A record five Black governors will serve at the same time beginning in January, a historic milestone after the Nov. 3 midterm elections nearly doubled the number of Black Americans ever elected governor in the United States.
Before this election, only three Black Americans had ever been elected governor: Wes Moore in Maryland, Deval Patrick in Massachusetts and Doug Wilder in Virginia. Never had two served simultaneously. On Election Day, four Black gubernatorial candidates broke barriers in their states, joining Moore, who won reelection.
The victories were among a series of historic firsts dominated by Democrats, who flipped seven Senate and 25 House seats to take control of Congress. Voters also elected the nation’s first Native American woman
governor, first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate and first Muslim U.S. senator.
“The story of this election is not just about who won,” Dominik Whitehead, chief of field for the NAACP, said in a Nov. 4 statement. “It’s about the Black wave of voters who understood what was at stake and made their voices heard.”
Here's a look at the historic five Black U.S. governors who will take office.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, Georgia
Democrat and former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made history as Georgia’s first Black and first woman governor, defeating GOP pick Rick Jackson to end Republicans' 24-year gubernatorial reign in the state. The win also secured her the title of the nation’s first Black female governor.
Lance Bottoms, 56, is an attorney who served as an Atlanta City Council member, magistrate judge and prosecutor before serving as Atlanta's mayor from 2018 to 2022 and later as a senior adviser in the Biden administration. Her midterm campaign focused on affordability, housing, healthcare access and Medicaid expansion.
"If we want a better Georgia, we have to fight for it," she said during an Oct. 13 debate, as reported by USA TODAY. "We can make Georgia more affordable, restore women's right to choose, protect our voting rights, protect our communities from data center growth, ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed and fight against the dangerous policies of Donald Trump."
Lance Bottoms is a mother to four adopted children with her husband, Derek W. Bottoms.
Byron Donalds, Florida
U.S. Rep.Byron Donalds, the only GOP candidate on the list, dodged Election Day's blue wave to become Florida's first Black governor. His victory extends the state's nearly three-decade run of Republican leadership.
Also the nation's first Black Republican governor, the 48-year-old topped Democratic challenger David Jolly with promises of continuing Gov. Ron DeSantis's policies on education, deregulation and immigration.
A prominent conservative and House Freedom Caucus member, Donalds began his elected political career in the Florida House, where he served from 2016 to 2020. He was elected to the U.S. House in 2020 and has represented Florida's 19th Congressional District since 2021.
"The truth is, in our state, we have people who are struggling," Donalds said in his victory speech, USA TODAY reported. "We have people who are looking at their insurance bills. We have people who are looking at their bank accounts, not month in, month out, but day in, day out, trying to make how they are going to make ends meet."
His professional career before politics was in finance, during which time he worked for institutions such as TIB Bank and Wells Fargo Advisors. He is the father of three sons with wife Erika Lees.
David Crowley, Wisconsin
Democrat David Crowley defeated Republican Tom Tiffany to become Wisconsin’s first Black governor, months after briefly suspending his campaign. At 40, the Milwaukee County executive will also become the state’s youngest governor in nearly a century.
Crowley represented Milwaukee's 17th District in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2017 to 2020 before becoming the first Black candidate and the youngest to be elected Milwaukee County executive in 2020. His earlier political career included working on U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold's 2010 reelection campaign and serving as a legislative aide to Milwaukee County supervisor Nikiya Harris Dodd.
His campaign focused on affordability, opportunity and economic growth.
"Wisconsin, this is a very good day. This is a very good day. Because of you, a boy who grew up facing evictions will now live in the governor's residence," Crowley said at his campaign event in Milwaukee, USA TODAY reported. "Thank you for placing your faith in me. That's ultimately what voting is. A tremendous act of faith. Not faith in one person or party, but faith in the ideas and the lessons learned − that the right leadership can make a difference in people's lives."
Crowley has two daughters with wife Ericka Crowley and a stepdaughter from a previous marriage.
Aaron Ford, Nevada
Democrat, state attorney general and former state senator Aaron Ford rounded out a list of "firsts" by defeating incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo to become Nevada's first Black governor, the Reno Gazette Journal, part of the USA TODAY network, reported.
Ford, 54, is a lawyer who was first elected to office in the Nevada Senate, where he represented the 11th District from 2013 to 2018 and served as both minority and majority leader. He was elected Nevada attorney general in 2018 and became the state's first Black statewide constitutional officer when he took office in 2019; he won reelection in 2022.
Before his political career, Ford worked as a public school teacher and clerked for federal judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before joining several law firms. He holds a master's degree in international education from George Washington University and an M.A., J.D., and Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Ford ran on a platform focused on affordable housing, lower health care costs, job creation and cost-of-living relief.
"Tonight’s victory belongs to the housekeepers, nurses, teachers, rideshare drivers, electricians, and all working Nevadans who will no longer have to settle for working harder than ever yet struggling more and more to afford to live," he said in a statement following his victory.
Ford has three sons with wife and fellow attorney Berna Rhodes.
Wes Moore, Maryland
Incumbent Democrat Wes Moore initially made history in 2022 when he became Maryland's first Black governor. Tuesday marked his second win against Republican challenger Dan Cox, who also ran in 2022.
Moore, 48, had never held elected office before winning the gubernatorial race. A U.S. Army veteran, bestselling author and former CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, Moore became chair of the National Governors Association in August, making him a prominent figure among the nation's governors.
His platform focuses on economic opportunity, education, poverty reduction and public safety.
"When our time is done, I want a Maryland where everyone has a shot to succeed, no matter where their story begins," he said in his victory speech.
Moore has two children with wife Dawn Flythe.
Contributing: Terry Collins, USA TODAY; John Pacenti and Alicia Devine, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida; Molly Beck, Mary Spicuzza and Laura Schulte, USA TODAY NETWORK; Mark Robison, Reno Gazette Journal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet the record 5 Black governors elected to lead states
