returns, two black congressmen will fight to lead the Congressional Black Caucus, the first contest for chairman in more than a decade and a sign of unprecedented influence for minority lawmakers.

The new Congress will have the largest number of black and Latino members ever, just as Democrats regain the White House.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), who has worked his way up the caucus leadership ladder, is being challenged by Rep. Craig Washington (D-Tex.), a second-term maverick.

Mfume, who adopted an African name as a young man, is considered the favorite in the vote next month. But the very fact that he has opposition reflects the transformation of the black caucus, long derided as ineffective, into something worth fighting over.

“For the black members of Congress, this is potentially a watershed year,” said David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economical Studies, a think tank on black issues.

“Being part of the Congressional Black Caucus should be a fairly exciting place to be, and where there are blacks moving up into positions of power in Congress, real power,” he said.

Veteran black lawmakers are moving up the seniority ladder. None head the most powerful committees, but Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley), could become chairman of the Armed Services Committee if Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.) takes a Clinton Administration job.

Others include Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.), who heads the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio), head of the House Ethics Committee but eager to leave that uncomfortable job. Blacks also have a seat on the powerful Rules Committee and one deputy whip job.

Nevertheless, one of the most visible blacks is likely to be newcomer Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.), the first black woman elected to the Senate.

Change also is in store for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a smaller group whose influence has been diminished by political, ethnic and geographic divisions.

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) is expected to succeed Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Tex.) as chairman.

In a sense, Serrano’s rise reflects a shift of power from Mexican-Americans of the Southwest to Cuban-Americans and Puerto Ricans from the East.

The new Congress will have 39 black members, aside from non-voting delegates. That is up from 25, and includes Braun, the only black in the Senate.

Six more Latinos were elected, bringing their number to 17. No Latinos serve in the Senate.

The Voting Rights Act forced redistricting to bolster minority representation in 13 states, aiding the election of the first black House members since Reconstruction from Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina, which elected two.

The newcomers may prove more politically skilled than some of their predecessors.

“The new people coming in aren’t just political novices. They’re really fairly experienced political types,” said Bositis. “Not only were they state legislators, they were chairmen and chairwomen.”

The black caucus’s effectiveness has been limited by internal divisions, its opposition to Republican administrations and a penchant for doomed symbolic causes, like its annual alternative federal budget.

A key to success now may be whether the minority groups can work together--and perhaps with the strengthened roster of women lawmakers.

“When you combine these three caucuses together, we will have a significant number of votes that can either pass legislation or stop legislation,” said Ortiz, the outgoing Latino chairman.

Washington, the black caucus challenger, agreed. “We leave a lot on the table if we don’t recognize a natural coalition that exists between us, and we don’t put aside whatever differences there are between us.”

The new numbers give blacks 9% of the House; Latinos, 4%.

But they will be proportionally stronger in the House Democratic caucus, which lost 10 seats to 258. Blacks constitute nearly 15% of House Democrats but almost 30% of the 130-vote majority needed in the caucus to select a Speaker and other leaders.

Although blacks used to focus on voting rights or social needs, leaders in both minority groups say their goals now are similar to Clinton’s: the economy and health care. They will also press for more urban aid, though Latinos are divided along rural-urban lines.

When and how much will the groups disagree with the new President? Clinton was perceived as more centrist than many black House Democrats, but he won more than 80% of the black vote. Any differences may have been exaggerated.

“We are in sync with this new Administration,” Mfume said. “We believe job creation and getting this economy rolling is an absolute priority, rebuilding infrastructure, putting in place a sound health system.”