The following is a list of African-American speakers of U.S. state legislatures.
Upper houses
edit| Portrait | Name | Party | Title | Legislature | Term start | Term end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Barbara Jordan | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | March 28, 1972 | March 30, 1972 | |
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Cecil A. Partee | Democratic | President | Illinois Senate | January 8, 1975 | February 16, 1977 | |
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Craig Washington | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | December 8, 1989 | December 12, 1989 | |
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Joe Neal | Democratic | President pro tempore | Nevada Senate | 1991 | 1991 | |
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Rodney Ellis | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | May 31, 1999 | January 9, 2001 | |
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Rosa Franklin | Democratic | President pro tempore | Washington State Senate | January 8, 2001 | January 13, 2003 | |
| June 30, 2004 | January 10, 2011 | ||||||
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Shirley Turner | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 8, 2002 | January 12, 2010 | |
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Emil Jones | Democratic | President | Illinois Senate | January 8, 2003 | January 3, 2009 | |
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Diana Bajoie | Democratic | President pro tempore | Louisiana State Senate | January 12, 2004 | January 14, 2008 | |
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Margaret Carter | Democratic | President pro tempore | Oregon State Senate | 2005 | 2009 | |
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Peter Groff | Democratic | President pro tempore | Colorado Senate | January 12, 2005 | January 9, 2008 | |
| President | January 9, 2008 | January 7, 2009 | |||||
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Royce West | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | April 17, 2006 | January 8, 2007 | |
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Nathaniel J. McFadden | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 10, 2007 | January 9, 2019 | |
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Sharon Weston Broome | Democratic | President pro tempore | Louisiana State Senate | January 14, 2008 | January 11, 2016 | |
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Malcolm Smith | Democratic | Temporary President | New York State Senate | January 7, 2009 | June 8, 2009 | |
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Nia Gill | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 12, 2010 | January 9, 2018 | |
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Harold Metts | Democratic | President pro tempore | Rhode Island Senate | January 3, 2017 | January 5, 2021 | |
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Andrea Stewart-Cousins | Democratic | Temporary President | New York State Senate | January 9, 2019 | Incumbent | |
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Melony G. Griffith | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 8, 2020 | January 11, 2023 | |
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Louise Lucas | Democratic | President pro tempore | Virginia Senate | January 8, 2020 | Incumbent | |
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James Manning Jr. | Democratic | President pro tempore | Oregon State Senate | January 11, 2021 | Incumbent | |
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Sandra Bolden Cunningham | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 11, 2022 | Incumbent | |
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Malcolm Augustine | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 11, 2023 | Incumbent |
Lower houses
edit| Portrait | Name | Party | Title | Legislature | Term start | Term end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
John R. Lynch | Republican | Speaker | Mississippi House of Representatives | January 1872 | January 1873 | First African-American Speaker of any state legislature |
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Samuel J. Lee | Republican | Speaker | South Carolina House of Representatives | 1872 | 1874 | |
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Robert B. Elliott | Republican | Speaker | South Carolina House of Representatives | November 24, 1874 | April 14, 1876 | |
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Isaac Shadd | Republican | Speaker | Mississippi House of Representatives | 1874 | 1876 | |
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S. Howard Woodson | Democratic | Speaker | New Jersey General Assembly | 1974 | 1976 | First African-American speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction era |
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K. Leroy Irvis | Democratic | Speaker | Pennsylvania House of Representatives | May 23, 1977 | November 30, 1978 | |
| January 4, 1983 | November 30, 1988 | ||||||
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Willie Brown | Democratic | Speaker | California State Assembly | December 2, 1980 | June 5, 1995 | |
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Lois DeBerry | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Tennessee House of Representatives | 1987 | 2010 | |
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Dan Blue | Democratic | Speaker | North Carolina House of Representatives | January 1, 1991 | January 1, 1995 | |
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Sherman Copelin | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 13, 1992 | January 15, 1996 | |
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Donald Kofi Tucker | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 8, 2002 | October 17, 2005 | |
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Adrienne A. Jones | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Maryland House of Delegates | January 8, 2003 | May 1, 2019 | |
| Speaker | May 1, 2019 | Incumbent | |||||
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John Lovick | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Washington House of Representatives | January 13, 2003 | January 5, 2008 | Served as acting speaker from 2019–2020 |
| January 8, 2018 | January 11, 2021 | ||||||
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Sharon Weston Broome | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 12, 2004 | January 12, 2005 | |
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Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 12, 2005 | January 14, 2008 | |
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Jerry Green | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 8, 2008 | April 18, 2018 | |
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Karen Carter Peterson | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 14, 2008 | March 8, 2010 | |
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Karen Bass | Democratic | Speaker | California State Assembly | May 13, 2008 | March 1, 2010 | First African-American woman to serve as Speaker of any state legislature |
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Terrance Carroll | Democratic | Speaker | Colorado House of Representatives | January 7, 2009 | January 12, 2011 | |
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Sheila Oliver | Democratic | Speaker | New Jersey General Assembly | January 12, 2010 | January 14, 2014 | |
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Gordon Fox | Democratic | Speaker | Rhode Island House of Representatives | February 11, 2010 | March 22, 2014 | |
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Darrin Williams | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Arkansas House of Representatives | 2012 | 2012 | |
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T. W. Shannon | Republican | Speaker | Oklahoma House of Representatives | January 8, 2013 | February 10, 2014 | |
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Jeffrion L. Aubry | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New York State Assembly | January 9, 2013 | Incumbent | |
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Carl Heastie | Democratic | Speaker | New York State Assembly | February 3, 2015 | Incumbent | |
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Jason Frierson | Democratic | Speaker | Nevada Assembly | February 6, 2017 | April 28, 2022 | |
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Gordon M. Johnson | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | May 24, 2018 | January 11, 2022 | |
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Janet Buckner | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Colorado House of Representatives | January 4, 2019 | January 13, 2021 | |
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Sheree Sample-Hughes | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Maryland House of Delegates | September 9, 2019 | January 10, 2024 | |
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Chris Welch | Democratic | Speaker | Illinois House of Representatives | January 13, 2021 | Incumbent | |
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Jehan Gordon-Booth | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Illinois House of Representatives | January 21, 2021 | Incumbent | |
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Benjie E. Wimberly | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 11, 2022 | Incumbent | |
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Rachel Talbot Ross | Democratic | Speaker | Maine House of Representatives | December 7, 2022 | Incumbent | |
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Joanna McClinton | Democratic | Speaker | Pennsylvania House of Representatives | February 28, 2023 | Incumbent | |
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Don Scott | Democratic | Speaker | Virginia House of Delegates | January 10, 2024 | Incumbent |