50 States And No Black Governors, But That Could Change In 2018

Democrat Stacey Abrams greets voters at an early vote event in DeKalb County, Ga. Abrams is in a competitive Democratic primary with an opponent who shares the same first name, Stacey Evans.

Asma Khalid / NPR

At Columbia Drive United Methodist church in Decatur, Ga., the congregation bowed their heads under a brightly lit cross and prayed for their fellow worshiper — Stacey Abrams, the former minority leader in the Georgia legislature now running for governor.

“We want to pray for Stacey Abrams,” the pastor said, as people in the pews shouted “Yeah, that’s right” in agreement. “We want to pray, with her the season may change – that with her being elected as the governor of the great state of Georgia that all of those ideas from the current administration be answered to the way of righteousness.”

It was not lost on anyone at church the significance of what Abrams is trying to do. Not a single sitting governor in any of the 50 states is black. In fact, in the history of the United States only two African-American men have ever been elected governor. If elected she would not only become one of the few black governors in American history, she would also be the nation’s first black female governor.