# List of African-American speakers of U.S. state legislatures

The following is a list of African-American speakers of U.S. state legislatures.

## Upper houses

| Name | Party | Title | Legislature | Term start | Term end |
| Barbara Jordan | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | March 28, 1972 | March 30, 1972 |
| Cecil A. Partee | Democratic | President | Illinois Senate | January 8, 1975 | February 16, 1977 |
| Craig Washington | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | December 8, 1989 | December 12, 1989 |
| Joe Neal | Democratic | President pro tempore | Nevada Senate | 1991 | 1991 |
| Rodney Ellis | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | May 31, 1999 | January 9, 2001 |
| Rosa Franklin | Democratic | President pro tempore | Washington State Senate | January 8, 2001 | January 13, 2003 |
| Rosa Franklin | Democratic | President pro tempore | Washington State Senate | June 30, 2004 | January 10, 2011 |
| Shirley Turner | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 8, 2002 | January 12, 2010 |
| Emil Jones | Democratic | President | Illinois Senate | January 8, 2003 | January 3, 2009 |
| Diana Bajoie | Democratic | President pro tempore | Louisiana State Senate | January 12, 2004 | January 14, 2008 |
| Margaret Carter | Democratic | President pro tempore | Oregon State Senate | 2005 | 2009 |
| Peter Groff | Democratic | President pro tempore | Colorado Senate | January 12, 2005 | January 9, 2008 |
| Peter Groff | Democratic | President | Colorado Senate | January 9, 2008 | January 7, 2009 |
| Royce West | Democratic | President pro tempore | Texas Senate | April 17, 2006 | January 8, 2007 |
| Nathaniel J. McFadden | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 10, 2007 | January 9, 2019 |
| Sharon Weston Broome | Democratic | President pro tempore | Louisiana State Senate | January 14, 2008 | January 11, 2016 |
| Malcolm Smith | Democratic | Temporary President | New York State Senate | January 7, 2009 | June 8, 2009 |
| Nia Gill | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 12, 2010 | January 9, 2018 |
| Harold Metts | Democratic | President pro tempore | Rhode Island Senate | January 3, 2017 | January 5, 2021 |
| Andrea Stewart-Cousins | Democratic | Temporary President | New York State Senate | January 9, 2019 | Incumbent |
| Melony G. Griffith | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 8, 2020 | January 11, 2023 |
| Louise Lucas | Democratic | President pro tempore | Virginia Senate | January 8, 2020 | Incumbent |
| James Manning Jr. | Democratic | President pro tempore | Oregon State Senate | January 11, 2021 | Incumbent |
| Sandra Bolden Cunningham | Democratic | President pro tempore | New Jersey Senate | January 11, 2022 | Incumbent |
| Malcolm Augustine | Democratic | President pro tempore | Maryland Senate | January 11, 2023 | Incumbent |

## Lower houses

| 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 |
| Samuel J. Lee | Republican | Speaker | South Carolina House of Representatives | 1872 | 1874 | |
| Robert B. Elliott | Republican | Speaker | South Carolina House of Representatives | November 24, 1874 | April 14, 1876 | |
| Isaac Shadd | Republican | Speaker | Mississippi House of Representatives | 1874 | 1876 | |
| 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 |
| K. Leroy Irvis | Democratic | Speaker | Pennsylvania House of Representatives | May 23, 1977 | November 30, 1978 | |
| K. Leroy Irvis | Democratic | Speaker | Pennsylvania House of Representatives | January 4, 1983 | November 30, 1988 | |
| Willie Brown | Democratic | Speaker | California State Assembly | December 2, 1980 | June 5, 1995 | |
| Lois DeBerry | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Tennessee House of Representatives | 1987 | 2010 | |
| Dan Blue | Democratic | Speaker | North Carolina House of Representatives | January 1, 1991 | January 1, 1995 | |
| Sherman Copelin | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 13, 1992 | January 15, 1996 | |
| Donald Kofi Tucker | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 8, 2002 | October 17, 2005 | |
| Adrienne A. Jones | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Maryland House of Delegates | January 8, 2003 | May 1, 2019 | |
| Adrienne A. Jones | Democratic | Speaker | Maryland House of Delegates | May 1, 2019 | Incumbent | |
| John Lovick | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Washington House of Representatives | January 13, 2003 | January 5, 2008 | Served as acting speaker from 2019–2020 |
| John Lovick | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Washington House of Representatives | January 8, 2018 | January 11, 2021 | Served as acting speaker from 2019–2020 |
| Sharon Weston Broome | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 12, 2004 | January 12, 2005 | |
| Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 12, 2005 | January 14, 2008 | |
| Jerry Green | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 8, 2008 | April 18, 2018 | |
| Karen Carter Peterson | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Louisiana House of Representatives | January 14, 2008 | March 8, 2010 | |
| 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 |
| Terrance Carroll | Democratic | Speaker | Colorado House of Representatives | January 7, 2009 | January 12, 2011 | |
| Sheila Oliver | Democratic | Speaker | New Jersey General Assembly | January 12, 2010 | January 14, 2014 | |
| Gordon Fox | Democratic | Speaker | Rhode Island House of Representatives | February 11, 2010 | March 22, 2014 | |
| Darrin Williams | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Arkansas House of Representatives | 2012 | 2012 | |
| T. W. Shannon | Republican | Speaker | Oklahoma House of Representatives | January 8, 2013 | February 10, 2014 | |
| Jeffrion L. Aubry | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New York State Assembly | January 9, 2013 | Incumbent | |
| Carl Heastie | Democratic | Speaker | New York State Assembly | February 3, 2015 | Incumbent | |
| Jason Frierson | Democratic | Speaker | Nevada Assembly | February 6, 2017 | April 28, 2022 | |
| Gordon M. Johnson | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | May 24, 2018 | January 11, 2022 | |
| Janet Buckner | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Colorado House of Representatives | January 4, 2019 | January 13, 2021 | |
| Sheree Sample-Hughes | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Maryland House of Delegates | September 9, 2019 | January 10, 2024 | |
| Chris Welch | Democratic | Speaker | Illinois House of Representatives | January 13, 2021 | Incumbent | |
| Jehan Gordon-Booth | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | Illinois House of Representatives | January 21, 2021 | Incumbent | |
| Benjie Wimberly | Democratic | Speaker pro tempore | New Jersey General Assembly | January 11, 2022 | January 16, 2025 | |
| Rachel Talbot Ross | Democratic | Speaker | Maine House of Representatives | December 7, 2022 | December 4, 2024 | |
| Joanna McClinton | Democratic | Speaker | Pennsylvania House of Representatives | February 28, 2023 | Incumbent | |
| Don Scott | Democratic | Speaker | Virginia House of Delegates | January 10, 2024 | Incumbent | |
| Lisa Demuth | Republican | Speaker | Minnesota House of Representatives | February 6, 2025 | Incumbent | |