This page is a list of African-American United States Senate candidates.
Listed are those African-American candidates who achieved ballot access for a federal election. They made the primary ballot, and have votes in the election in order to qualify for this list.
Not included are African-Americans potential candidates (suggested by media, objects of draft movements, etc.), potential candidates who did not file for office or fictional candidates. Two biracial candidates are included: Barack Obama and Kamala Harris.
In 2024, two African-American women won their United States Senate races: Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks.
The default sort is by descending year, followed by state, followed by candidate surname.
Denotes winning candidate.
+ Denotes party nominee.
Year | Name | Party | Details | State |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Barbara Lee | Democratic | 9.8% primary result [1] | California |
2024 | Lisa Blunt Rochester + | Democratic | 56.6% [2] | Delaware |
2024 | Angela Alsobrooks + | Democratic | 54.6% [3] | Maryland |
2024 | Royce White + | Republican | 38.5% primary victory [4] | Minnesota |
2022 | Val Demings + | Democratic | 41.3% | Florida |
2022 | Herschel Walker + | Republican | 48.6% runoff result [5] | Georgia |
2022 | Raphael Warnock + | Democratic | 51.4% runoff result [6] | Georgia |
2022 | Charles Booker + | Democratic | 38.2% | Kentucky |
2022 | Gary Chambers + | Democratic | 17.9% | Louisiana |
2022 | Joe Pinion + | Republican | 42.8% | New York |
2022 | Cheri Beasley + | Democratic | 47.3% | North Carolina |
2022 | Malcolm Kenyatta | Democratic | 10.85% primary result [7] | Pennsylvania |
2022 | Catherine Fleming Bruce | Democratic | 44.23% primary runoff result [8] | South Carolina |
2022 | Krystle Matthews + | Democratic | 37% | South Carolina |
2022 | Tim Scott + | Republican | 62.9% | South Carolina |
2022 | Mandela Barnes + | Democratic | 49.4% | Wisconsin |
2020 | Raphael Warnock + | Democratic | 51%; special/runoff election (2021) | Georgia |
2020 | Willie Wilson | Willie Wilson Party | 4% | Illinois |
2020 | John James + | Republican | 48.2% | Michigan |
2020 | Mike Espy + | Democratic | 44.1% | Mississippi |
2020 | Preston Love Jr. | Democratic | 6.3% primary result [9] | Nebraska |
2020 | Cory Booker + | Democratic | 57.2% | New Jersey |
2020 | Jaime Harrison + | Democratic | 44.2% | South Carolina |
2020 | Marquita Bradshaw | Democratic | 35.2% | Tennessee |
2018 | John James + | Republican | 45.8% | Michigan |
2018 | Mike Espy + | Democratic | 46.4%; special election | Mississippi |
2016 | Kamala Harris + | Democratic | 61.8% | California |
2016 | Donna Edwards | Democratic | 38.9% primary result [10] | Maryland |
2016 | Thomas Dixon | Democratic, Green | 36.9% | South Carolina |
2016 | Tim Scott + | Republican | 60.6% | South Carolina |
2014 | Cory Booker + | Democratic | 55.8% | New Jersey |
2014 | Constance N. Johnson + | Democratic | 29% | Oklahoma |
2014 | Joyce Dickerson + | Democratic | 37.1% | South Carolina |
2010 | Kendrick Meek + | Democratic | 20.1% | Florida |
2010 | Mike Thurmond + | Democratic | 39.2% | Georgia |
2010 | Alvin Greene + | Democratic | 28.2% | South Carolina |
2008 | Vivian Davis Figures + | Democratic | 36.5% | Alabama |
2008 | Erik R. Fleming + | Democratic | 38.6% | Mississippi |
2006 | Kweisi Mfume | Democratic | 40.5% primary result [11] | Maryland |
2006 | Michael Steele + | Republican | 44.2% | Maryland |
2006 | Erik R. Fleming + | Democratic | 34.8% | Mississippi |
2006 | Harold Ford Jr. + | Democratic | 48% | Tennessee |
2006 | Aaron Dixon + | Green | 1.02% | Washington |
2004 | Denise Majette + | Democratic | 40% | Georgia |
2004 | Barack Obama + | Democratic | 70% | Illinois |
2004 | Alan Keyes + | Republican | 27% | Illinois |
2004 | Tee Ferguson + | United Citizens | 0.4% | South Carolina |
2004 | Efia Nwangaza + | Green | 0.3% | South Carolina |
2002 | Ron Kirk + | Democratic | 43.3% | Texas |
1998 | Gary Franks + | Republican | 32.4% | Connecticut |
1998 | Carol Moseley Braun + | Democratic | 47.4% | Illinois |
1996 | Harvey Gantt + | Democratic | 45.9% | North Carolina |
1994 | Ron Sims + | Democratic | 44.25% | Washington |
1992 | Gerald Horne + | Peace and Freedom | 2.8% | California |
1992 | Carol Moseley Braun + | Democratic | 53.3%; first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate | Illinois |
1992 | Alan Keyes + | Republican | 29% | Maryland |
1990 | Harvey Gantt + | Democratic | 47.4% | North Carolina |
1988 | Alan Keyes + | Republican | 38.2% | Maryland |
1988 | Ernie Chambers + | New Alliance | 1.6% | Nebraska |
1978 | Edward Brooke + | Republican | 44.9% | Massachusetts |
1978 | Charles Evers | Independent | 22.6% | Mississippi |
1972 | Edward Brooke + | Republican | 63.5% | Massachusetts |
1966 | Edward Brooke + | Republican | 60.7%; first African-American senator elected by popular vote | Massachusetts |
1874 | Blanche Bruce | Republican | First African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate [12] | Mississippi |
1872 | P. B. S. Pinchback | Republican | Won the election; not seated due to election challenges [13] | Louisiana |
1870 | Hiram Revels + | Republicans | First African-American senator (elected by state legislature to fill a vacant seat) [14] | Mississippi |
Elections in Georgia are held to fill various state and federal seats. Regular elections are held every even year. The positions being decided each year varies, as the terms of office varies. The State Senate, State House and U.S. House will typically be up for election, as all of those positions have two-year terms. Special elections are held to fill vacated offices. Georgia is one of seven states that require a run-off election if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a primary election and one of only two states that require a run-off election for state and congressional offices if no candidate wins a majority of the vote in a general election; Louisiana has a similar requirement, but it operates under a different election system.
The Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the two major political parties in the state and is chaired by Nikema Williams.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate for Alabama.
The 2020 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, 2020, with the 33 class 2 seats of the Senate contested in regular elections. Of these, 21 were held by Republicans, and 12 by Democrats. The winners were elected to 6-year terms from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2027. Two special elections for seats held by Republicans were also held in conjunction with the general elections: one in Arizona, to fill the vacancy created by John McCain's death in 2018; and one in Georgia, following Johnny Isakson's resignation in 2019. These elections ran concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election in which incumbent president Donald Trump lost to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
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The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021, to elect the Class II member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Georgia. Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue in the runoff election. The general election was held concurrently with the 2020 presidential election, as well as with other elections to the Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
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The 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Georgia. Incumbent Democratic senator Raphael Warnock won his first full term in office, defeating Republican former football player Herschel Walker. Under Georgia's two-round system, Warnock was re-elected in a runoff election on December 6 after neither candidate received over 50% of the vote on November 8. Warnock's win was the only statewide victory for Democrats in Georgia in 2022.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Delaware. Democratic congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester won her first term in office, defeating Republican businessman Eric Hansen. She succeeded Democratic incumbent Tom Carper, who declined to seek a fifth term.
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