Democratic U.S. Senate candidate did something few expected: He came close to becoming Louisiana’s first African American elected statewide in 150 years.
Davis came close, but Republican Congressional Representative will replace outgoing Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy.
The Davis-Letlow race didn’t get as much national media attention as Senate races in other states did. However, as Davis’s numbers rose, more pollsters and political strategists looked at Louisiana as our state ranked No. 1 for Black early voter turnout.
As results rolled in after polls closed Tuesday night, it became clear that more American history would be made as Davis, a Black Democrat, and other Black candidates did better than many anticipated, including state and national Democrats who didn’t invest much money or time on some of these campaigns.
Black Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina continues in the U.S. Senate along with Black Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware. They will be joined by Juliana Stratton, senator-elect of Illinois, in January. That’s two Black men and, count them, three Black women in the U.S. Senate. A fourth was close: Black Democrat Angie Nixon narrowly missed winning a Florida Senate seat. Democratic rockstar Scott Colom may narrowly beat an incumbent senator to become Mississippi’s first African American senator since Reconstruction. As of Thursday afternoon, Colom led by more than 1,500 votes.n
California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris was elected in 2016 before she became vice president.
Times-Picayune columnist Will Sutton on Thursday, September 12, 2019.
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Before Harris, the first Black woman elected to serve in the U.S. Senate was Carol Moseley Braun, chosen by Illinois voters in 1992.
Before Tuesday, 14 African Americans had been appointed or elected to the upper chamber of Congress. Nine of those were elected. Most of them were men. That includes a couple elected by Mississippi state legislatures during Reconstruction, an Illinois U.S. senator who became a U.S. president, a New Jersey mayor who has been reelected twice and the pastor of a historic Atlanta church.
U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke III, a Republican, was elected in 1966 and became the first Black person elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.
In recent history, only three Black people have been elected governors: Virginia Democrat L. Douglas Wilder, serving 1990-1994; Massachusetts Democrat Deval Patrick, serving 2007-2015; and Maryland Democrat Wes Moore, elected in 2023. Others rose to the top job in their respective states when incumbents could no longer serve, including two in Louisiana: New York Democrat David Paterson, who stepped up from lieutenant governor and served from 2008-2010; Republican Louisiana Gov. Oscar Dunn, who served from 1868-1871, and Republican Louisiana Gov. P.B.S. Pinchback, serving from 1872-1873.
More history was made Tuesday.
There will be five Black governors serving at the same time.
Former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun speaks during a Veterans for Davis campaign event at the World War 2 Museum in New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK
Enan Chediak
Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor, was re-elected. He’ll be joined by Black governors-elect: in Georgia, in Florida, in Nevada, in Wisconsin, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory.
Donalds is the first Black Republican elected governor in Florida. I’m sure Burke would be proud.
Bottoms is the first Black woman governor in the nation. I’m sure is proud.
Ford was elected Nevada’s first Black governor, and the first Black man elected governor west of the Mississippi River. Crowley won a bruising Democratic Party primary, becoming the Democratic nominee for governor by a 0.48% margin. Crowley, 40, will be the youngest governor in the nation. I’m sure Moore is happy to see Ford, Crowley, Bottoms and Plaskett join him as Democratic governors. As a diplomatic, engaging politician, I’m sure he wishes Donalds the best of luck.
Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom speaks to his supporters during his election watch party Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Jackson, Miss.
Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today via AP
Louisiana almost had its first Black elected U.S. senator and its first Black person elected statewide. Louisiana could’ve had its first Black governor and its first Black person elected statewide when Shawn Wiison ran for governor in 2023, losing to Gov. Jeff Landry primarily because he didn’t have strong Democratic support and because he didn’t get the financial support necessary for a statewide campaign.
Black elected officials, politicians, activists and others have criticized the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the for failing to provide the necessary investments in Louisiana and other Southern states required to be competitive and to win.
Louisiana can look to its left, look to its right and look at other states to see what’s possible.
Look what happened in our state with little to no investment. Now is the time for serious investment, not when someone decides days before an election that maybe it’s time to send a few dollars.