African Americans Running for Statewide Office

October 5, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under politics

President Obama’s election to the United States Senate in 2004 and the White House in 2008 has shattered the idea that African Americans cannot win statewide – or nationwide for that matter. Current African American statewide officeholders include Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D), New York Governor David Paterson (D), and Illinois Senator Roland Burris (D). However, Governor Patrick is the only one to have been elected to his current position.

African Americans seeking election to statewide offices include:

Alabama: Alabama Congressman Artur Davis (D) is running for governor of his state. A conservative Democrat and former classmate of President Obama, Congressman Davis is seeking the Democratic nomination against at least one declared Alabama Democrat. If Davis wins both the primary and the general election, he will be the first major party black nominee for governor in Alabama, the first black governor of Alabama, and just fifth in entire U.S. history.

Congressman Kendrick B. Meek (D-FL)

Florida: South Florida Congressman Kendrick B. Meek (D) is running for the open U.S. Senate seat previously held by Republican Senator Mel Martinez. The frontliner in the Democratic primary, Congressman Meek’s likely Republican challenger is current Governor Charlie Crist. Uniquely, Meek intends to qualify for the ballot by petition which would make him the first statewide candidate in the history of Florida to qualify for the ballot by petition.

Georgia: Current Democratic Attorney General Thurbert Baker announced his intention to run for governor of Georgia. Serving as Attorney General since 1997, Baker will face a crowded list of challengers in the Democratic primary and the general election.

Texas: Republican Michael Williams, a commissioner of the Texas Railroad Commission, is the highest-ranking African American in statewide Texas politics. With an expected special election in early 2010 to fill a Senate vacancy created by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison‘s run for governor, Williams has announced he will run. If he were to win, Williams would be the only Black Republican senator and only the second African-American senator with Illinois Democrat Roland Burris.

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United States racism has not change much dispite the election of Obama ,those who are running in the african/american candidates from the southern states are likely to loose, why there is only one african/american in the senate, and he will not be there after 2010 i do not call that progress, can david patterson win i douted and deval patrick is a 50/50 chance, if you really care about progress there should have been in this big nation at least on african/american running for a statewide contest in almost every state not just token numbers here and there that is far away from real progress and being part of the american dream ,there should have been more governors,senators,distric attorneys, attorney general, counties sheriffs more mayor from suburbs and rural areas not just a few big cities,stop calling few token numbers progress.