Four newly elected Black governors will join Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in office next year, creating an unprecedented moment in US political history, with two members of the group having Jamaican heritage.
The victories in the Nov. 3 elections include Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will become the first Black woman to serve as governor of a US state after winning Georgia’s gubernatorial race. Her election also makes her the first woman elected governor of Georgia.
The incoming governors of Florida, Wisconsin and Nevada also made history with their victories. Byron Donalds will become Florida’s first Black governor, David Crowley will be Wisconsin’s first, and Aaron Ford will be Nevada’s first Black governor.
They will join Moore, who made history in 2022 as Maryland’s first Black governor and secured re-election this year.
The group represents a significant milestone in US political representation. Before the latest elections, only three Black Americans had been elected governor of a US state: Virginia’s Douglas Wilder, who won in 1989; Massachusetts’ Deval Patrick, elected in 2006; and Moore.
For Caribbean audiences, the victories also carry a particular significance. Donalds and Moore both have Jamaican roots, bringing the island’s heritage into the highest executive offices in two US states.
Donalds, Florida’s governor-elect, is the son of a mother whose parents were Jamaican immigrants. His Jamaican family background has been part of his public story, including the influence of his mother’s experiences and values on his upbringing.
Moore’s Jamaican connection comes through his mother, Joy Thomas Moore, who is from Trelawny. The Maryland governor has spoken about his Jamaican heritage and maintained connections to the island, including visits to Jamaica.
Bottoms, meanwhile, brings a lengthy record in public service to Georgia’s governor’s office. She served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022, becoming the city’s second woman mayor. Before that, she worked as a judge and served on the Atlanta City Council.
After leaving the mayor’s office, Bottoms joined the Biden administration as a senior adviser and led the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Her victory marks a major shift in Georgia, where Republicans have controlled the governor’s office for more than two decades.
In Wisconsin, Crowley will move from his role as Milwaukee County executive to become the state’s first Black governor. Ford, Nevada’s attorney general before his election, will become the state’s first Black governor and the first Black governor of a state west of the Mississippi River.
The incoming governors will take office in January 2027, adding to the growing visibility of Black political leadership at the state level.
For the Jamaican diaspora, the election of Donalds and Moore offers another point of connection to political life in the United States, where Caribbean immigrants and their descendants have helped shape communities, public institutions and civic leadership.
caribbeannationalweekly.com
