ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Across 250 years, only three elected governors out of thousands have been Black 鈥�- all Democrats and all men, including current Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
But Moore could soon have company.
With Florida Republicans nominating U.S. Rep. on Tuesday, there are seven Black major party gubernatorial nominees in addition to Moore 鈥� men and women, Democrats and Republicans 鈥� on November ballots.
鈥淲e do have a unique moment here,鈥� said Moore, who recently became . He often says that his historic status is 鈥渘ot an applause line鈥� but instead represents a bigger challenge that this country is still looking to overcome.
The Black nominees typically do not focus on the history at stake, instead emphasizing their experience and policy proposals.
鈥淔lorida is a great meritocracy in America,鈥� Donalds told reporters Tuesday night after not mentioning his race at all in his victory speech. 鈥淚鈥檒l let you guys write about that,鈥� he added.
But many said that more reflective representation matters given the nation鈥檚 history, from slavery to Jim Crow and the lingering effects.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a secret that some issues in the African American community get ignored and don鈥檛 have a voice,鈥� said , Nevada鈥檚 first Black attorney general and now the Democratic nominee for governor. Ford said he brings a focus to issues ranging from voting rights and civil rights to the economy.
Republican said she 鈥渉as never led with any type of identity politics鈥� as Minnesota’s first Black House speaker and now her party’s nominee for governor. 鈥淏ut I recognize the historic state we are in right now,鈥� she said. Michigan Republicans also chose U.S. Rep. , who is Black, as their gubernatorial nominee.
Former New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat who was not elected but ascended when Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008, celebrated that the slate crosses party lines. 鈥淭his is one day when maybe the Democrats and Republicans could stand in front of a statue of George Washington and let him know that we鈥檙e finally getting it right,鈥� he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, emphasized that their Black candidates 鈥� who also include in Georgia, in South Carolina and in Wisconsin 鈥� are especially important after the t cleared the way for states to redraw legislative districts that are majority or plurality nonwhite. That was compounded by President Donald Trump鈥檚 attacks on diversity initiatives and push to rewrite how the U.S. tells its history of the slave trade and Jim Crow segregation.
鈥淕overnors, in many ways, are becoming the last lines of defense against what we鈥檙e seeing in Washington,鈥� Moore said.
A challenge for Black politicians, even more so than reaching the US Senate
Karen Finney, who helped push Democrat Joe Biden to select a Black woman as his vice presidential running mate, said Black politicians often are the first and loudest advocates on issues that acutely affect Black constituents. She and others cited health disparities such as maternal and infant mortality and sickle cell disease, and Finney noted that an inflationary economy hits harder in Black communities that, on average, have lower income and net worth than the wider population.
She said it is important for legislators to raise those matters and even more impactful when it is an executive.
鈥淭hese are people who have the power to shape our lives, and they shape the agenda,” Finney said.
But the governor’s seat has been notoriously hard for Black politicians to reach, even more difficult than the U.S. Senate. Democrat Douglas Wilder of Virginia took office in 1990 as the nation’s first elected Black governor.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 become Maryland鈥檚 first Black governor because the Democratic Party said, 鈥業 think it鈥檚 time for us to put Wes Moore up in the seat鈥�,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 had to run against the party.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the party is doing enough,鈥� Moore added, specifically bemoaning a 鈥渘egligence鈥� in Southern states where Black voters anchor Democrats’ base.
, who lost two Georgia governor鈥檚 races, recalled white Democratic power players raising money for her primary opponent in 2018, although she disputed that explicit racism was the issue.
鈥淲e do what we鈥檝e done because it鈥檚 what we did,鈥� she said. 鈥淏lack women have not been executives, and the absence of that proof point becomes a self-reinforcing philosophy.鈥�
This time, she noted, Bottoms already has been an executive as mayor of Atlanta.
Democrats and Republicans talk about 鈥榠dentity politics鈥� differently
In Minnesota, history will be made in November when the state elects its first female governor as Demuth competes against Democrat Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. senator. Demuth said she looks forward to a day when such distinctions seem less notable.
“One of the things that I really do look forward to is where it鈥檚 already done, where it no longer makes history,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I think of young women, little girls that are looking at you, could I ever be governor of Minnesota? I hope when I win, they鈥檙e able to look at, point to that and say she鈥檚 already done it.鈥�
In Georgia, Bottoms told the National Association of Black Journalists last week that she does not 鈥済ive a lot of talk 鈥� about the historical nature鈥� of her campaign. Yet she notes her family’s Georgia ties go 鈥渂ack at least five generations through a plantation in Crawfordville鈥� and that her grandfather had to 鈥渨alk through these back doors鈥� when he moved to Atlanta. She never mentioned slavery or segregation but said her ancestry 鈥渋s always present with me.鈥�
Abrams, who has campaigned for Bottoms and other Democrats this year, was more direct, arguing that all politics is identity politics of some kind 鈥� and that Republicans鈥� version is simply more coded.
鈥淲hen your Constitution specifically strips a race of its humanity, you cannot then later on say identity doesn鈥檛 matter and has no effect, and we’ve spent 250 years trying to reckon with that identity鈥� with social, political and legal fights, she continued. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 deeply disingenuous, if not woefully naive, to say that identity does not matter.鈥�
Race shapes many decisions, but not all of them
Deval Patrick, whose tenure in Massachusetts overlapped with Paterson’s in New York, said his race mattered especially to his Black constituents and what they wanted from him. It was 鈥渏ust different than the expectations of my predecessors,鈥� he said, recalling criticism after he did not visit a Boston neighborhood where a teenager had been killed by gun violence.
鈥淗is mother was on the news grieving, and at some point she said while the cameras were rolling, where is Gov. Patrick?鈥� he said. 鈥淣obody had ever asked one of my predecessors to come to a crime scene in a neighborhood. Never.鈥�
In Nevada, Ford said being governor still means recognizing how many core issues 鈥� jobs, housing and healthcare 鈥� cross demographic lines.
鈥淚t could be a white man, a Latino woman. It could be a person urban, suburban or rural Nevada. It could be someone from northern Nevada, southern Nevada. These are the issues that are important to them,鈥� he said.
Patrick, who talks regularly with Ford and Moore, agreed, saying that is not just how a governor does the job, but how a candidate wins it in the first place.
鈥淭he successful candidates are the ones who present themselves as candidates for everyone,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd not candidates for just some.鈥�
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Sloan reported from Washington.
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