Austin Davis (politician)

Austin Davis (born October 4, 1989) is an American politician who is the 35th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, since 2023. Prior to that, he served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 35th District from 2018 to 2022. He is both the first African-American lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and the youngest person to be elected lieutenant governor in the United States.

Early life and education
Davis was born October 4, 1989, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He attended McKeesport Area High School, where he founded and served as chairman of the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council under then McKeesport, Pennsylvania mayor James Brewster.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, where he earned a BA in political science in 2012.

Career
While in college, Austin was hired as a legislative intern by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In an February 2011 article on Black History Month, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review highlighted him as "a veteran at the politics of helping others."

Davis previously served as executive assistant to Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald. In 2014, Davis became the youngest and the first black vice chair at the Allegheny County Democratic Committee.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Davis ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 35th district in a 2018 special election. Davis defeated Republican candidate Fawn Walker-Montgomery with over 73% of the vote and became the first African American to serve as State Representative for the district.

Committee assignments
(2021–2022)
 * Appropriations
 * Consumer Affairs
 * Insurance
 * Transportation

Election
On December 14, 2021, it was reported that Davis would enter the 2022 race for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, after being selected by presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro to be his running mate. Pennsylvania law requires that a lieutenant gubernatorial candidate must run independent of the gubernatorial candidate in the primary.

On November 8, 2022, Shapiro and Davis handily defeated the Republican ticket of Doug Mastriano and Carrie DelRosso in the general election. Davis became the first African American to be elected lieutenant governor and the first millennial to win statewide office in Pennsylvania.

Tenure
Upon his swearing in at age 33, Davis became the youngest lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania history. He is also the youngest current lieutenant governor in the United States.

Personal life
Davis met his wife, Blayre Holmes, at the August Wilson Center in 2012. The two were married on September 1, 2017. They live in his lifelong hometown of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. The couple had their first child, a daughter, in September of 2023.

Davis has served on the board of directors of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, The Consortium for Public Education, Communities in Schools of Pittsburgh, Auberle, Adonai Center for Black Males, Small Seeds Development, and the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School.