Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis has been picked to lead the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, which seeks to support and elect Democrats to the office in states across the nation.
“I’m really excited to serve as the chairman next year,” said Davis. “If you look at all of our lieutenant governors, we’re leading on issues that are important to the people we represent.”
Davis, who had been the organization’s vice chair, was chosen without opposition last week to replace Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan. At the top of his list of duties, he said, is to “go raise money,” and support candidates in other ways.
The most immediate focus will be on New Jersey and Virginia, which both have statewide elections next year. But beyond that, Davis said, the goal was to “make sure we are in a good position to win in 2026 — to make sure we are stocked with capable leaders who are diverse, not just in terms of race but in terms of lived experience.”
The post of lieutenant governor may be easy to overlook, and becoming the chair of an association of them might seem a bit like becoming the top second banana. But Davis says the person in the position can play a significant role in politics and policy alike.
For one thing, the post attracts a diverse roster of talent: Davis himself is Black and the child of a working-class family in McKeesport. And lieutenant governors often have a chance to focus on particular issue areas where they can help set an agenda, rather than having to contend with the kind of overarching administrative tasks required of a governor.
The DLGA is “unique in that we’re the only party committee that leans heavily into policy,” said Davis, noting that the group holds policy summits focused on particular interest areas — such as a gun-violence summit he hosted.
Politically speaking, he said, “We’re the bench of the Democratic Party,” holding a statewide office that can set them up for higher-octane races down the road. ”Lieutenant governors get elected to governor and Senate at the highest rate of any office,” he said.
For a long time, he acknowledged, “Republicans did a much better job in previous years focusing on down-ballot races. They’ve recognized, rightly so, that LGs are the future. We’re doing a lot of work now to build that bench.”
Being a lieutenant governor doesn’t always turn out to be a launching pad. Being able to name-drop Tom Corbett’s lieutenant governor* is more likely to win a round of PA politics trivia than an endorsement in a U.S. Senate campaign, for example. But John Fetterman served a term as Gov. Tom Wolf’s lieutenant, and he used the time to conduct a statewide tour on marijuana legalization — the kind of agenda-setting that can help define a lieutenant governor — before winning his race for U.S. Senate in 2022.
And being named DLGA chair arguably enhances Davis’ own political resume, just a few months after he addressed the Democratic National Convention and served as a frequent campaign surrogate for presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The job will involve out-of-state travel for fundraisers and other efforts to support candidates. Davis will relinquish the position once his own 2026 reelection campaign kicks into gear.
In the meantime, he said, Democratic lieutenant governors, along with other state officeholders, will have to contend with an incoming Trump administration and Republican control of Congress.
“We’re going to see how the administration unfolds,” he said, noting that Democrats might be able to find some common ground with the GOP. “But while Democrats lost the election, we didn’t lose our values. We’re going to stand up and push back where we disagree.”
* (Jim Cawley)
