Black candidates for governor make history with midterm victories

Five Black candidates won governorships in Tuesday's 2026 midterms, a result that Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who won a second term, called historic. Before this cycle, Moore said, he was one of only three Black Americans ever elected governor in the country's 250-year history, and he told CBS News he had never wanted to be the lone Black governor in office for long.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat and former Atlanta mayor, won in Georgia. She will be the first Black woman elected governor anywhere in the United States and the first woman to lead Georgia, joining 17 women who now hold governorships, a record. She told Gayle King of "CBS Mornings" that she learned of her victory when her husband nudged her while she was working on a speech with earbuds in.

In Florida, Republican Byron Donalds, a former congressman, became the state's first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor nationally. Democrat David Crowley won Wisconsin, beating Republican Tom Tiffany, a congressman and close ally of President Trump. Democrat Aaron Ford also won in Nevada.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →