Four Black Governors Elected in Single Midterm Cycle

Voters in four states elected Black candidates to the governorship on Tuesday, a first for a single midterm cycle. Georgia Democrat Keisha Bottoms, Florida Republican Byron Donalds, Wisconsin Democrat Mandela Crowley, and Maryland Democrat Wes Moore all secured victories in races that concluded early Wednesday morning. A fifth Black candidate, Nevada Democrat Aaron Ford, remains in the lead in a state where results were not yet certified.

Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, became the first Black woman and the first woman of any race to serve as governor of Georgia. Her election brings the total number of women serving as governors nationwide to 17, a record high for the country. She described the moment she learned of her win to CBS News on Wednesday, recounting that she had been wearing earbuds to prepare a speech when her husband kicked her to alert her to the result.

In Florida, Byron Donalds will become the state’s first Black governor. He has represented Florida’s 19th Congressional District since 2020. In Wisconsin, moderate Democrat Crowley defeated Republican challenger Tom Tiffany, a U.S. representative and close ally of President Trump. The race was closely watched because Wisconsin is one of the most politically divided states in the union.

Maryland voters returned Wes Moore to the governor's mansion for a second term. He first won the office in 2022, becoming the state’s first Black governor. Moore noted in an interview that he had been the only Black governor in the United States until Tuesday. He said that, including himself, only three Black Americans had previously been elected to the role in the nation’s 250-year history, a number that has now at least doubled.

Nevada remains the final battleground. Democrat Aaron Ford, who was elected attorney general in 2018, held a lead of more than 70,000 votes over incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo as of Wednesday. If Ford wins certification, he would become the first Black governor elected in the state and the first Black governor elected west of the Mississippi River.

The previous total of elected Black governors included former New York Governor David Paterson, who assumed the office in 2008 after Eliot Spitzer resigned. Paterson was not elected to the position. The new class of governors will take office in January 2027.