List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States facts for kids

In the United States, an ethnic minority refers to people who have at least one parent from a background other than non-Hispanic white. This includes groups like African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islands Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Native Americans. Today, about 38.9% of the U.S. population belongs to an ethnic minority group.

This article lists people from these minority groups who have served as governors or lieutenant governors in U.S. states. It does not include other roles like Secretary of State or Senate President, even if they are next in line to be governor.

Trailblazers: Ethnic Minority Governors

This section highlights governors from ethnic minority backgrounds who have led U.S. states.      Denotes incumbent governor

• Italics means the governor was serving temporarily.

Image	Name	Minority Ethnicity	Party	State	Term Start	Term End	Notes
	Dunn, OscarOscar Dunn (1822–1871)	African American	Republican	Louisiana	May 5, 1871	July 18, 1871	Term ended
	Pinchback, P. B. S.P. B. S. Pinchback (1837–1921)	African American	Republican	Louisiana	December 9, 1872	January 13, 1873	Term ended
	Pacheco, RomualdoRomualdo Pacheco (1831–1899)	Californio	Republican	California	February 27, 1875	December 9, 1875	Term ended
	Cabeza De Baca, EzequielEzequiel Cabeza De Baca (1864–1917)	Hispano	Democratic	New Mexico	January 3, 1917	February 18, 1917	Died in office
	Larrazolo, OctavianoOctaviano Larrazolo (1859–1930)	Mexican American	Republican	New Mexico	January 1, 1919	January 1, 1921	Did not run again
	Johnston Murray (1902–1974)	Native American (Chickasaw)	Democratic	Oklahoma	January 8, 1951	January 10, 1955	Could not run again
	Ariyoshi, GeorgeGeorge Ariyoshi (born 1926)	Japanese American	Democratic	Hawaii	October 17, 1973	December 2, 1986	Could not run again
	Apodaca, JerryJerry Apodaca (1934–2023)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 1975	January 1, 1979	Could not run again
	Castro, RaúlRaúl Castro (1916–2015)	Mexican American	Democratic	Arizona	January 6, 1975	October 20, 1977	Left office to become an ambassador
	Anaya, ToneyToney Anaya (born 1941)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 1983	January 1, 1987	Could not run again
	Sununu, JohnJohn Sununu (born 1939)	Salvadoran American	Republican	New Hampshire	January 6, 1983	January 4, 1989	Did not run again
	Waihee, JohnJohn Waihee (born 1946)	Native Hawaiian	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1986	December 2, 1994	Could not run again
	Martinez, BobBob Martinez (born 1934)	Spanish American	Republican	Florida	January 6, 1987	January 8, 1991	Lost his reelection bid
	Wilder, DouglasDouglas Wilder (born 1931)	African American	Democratic	Virginia	January 13, 1990	January 15, 1994	Could not run again
	Cayetano, BenBen Cayetano (born 1939)	Filipino American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1994	December 2, 2002
	Locke, GaryGary Locke (born 1950)	Chinese American	Democratic	Washington	January 15, 1997	January 12, 2005	Did not run again
	Richardson, BillBill Richardson (1947–2023)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 2003	January 1, 2011	Could not run again
	Patrick, DevalDeval Patrick (born 1956)	African American	Democratic	Massachusetts	January 4, 2007	January 8, 2015	Did not run again
	Jindal, BobbyBobby Jindal (born 1971)	Indian American	Republican	Louisiana	January 14, 2008	January 11, 2016	Could not run again
	Paterson, DavidDavid Paterson (born 1954)	African American	Democratic	New York	March 17, 2008	December 31, 2010	Did not run again
	Martinez, SusanaSusana Martinez (born 1959)	Mexican American	Republican	New Mexico	January 1, 2011	January 1, 2019	Could not run again
	Sandoval, BrianBrian Sandoval (born 1963)	Mexican American	Republican	Nevada	January 3, 2011	January 7, 2019
	Nikki Haley (born 1972)	Indian American	Republican	South Carolina	January 12, 2011	January 24, 2017	Left office to become a U.S. Ambassador
	Ige, DavidDavid Ige (born 1957)	Okinawan American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 1, 2014	December 5, 2022	Could not run again
	Sununu, ChrisChris Sununu (born 1974)	Salvadoran American	Republican	New Hampshire	January 5, 2017	January 8, 2025	Did not run again
	Michelle Lujan Grisham (born 1959)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 2019	present
	Kevin Stitt (born 1972)	Native American (Cherokee)	Republican	Oklahoma	January 14, 2019
	Moore, WesWes Moore (born 1978)	African American	Democratic	Maryland	January 18, 2023

Territorial Governors: A Look Back

Many U.S. territories have had governors from ethnic minority groups. In places like Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa, these groups are the majority. This list focuses on those who were considered minorities when they served.

     Denotes incumbent governor

• Italics means the governor was serving temporarily.

Image	Name	Minority Ethnicity	Party	Territory/ District	Term Start	Term End	Notes
	Otero, MiguelMiguel Otero (1859–1944)	Mexican American	Republican	New Mexico	July 14, 1897	January 22, 1906	Appointment ended
	Portusach, FrankFrank Portusach (1864–1919)	Spanish American	Independent	Guam	June 22, 1898	December 12, 1898	Removed from office
	Coe, WilliamWilliam Coe (1857–1909)	Samoan	Independent		April 20, 1899	May 9, 1899	Appointment ended
	de Castro, MorrisMorris de Castro (1902–1966)	Panamanian American	Democratic	U.S. Virgin Islands	October 21, 1949	April 9, 1954	Left office
	King, SamuelSamuel King (1886-1959)	Native Hawaiian	Republican	Hawaii	January 28, 1953	July 26, 1957
	Luis, JuanJuan Luis (1940–2011)	Puerto Rican	Independent Citizens Movement (1978–1979)	U.S. Virgin Islands	January 2, 1978	January 5, 1987	Could not run again
			Independent (1979–1987)
	Fitial, BenignoBenigno Fitial (born 1945)	Carolinian	Covenant (2006–2011)	Northern Mariana Islands	January 9, 2006	February 20, 2013	Removed from office
			Republican (2011–2013)

Ethnic Minority Lieutenant Governors

A lieutenant governor is often the second-highest official in a state's executive branch, ready to take over if the governor cannot serve. This list shows ethnic minority individuals who have held this important role.      Denotes incumbent lieutenant governor

• Italics means the lieutenant governor was serving temporarily.

Image	Name	Minority Ethnicity	Party	State	Term Start	Term End	Notes
	Guerra, PabloPablo de la Guerra (1819–1874)	Mexican American	Democratic	California	January 7, 1861	January 10, 1862	Did not run again
	Dunn, OscarOscar Dunn (1826–1871)	African American	Republican	Louisiana	June 27, 1868	November 22, 1871	Died in office
	Ransier, AlonzoAlonzo Ransier (1834–1882)	African American	Republican	South Carolina	December 3, 1870	December 7, 1872	Left office to run for Congress
	Davis, Alexander KelsoAlexander Kelso Davis (-1884)	African American	Republican	Mississippi	November 30, 1871	March 29, 1876	Left office
	Pinchback, P. B. S.P. B. S. Pinchback (1837–1921)	African American	Republican	Louisiana	December 6, 1871	December 9, 1872	Became governor
	Pacheco, RomualdoRomualdo Pacheco (1831–1899)	Mexican American	Republican	California	December 8, 1871	February 27, 1875	Became governor
	Gleaves, Richard HowellRichard Howell Gleaves (1819–1907)	African American	Republican	South Carolina	December 7, 1872	December 14, 1876	Lost reelection
	Antoine, CaesarCaesar Antoine (1836–1921)	African American	Republican	Louisiana	May 22, 1873	April 24, 1877
	Estopinal, AlbertAlbert Estopinal (1845–1919)	Spanish American	Democratic		May 8, 1900	May 10, 1904	Did not run again
	Cabeza De Baca, EzequielEzequiel Cabeza De Baca (1864–1917)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 6, 1912	January 1, 1917	Left office to run for governor
	Baca, JoséJosé Baca (1876–1924)	Mexican American	Democratic		January 1, 1923	May 17, 1924	Died in office
	Cabeza de Baca, LouisLouis Cabeza de Baca (1894–1969)	Mexican American	Democratic		January 1, 1935	January 1, 1937	Did not run again
	Quintana, CeferinoCeferino Quintana (1894–1977)	Mexican American	Democratic		January 1, 1941	January 1, 1943
	Montoya, JosephJoseph Montoya (1915–1978)	Democratic	January 1, 1947		January 1, 1951	Lost reelection
			January 1, 1955		April 9, 1957	Left office to run for Congress
	Chavez, Tibo J.Tibo J. Chávez (1912–1991)	Mexican American	Democratic		January 1, 1951	January 1, 1955	Lost reelection
	Kealoha, JamesJames Kealoha (1908–1983)	Native Hawaiian, Chinese American	Republican	Hawaii	August 21, 1959	December 2, 1962	Did not run for reelection
	Richardson, William S.William S. Richardson (1919–2010)	Native Hawaiian, Chinese American	Democratic		December 2, 1962	April 13, 1966	Left office to become Chief Justice
	Ing, Andrew T. F.Andrew T. F. Ing (1919–1999)	Chinese American	Democratic		April 13, 1966	December 2, 1966	Returned to his previous job
	Gill, ThomasThomas Gill (1922–2009)	Cuban American	Democratic		December 2, 1966	December 2, 1970	Did not run for reelection
	Ariyoshi, GeorgeGeorge Ariyoshi (born 1926)	Japanese American	Democratic		December 2, 1970	December 2, 1974	Left office to run for governor
	Mondragon, RobertoRoberto Mondragón (born 1940)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 1971	January 1, 1975	Did not run again
					January 1, 1979	January 1, 1983
	Doi, NelsonNelson Doi (1922–2015)	Japanese American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1974	December 2, 1978	Did not run for reelection
	Dymally, MervynMervyn Dymally (1926–2012)	African American, Indian American	Democratic	California	January 6, 1975	January 8, 1979	Lost reelection
	Brown, George L.George L. Brown (1926–2006)	African American	Democratic	Colorado	January 14, 1975	January 10, 1979	Did not run again
	King, JeanJean King (1925–2013)	Japanese American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1978	December 2, 1982	Did not run for reelection
	Curb, MikeMike Curb (born 1944)	Mexican American	Republican	California	January 8, 1979	January 3, 1983	Did not run for reelection
	Waihee, John D.John D. Waiheʻe III (born 1946)	Native Hawaiian	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1982	December 2, 1986	Left office to run for governor
	Woo, S. B.S. B. Woo (born 1937)	Chinese American	Democratic	Delaware	January 15, 1985	January 20, 1989	Did not run for reelection
	Wilder, DouglasDouglas Wilder (born 1931)	African American	Democratic	Virginia	January 18, 1986	January 12, 1990	Left office to run for governor
	Cayetano, BenBen Cayetano (born 1939)	Filipino American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1986	December 2, 1994	Left office to run for governor
	Luna, CaseyCasey Luna (born 1931)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 1991	January 1, 1995	Did not run for reelection
	Hirono, MazieMazie Hirono (born 1947)	Japanese American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 2, 1994	December 2, 2002	Did not run for reelection
	Bustamante, CruzCruz Bustamante (born 1953)	Mexican American	Democratic	California	January 4, 1999	January 8, 2007	Did not run for reelection
	Rogers, JoeJoe Rogers (1964–2013)	African American	Republican	Colorado	January 12, 1999	January 14, 2003	Did not run again
	Leman, LorenLoren Leman (born 1950)	Native Alaskan (Alutiiq)	Republican	Alaska	December 2, 2002	December 4, 2006
	Aiona, DukeDuke Aiona (born 1955)	Native Hawaiian, Chinese American	Republican	Hawaii	December 4, 2002	December 6, 2010	Left office to run for governor
	Bradley, JennetteJennette Bradley (born 1952)	African American	Republican	Ohio	January 13, 2003	January 5, 2005	Left office to become Ohio Treasurer
	Steele, MichaelMichael Steele (born 1958)	African American	Republican	Maryland	January 15, 2003	January 17, 2007	Did not run for reelection
	Paterson, DavidDavid Paterson (born 1954)	African American	Democratic	New York	January 1, 2007	March 17, 2008	Became governor
	Brown, AnthonyAnthony Brown (born 1961)	African American	Democratic	Maryland	January 17, 2007	January 21, 2015	Did not run for reelection
	Smith, MalcolmMalcolm Smith (born 1956)	African American	Democratic	New York	January 7, 2009	June 8, 2009	Left office
	Espada Jr., PedroPedro Espada Jr. (born 1953)	Puerto Rican	Democratic		June 8, 2009	July 8, 2009
	Garamendi, JohnJohn Garamendi (born 1945)	Basque American	Democratic	California	January 8, 2007	November 3, 2009	Left office to serve in Congress
	Pasquil, MonaMona Pasquil (born 1962)	Filipino American	Democratic		November 4, 2009	April 27, 2010	Did not run again
	Maldonado, AbelAbel Maldonado (born 1967)	Mexican American	Republican		April 27, 2010	January 10, 2011	Lost reelection
	Sanchez, JohnJohn Sanchez (born 1963)	Mexican American	Republican	New Mexico	January 1, 2011	January 1, 2019	Could not run again
	Carroll, JenniferJennifer Carroll (born 1959)	African American	Republican	Florida	January 4, 2011	March 12, 2013	Left office
	Garcia, JosephJoseph Garcia (born 1957)	Mexican American	Democratic	Colorado	January 11, 2011	May 12, 2016
	Tsutsui, ShanShan Tsutsui (born 1971)	Japanese American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 27, 2012	January 31, 2018
	Lopez-Cantera, CarlosCarlos Lopez-Cantera (born 1973)	Cuban American	Republican	Florida	February 3, 2014	January 8, 2019
	Mallott, ByronByron Mallott (1943-2020)	Native Alaskan (Tlingit)	Independent	Alaska	December 1, 2014	October 16, 2018
	Sanguinetti, EvelynEvelyn Sanguinetti (born 1970)	Cuban American, Ecuadorian American	Republican	Illinois	January 12, 2015	January 14, 2019	Lost reelection
	Hampton, JeneanJenean Hampton (born 1958)	African American	Republican	Kentucky	December 8, 2015	December 10, 2019	Did not run again
	Rutherford, BoydBoyd Rutherford (born 1957)	African American	Republican	Maryland	January 21, 2015	January 18, 2023	Could not run again
	Habib, CyrusCyrus Habib (born 1981)	Iranian American	Democratic	Washington	January 11, 2017	January 13, 2021	Did not run again
	Fairfax, JustinJustin Fairfax (born 1979)	African American	Democratic	Virginia	January 13, 2018	January 15, 2022	Did not run for reelection
	Oliver, SheilaSheila Oliver (1952–2023)	African American	Democratic	New Jersey	January 16, 2018	August 1, 2023	Died in office
	Chin, DougDoug Chin (born 1971)	Chinese American	Democratic	Hawaii	February 2, 2018	December 3, 2018	Did not run for reelection
	Davidson, ValerieValerie Davidson (born 1967)	Native Alaskan (Yup'ik)	Independent	Alaska	October 16, 2018	December 3, 2018	Did not run again
	Garlin Gilchrist (born 1982)	African American	Democratic	Michigan	January 1, 2019	present
	Howie Morales (born 1973)	Mexican American	Democratic	New Mexico	January 1, 2019
	Barnes, MandelaMandela Barnes (born 1986)	African American	Democratic	Wisconsin	January 7, 2019	January 3, 2023	Did not run for reelection
	Flanagan, PeggyPeggy Flanagan (born 1979)	Native American (Chippewa)	Democratic (DFL)	Minnesota	January 7, 2019	present
	Nunez, JeanetteJeanette Nuñez (born 1972)	Cuban American	Republican	Florida	January 8, 2019	February 16, 2025	Left office to serve as Interim President of a university
	Juliana Stratton (born 1965)	African American	Democratic	Illinois	January 14, 2019	present
	Robinson, MarkMark Robinson (born 1968)	African American	Republican	North Carolina	January 3, 2021	January 1, 2025	Did not run for reelection
	Matos, SabinaSabina Matos (born 1974)	African American, Dominican American	Democratic	Rhode Island	April 14, 2021	present
	Stewart-Cousins, AndreaAndrea Stewart-Cousins (born 1950)	African American	Democratic	New York	August 24, 2021	September 9, 2021	New Lieutenant Governor appointed
					April 12, 2022	May 25, 2022
	Benjamin, BrianBrian Benjamin (born 1976)	African American	Democratic		September 9, 2021	April 12, 2022	Left office
	Burkhead, Lisa CanoLisa Cano Burkhead (born 1970)	Argentine American, Paraguayan American	Democratic	Nevada	December 16, 2021	January 3, 2023	Lost election
	Sears, WinsomeWinsome Sears (born 1964)	African American, Jamaican American	Republican	Virginia	January 15, 2022	present
	Delgado, AntonioAntonio Delgado (born 1977)	African American, Colombian American, Mexican American, Venezuelan American	Democratic	New York	May 25, 2022
	Luke, SylviaSylvia Luke (born 1967)	Korean American	Democratic	Hawaii	December 5, 2022
	Austin Davis]]Austin Davis (born 1989)	African American	Democratic	Pennsylvania	January 17, 2023
	Miller, ArunaAruna Miller (born 1964)	Indian American	Democratic	Maryland	January 18, 2023
	Way, TaheshaTahesha Way (born 1971/1972)	African American	Democratic	New Jersey	September 8, 2023

Territorial Lieutenant Governors: Historical Figures

In U.S. territories like the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, many lieutenant governors have come from the majority ethnic groups there. This list focuses on those who were considered minorities when they served.

Image	Name	Minority Ethnicity	Party	Territory	Term Start	Term End	Notes
	de Castro, MorrisMorris de Castro (1902–1966)	Panamanian American	Democratic	U.S. Virgin Islands	1945	March 4, 1950	Became acting governor
	Moylan, KurtKurt Moylan (born 1939)	Native Hawaiian, Chinese American	Republican	Guam	July 20, 1969	January 6, 1975	Lost reelection
	Moylan, KaleoKaleo Moylan (born 1966)	Native Hawaiian, Chinese American	Republican		January 6, 2003	January 1, 2007	Did not run for reelection

See also

• Governor (United States)
• List of current United States governors
• List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States