African Americans in Statewide Elective Office
Recent Trends, 2002-2007
The number of African Americans serving in statewide elective office was relatively stable between 2002 and 2007. A total of 40 African Americans held such offices in 2002, and 43 held them in 2007; the 43 in statewide elected office in 2005 and 2007 represent the historical high [Table 1]. The distribution of the statewide offices held by African Americans also changed little during this period. Approximately one-quarter of black statewide officeholders were in federal or administrative positions, over 60 percent were in judicial positions—either State Supreme Court or Appeals Court justices—and about 10 percent were on elected university boards of trustees.
While there has been little recent change in the number of African Americans elected to statewide office, by the end of the period, more black elected officials (BEOs) in statewide office were in higher ranked positions [Tables 2a-2f]. In 2002, there was one black lieutenant governor (CO) and state attorney general (GA), two black secretaries of state (IL and OH), 16 black State Supreme Court justices, and no African American in statewide federal office (U.S. Senate); by 2004, there was an additional black lieutenant governor (MD). In 2005, there was one fewer black lieutenant governor, but for the first time in eight years, there was a black U.S. Senator, Barack Obama (D-IL). By 2007, there were two black lieutenant governors (MD and NY), a black state attorney general (GA) and secretary of state (IL), a black U.S. senator, and for the first time since 1994, a black governor, Deval Patrick (D-MA).
Over this period, there was also a shift in partisanship among African Americans holding statewide administrative or federal office. In 2003, four of the ten African Americans in such offices were Republicans; by 2007, only one of the eleven black statewide administrative and federal officeholders was Republican.
Black Federal and Statewide Administrative Officeholders, 1963-2007
Thirty-seven African Americans have served in statewide federal or administrative elected office between 1963 and 2007 [Table 3]. Five of these elected officials served in two different statewide elected offices; thus, African Americans have served in 42 statewide elected administrative offices. Among the 37 African Americans who served in these offices, there were 31 men and six women; twenty-eight ran as Democrats, eight ran as Republicans, and one was elected to a nonpartisan office.
In the post-World War II era, the only two African Americans to serve in statewide elected office before 1970 were Edward Brooke (R-MA), who was elected attorney general in 1962 before becoming a U.S. senator in 1967, and George Lamb (D), who served as Connecticut’s treasurer between 1963 and 1970.
From 1963 to the present, three African Americans have served in the U.S. Senate: Edward Brooke, Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL), and Barack Obama. There have also been two African American governors: Douglas Wilder (D-VA) and Deval Patrick. There have been eight black lieutenant governors, including two from Colorado and two from Maryland. Four of these lieutenant governors—those from California, Colorado, and Virginia—were elected independently from the governor, but in Maryland, Ohio, and New York, the four were selected as running mates by the gubernatorial nominees, and were elected paired with a governor.
During this period, there have been four black state attorneys general, starting with Edward Brooke and followed by Roland Burris (D-IL), Pam Carter (D-IN), and Thurbert Baker (D-GA), who is currently serving his third term as attorney general. There have been five black secretaries of state during this period; Richard Austin (D-MI), elected in 1970, was the first.
There have been nine elected black state treasurers. Five of the nine were elected in the state of Connecticut, including, as noted above, George Lamb, who was the first elected black state treasurer. There have also been two African Americans elected as state comptroller, including H. Carl McCall (D-NY), the first black statewide elected official in New York, as well as two African Americans elected as state auditor.
During this period, there have been five African Americans elected as statewide commissioners—of Labor, Corporation, Railroad, and Public Service—one black state clerk of courts, and one black state superintendent of public instruction.
African Americans have been elected to statewide federal or administrative office in 19 states. Illinois and Connecticut top the list of states with such black officeholders, each having elected African Americans to such posts five times. Illinois’ record is most impressive—two U.S. senators, an attorney general, a secretary of state, and a comptroller—while in Connecticut, African Americans have only served as state treasurer. Georgia has elected African Americans to four statewide federal or administrative positions, and Colorado and Ohio have done so three times.
Table 1. Black Statewide Elected Officials, 2002-2007 [click here]
Table 2a. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2002 [click here]
Table 2b. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2003 [click here]
Table 2c. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2004 [click here]
Table 2d. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2005 [click here]
Table 2e. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2006 [click here]
Table 2f. Black Officials Holding Elected Statewide Offices, 2007 [click here]
Table 3. African American Federal and Statewide Elected State Administrator ,1963 - 2007 [click here]