The current governor is a Republican and Democrats are running a moderate white woman unopposed as their nominee. It's going to be a high-profile race and she'll probably be promoted as a key example of the Republican Party becoming more diverse.
Wes Moore is the only currently serving black governor and only the third black person ever elected governor in the country's history.
Wes Moore is the only currently serving black governor and only the third black person ever elected governor in the country's history.
Only three Black governors have ever been elected in US history
Moore joined a select group with his accomplishment. Only five Black people — all men — have served as governor of one of the 50 U.S. states in history. Only two of them before Moore were elected.
Democrat L. Douglas Wilder was the first Black person to be elected governor in 1990. He served one term in Virginia before leaving office to become a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Democrat Deval Patrick was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2007 and served two terms. He is now a professor at Harvard University.
David Paterson, the only other contemporary Black governor, served as New York’s governor when he finished the remainder of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) term from March 2008 to January 2011.
Before those three officials, only two other Black governors served. Both can be traced back to the time of Reconstruction.
In 1868, Republican Oscar Dunn, the first Black lieutenant governor ever elected, served as acting governor of Louisiana when Gov. Henry Clay Warmoth (R) was injured in 1871. Dunn became the nation’s first acting governor.
When Dunn died of suspicious causes in 1871, Republican P.B.S. Pinchback, who was president of the state’s Senate at the time, assumed the position of lieutenant governor. That changed in 1872 when Warmoth had impeachment charges brought against him. Pinchback assumed office and became the country’s second Black governor, though he served only from Dec. 9, 1872, to Jan. 13, 1873.
The country has never had a Black female governor.
Black leaders have been seeking governorships for decades.
In both 1982 and 1986, Democrat Tom Bradley, the first Black mayor of Los Angeles, ran for California’s governor’s mansion. In 1995, former U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields was the Democratic nominee in Louisiana. Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) ran for governor of Florida in 2018.
And, despite former President Obama’s historic election, the number of Black political leaders in government is disproportionately small compared to the population of Black America.
There are only three Black senators serving in office: Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
