Tuesday's elections bring historic first for Black governors

Wins by Byron Donalds in Florida, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia and Wes Moore in Maryland mean multiple Black governors will serve simultaneously for the first time ever.

For the first time in U.S. history, multiple elected Black governors will serve at the same time — and it remains possible that voters will elect more this year than the three who have already won so far.

That historic first is the result of Democratic Gov. Wes Moore winning re-election in Maryland, Republican Rep. Byron Donalds prevailing in the Florida governor’s race, and Georgia Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms winning in her state.

Prior to Bottoms’ and Donalds’ victories Tuesday night, the only elected Black governors in U.S. history had been Moore, Deval Patrick, a Democrat who was elected Massachusetts’ governor in 2006, and L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat who was elected Virginia’s governor in 1989. None served simultaneously.

In an October interview with NBC News, Donalds said that the history-making aspect of his candidacy was “very special.”

“From a larger perspective, there’s so much that has been talked about in politics over the last couple decades around race. Obviously, the country has had some real negative parts of our history surrounding race,” he said. “I’m humbled to be in this position, but I think it says a lot more about the state [of Florida] than it does about me.”

Bottoms, Donalds and Moore may not stay in such rare company for long: Five other Black major-party candidates for governor are on the ballot Tuesday.

Black Democratic gubernatorial candidates are running in another pair of battleground states: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in Wisconsin and state Attorney General Aaron Ford in Nevada.

In South Carolina, another Black Democrat, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, faces a more difficult path to victory in the traditionally red state’s race for governor.

On the Republican side, Rep. John James is running in a competitive gubernatorial race against Democrat Jocelyn Benson, while Minnesota state House Speaker Lisa Demuth is seen as an underdog in Minnesota’s gubernatorial contest.