In a historic political awakening, Black voters helped topple Republican incumbents, elect an unprecedented number of Black governors and put Hakeem Jeffries on the verge of becoming the first Black speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Their votes helped Democrats capture both chambers of Congress in a sweeping repudiation of President Donald Trump and his policies. The victories were part of a broader backlash involving independents, younger Americans and voters frustrated by high prices and the direction of the country.
“The American people did not like the way things were going, and they let their voices be heard,” said Dr. Sudarsan Kant, a political science professor at Harris-Stowe State University.
In Missouri, voters rejected a Trump-backed congressional map designed to weaken Black political representation, re-elected Black U.S. Reps. Wesley Bell and Emanuel Cleaver and helped end Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
The NAACP credited Black voters with helping drive Tuesday’s results, citing increased early and absentee voting in Georgia, Florida, Texas and Michigan.
Black early and absentee voting increased 20% in Georgia and 53% in Texas compared with the same point in 2022, the organization reported. Those figures do not include Election Day ballots, and final nationwide Black turnout estimates were not yet available Wednesday.
In a statement, the NAACP praised Black voters for helping elect candidates committed to protecting civil rights, expanding economic opportunity and holding government accountable.
Five Black governors
Georgia elected former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first Black woman elected governor in American history. She also becomes Georgia’s first woman governor.
Bottoms, a Democrat, defeated Republican Rick Jackson, ending 24 years of Republican control of the governor’s office.
In Wisconsin, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeated Republican Tom Tiffany to become the state’s first Black governor. Nevada elected Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, also the first Black governor in his state’s history.
Florida chose Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, making him the state’s first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor in American history.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the nation’s only sitting Black governor before Tuesday, won a second term.
The five will serve simultaneously, something that has never happened before. Until Tuesday, only three Black Americans had ever been elected governor: L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia in 1989, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts in 2006 and Moore in 2022.
Four of the five are Democrats. Donalds is a Republican.
Michael P. McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, celebrated the results as a breakthrough for candidates from communities historically underrepresented in government.
“Last night’s elections created one of the most diverse representations of the American people in this country’s history!” McMillan said Wednesday.
He pointed to victories by Black, Latino, female, LGBTQ, Arab American and Native American candidates, saying voters had embraced leaders promising to address affordability, health care and government accountability.
Among them was Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to become Texas’ first Latina governor.
Michigan elected Democrat Abdul El-Sayed as the nation’s first Muslim U.S. senator, while New Hampshire elected Democrat Chris Pappas as the first openly gay man elected to the Senate. New Mexico elected Democrat Deb Haaland, who will become the nation’s first Native American woman governor.
Jeffries nears the speaker’s chair
Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, is positioned to become the first Black speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January.
He became the first Black leader of either major party in Congress in 2022. His anticipated elevation comes more than 150 years after Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first Black member of the House.
Jeffries must still win the speaker’s election.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton also won election to the U.S. Senate, while New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker secured another term. Six Black senators are expected to serve in the new Congress, a record.
A seventh could join them.
In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom was locked in an extraordinarily close Senate race against Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. Colom held a narrow lead Wednesday afternoon, with thousands of ballots still to be counted.
A victory would make him Mississippi’s first Black U.S. senator since Reconstruction and the first Democrat elected to the Senate from that state since 1982.
The gains were not uniform across Congress. Some Black-held House districts changed hands or were affected by redistricting, leaving the final number of Black representatives uncertain as votes continued to be counted.
Democrats’ control of Congress will allow them to investigate Trump’s administration and challenge policies they opposed during the campaign. House Democrats are expected to scrutinize administration spending and immigration enforcement, while Senate Democrats will have the votes to reject presidential nominees.
Kant said the party will also face pressure to deliver on the economic concerns that helped bring voters to the polls.
“I think the Democrats have a clear mandate to respond to the needs of the American people,” he said.
Missouri voters reject GOP map
Missouri Republicans entered Tuesday hoping to strengthen their congressional advantage through a redistricting plan backed by Trump.
The plan threatened Cleaver’s Kansas City-based district, one of two Missouri congressional seats held by Black Democrats.
But a referendum campaign and court rulings kept the existing boundaries in place for Tuesday’s election. Voters then cast a 62% majority “No” vote on Proposition A, rejecting the proposed replacement map.
Cleaver won another term with 82% of the vote, while Bell received 84% in the 1st District, which includes St. Louis and part of St. Louis County.
Democrat Fred Wellman also defeated seven-term Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner in the suburban St. Louis-based 2nd District.
Instead of the seven Republicans and one Democrat GOP leaders had sought, Missouri will send five Republicans and three Democrats to Washington.
Democrats also flipped 16 Republican-held Missouri House seats and gained two Senate seats, ending Republican supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
Republicans retain control of state government, but Democrats will have greater influence over measures requiring two-thirds approval, including veto overrides and emergency clauses.
Across the country, Democrats also captured Senate seats in traditionally Republican states, including Texas, Kansas and Iowa.
When Congress convenes Jan. 3, Democrats will control both chambers and Jeffries will have an opportunity to become the first Black speaker of the House. In statehouses across the country, five Black governors will be preparing to lead their states — four of them taking office for the first time.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.