Washington ? Beyond sweeping Democrats back into power, the Nov. 7 elections yielded historic political power for blacks.

When the 110th Congress convenes in January, at least four black lawmakers will chair committees in the House of Representatives, and 17 will run subcommittees. Forty-two black representatives and one black senator – all Democrats – will join the new legislative session.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina will be the No. 3 leader of the House as majority whip, only the second black to reach that post, after former Rep. William Gray of Pennsylvania.

Shortly after his Democratic colleagues elected him whip on Thursday, Clyburn pointedly noted that there are no black Republicans in Congress.

“What I’m proud of is the diversity of the Democratic Party,” Clyburn said. “Now, 61 percent of the American people say they want Democrats in charge of our government, diversity and all.”

During the election campaign, Clyburn and other black lawmakers resented Republican TV ads that warned of the consequences of Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., becoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., heading the Ways and Means Committee, the chief tax policy panel.

“The American people in large measure rejected the most derogatory shots the Republicans had to offer,” Clyburn said. “I’m proud of the fact that the American people thought of their own interests and the interests of the country.”

Conyers and Rangel are the longest-serving black lawmakers, with Conyers first elected in 1964 and Rangel sent to Congress in 1970.

Ed Patru, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the ads targeted Conyers, Rangel and other senior Democrats because of their liberal policies, not because of their race.

“We really don’t care if these guys are male, female, black, red, green, white or orange,” Patru said. “If they’re pushing higher taxes on American voters, if they’re talking about tying up Congress for two years with impeachment hearings, we’ll make an issue out of it.”

The Congressional Black Caucus reached its historical high-water mark with 43 lawmakers in the current session, a number it’ll maintain next year. But its influence will increase as Clyburn assumes his leadership post and Conyers, Rangel and Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Juanita Millender-McDonald of California take the helms of House committees.

Blacks have never had more than two committee chairmanships in the same Congress, and the number of subcommittees they’ve headed has been far fewer than the 17 they’re likely to lead in January.

“I think it’s historic, but you’ve got to remember that these people didn’t get there as a result of being black,” Rep. Melvin Watt, a North Carolina Democrat and head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Friday. “They got there as a result of serving in Congress for a number of years and building up substantive knowledge of the issues. They have paid their dues.”