The following is a list of African-American speakers of U.S. state legislatures.
Upper houses PortraitNamePartyTitleLegislatureTerm startTerm endNotesBarbara JordanDemocratic President pro temporeTexas Senate March 28, 1972 March 30, 1972Cecil A. ParteeDemocratic PresidentIllinois Senate January 8, 1975 February 16, 1977Craig WashingtonDemocratic President pro temporeTexas Senate December 8, 1989 December 12, 1989Joe NealDemocratic President pro temporeNevada Senate 1991 1991Rodney EllisDemocratic President pro temporeTexas Senate May 31, 1999 January 9, 2001Rosa FranklinDemocratic President pro temporeWashington State Senate January 8, 2001 January 13, 2003 June 30, 2004 January 10, 2011Shirley TurnerDemocratic President pro temporeNew Jersey Senate January 8, 2002 January 12, 2010Emil JonesDemocratic PresidentIllinois Senate January 8, 2003 January 3, 2009Diana BajoieDemocratic President pro temporeLouisiana State Senate January 12, 2004 January 14, 2008Margaret CarterDemocratic President pro temporeOregon State Senate 2005 2009Peter GroffDemocratic President pro temporeColorado Senate January 12, 2005 January 9, 2008 President January 9, 2008 January 7, 2009Royce WestDemocratic President pro temporeTexas Senate April 17, 2006 January 8, 2007Nathaniel J. McFaddenDemocratic President pro temporeMaryland Senate January 10, 2007 January 9, 2019Sharon Weston BroomeDemocratic President pro temporeLouisiana State Senate January 14, 2008 January 11, 2016Malcolm SmithDemocratic Temporary PresidentNew York State Senate January 7, 2009 June 8, 2009Nia GillDemocratic President pro temporeNew Jersey Senate January 12, 2010 January 9, 2018Harold MettsDemocratic President pro temporeRhode Island Senate January 3, 2017 January 5, 2021Andrea Stewart-CousinsDemocratic Temporary PresidentNew York State Senate January 9, 2019 IncumbentMelony G. GriffithDemocratic President pro temporeMaryland Senate January 8, 2020 January 11, 2023Louise LucasDemocratic President pro temporeVirginia Senate January 8, 2020 IncumbentJames Manning Jr.Democratic President pro temporeOregon State Senate January 11, 2021 IncumbentSandra Bolden CunninghamDemocratic President pro temporeNew Jersey Senate January 11, 2022 IncumbentMalcolm AugustineDemocratic President pro temporeMaryland Senate January 11, 2023 Incumbent
Lower houses PortraitNamePartyTitleLegislatureTerm startTerm endNotesJohn R. LynchRepublican SpeakerMississippi House of Representatives January 1872 January 1873 First African-American Speaker of any state legislatureSamuel J. LeeRepublican SpeakerSouth Carolina House of Representatives 1872 1874 Robert B. ElliottRepublican SpeakerSouth Carolina House of Representatives November 24, 1874 April 14, 1876 Isaac ShaddRepublican SpeakerMississippi House of Representatives 1874 1876 S. Howard WoodsonDemocratic SpeakerNew Jersey General Assembly 1974 1976 First African-American speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction eraK. Leroy IrvisDemocraticSpeakerPennsylvania House of Representatives May 23, 1977 November 30, 1978 January 4, 1983 November 30, 1988Willie BrownDemocratic SpeakerCalifornia State Assembly December 2, 1980 June 5, 1995Lois DeBerryDemocratic Speaker pro temporeTennessee House of Representatives 1987 2010Dan BlueDemocratic SpeakerNorth Carolina House of Representatives January 1, 1991 January 1, 1995Sherman CopelinDemocratic Speaker pro temporeLouisiana House of Representatives January 13, 1992 January 15, 1996Donald Kofi TuckerDemocratic Speaker pro temporeNew Jersey General Assembly January 8, 2002 October 17, 2005Adrienne A. JonesDemocratic Speaker pro temporeMaryland House of Delegates January 8, 2003 May 1, 2019 Speaker May 1, 2019 December 4, 2025John LovickDemocraticSpeaker pro temporeWashington House of Representatives January 13, 2003 January 5, 2008Served as acting speaker from 2019–2020 January 8, 2018 January 11, 2021Sharon Weston BroomeDemocratic Speaker pro temporeLouisiana House of Representatives January 12, 2004 January 12, 2005Yvonne Dorsey-ColombDemocratic Speaker pro temporeLouisiana House of Representatives January 12, 2005 January 14, 2008Jerry GreenDemocratic Speaker pro temporeNew Jersey General Assembly January 8, 2008 April 18, 2018Karen Carter PetersonDemocratic Speaker pro temporeLouisiana House of Representatives January 14, 2008 March 8, 2010Karen BassDemocratic SpeakerCalifornia State Assembly May 13, 2008 March 1, 2010 First African-American woman to serve as Speaker of any state legislatureTerrance CarrollDemocratic SpeakerColorado House of Representatives January 7, 2009 January 12, 2011Sheila OliverDemocratic SpeakerNew Jersey General Assembly January 12, 2010 January 14, 2014Gordon FoxDemocratic SpeakerRhode Island House of Representatives February 11, 2010 March 22, 2014Darrin WilliamsDemocratic Speaker pro temporeArkansas House of Representatives 2012 2012T. W. ShannonRepublican SpeakerOklahoma House of Representatives January 8, 2013 February 10, 2014Jeffrion L. AubryDemocratic Speaker pro temporeNew York State Assembly January 9, 2013 IncumbentCarl HeastieDemocratic SpeakerNew York State Assembly February 3, 2015 IncumbentJason FriersonDemocratic SpeakerNevada Assembly February 6, 2017 April 28, 2022Gordon M. JohnsonDemocratic Speaker pro temporeNew Jersey General Assembly May 24, 2018 January 11, 2022Janet BucknerDemocratic Speaker pro temporeColorado House of Representatives January 4, 2019 January 13, 2021Sheree Sample-HughesDemocratic Speaker pro temporeMaryland House of Delegates September 9, 2019 January 10, 2024Chris WelchDemocratic SpeakerIllinois House of Representatives January 13, 2021 IncumbentJehan Gordon-BoothDemocratic Speaker pro temporeIllinois House of Representatives January 21, 2021 IncumbentBenjie WimberlyDemocratic Speaker pro temporeNew Jersey General Assembly January 11, 2022 January 16, 2025Rachel Talbot RossDemocratic SpeakerMaine House of Representatives December 7, 2022 December 4, 2024Joe TateDemocratic Speaker Michigan House of Representatives January 1, 2023 January 8, 2025Joanna McClintonDemocratic SpeakerPennsylvania House of Representatives February 28, 2023 IncumbentDon ScottDemocratic SpeakerVirginia House of Delegates January 10, 2024 IncumbentMelissa Minor-BrownDemocratic SpeakerDelaware House of Representatives January 14, 2025 IncumbentLisa DemuthRepublican SpeakerMinnesota House of Representatives February 6, 2025 IncumbentJoseline Peña-MelnykDemocratic SpeakerMaryland House of Delegates December 16, 2025 Incumbent
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