By Jessica Ann Mitchell Aiwuyor, Executive Director
National Black Cultural Information Trust, Inc.
On November 3, 2026, Black voters and candidates rewrote the record books, and much of that history was made in the South.
In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governor’s race, ending 250 years of U.S. history without a Black woman serving as a state’s governor. All 83 of Georgia’s previous governors have been white men. Her victory came in the same state where Stacey Abrams came close in 2018 and 2022, a reminder that breakthroughs are built over years of organizing.
In Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore, the third elected Black governor in U.S. history, won reelection.
Florida also made history, though in a different way. Republican Byron Donalds beat Democrat David Jolly, according to the Associated Press, becoming the state’s first Black governor. But Black Floridians didn’t put him there. Polls throughout the race showed Black voters overwhelmingly backing his opponent, 76% to 10% in one NBC6/Telemundo survey. Donalds’ win shows that Black political leadership now spans the ideological spectrum. Black voters, though, have been remarkably consistent about what they want.
Together, these results mean two Deep South states will be governed by a Black leader for the first time. The wave reached beyond the region. ABC News projects Democrat David Crowley will become Wisconsin’s first Black governor, CNN projects Aaron Ford will become Nevada’s first Black governor, and Juliana Stratton’s Senate win in Illinois means three Black women will serve in the Senate.
Why the South matters
These wins aren’t a coincidence of geography. The majority of Black Americans, 56 percent, live in the South, and that share has been climbing since 1970. The South is where Black political power is most concentrated, and where it can move the most.
What new Southern leadership could mean
Governors shape how states handle Medicaid, public schools, voting access, criminal justice, and economic investment. Those are the issues that weigh most heavily on Black Southern communities. Leaders who come from those communities bring a lived understanding of them. For advocates of expanded healthcare, stronger voting protections, and greater investment in historically underserved areas, Georgia’s new leadership opens a door that has been closed for generations.
But a door is not a destination. Progress will depend on what voters do next: holding newly elected leaders accountable, showing up in state legislative races, and organizing between elections, not just during them. The South has always been the heart of Black America. On Tuesday, it started to look like the heart of Black political power too.
By the Numbers:
- Governors: Before this year, only three Black candidates had ever won governor’s races in the United States, and multiple Black governors had never served at the same time. This cycle, five Black candidates won or are projected to win governorships: Keisha Lance Bottoms (Georgia), Byron Donalds (Florida), Wes Moore (Maryland), David Crowley (Wisconsin, projected by ABC News), and Aaron Ford (Nevada, projected by CNN).
- Senate: Juliana Stratton’s win in Illinois means three Black women will serve in the Senate.
- House: Black representation went into this election at a high-water mark, with 67 Black lawmakers in Congress in 2025, the most in history. With Democrats projected to take back the House, Hakeem Jeffries could become the chamber’s first Black Speaker. Final counts for the new Congress will come as remaining races are called.
Sources
- AP: Midterms bring in a wave of historic firsts
- ABC News: These candidates made history in the 2026 midterms
- CNN: Midterm election live updates
- CNN: 2026 midterm takeaways
- NPR: Byron Donalds wins Florida governor’s race
- NBC6: Donalds leads Jolly poll
- WRDW: Wilson defeats Johnson in South Carolina
- JBHE: Pew on the U.S. Black population
- World Economic Forum: Pew data on Black population in the South
- Congressional Black Caucus: 67 Black lawmakers in the 119th Congress
