This is a list of minority attorneys general in the United States. In the United States, an ethnic minority is anyone who has at least one parent who is not of non-Hispanic white descent (such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islands Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, or Native Americans). Ethnic minorities currently constitute around 41% of the total population.[1]
| Portrait | Name | Minority Ethnicity | Party | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [2] | African American Barbadian American | Democratic | George W. Bush | ||||||
| Barack Obama | |||||||||
| Mexican American | Republican | George W. Bush | |||||||
| African American | Democratic | Barack Obama |
| Picture | Name | Ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African American Afro-Caribbean | Republican | South Carolina | Election disputed as part of 1876-77 South Carolina Government Dispute, forced out of office after the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction | ||||||
| [3] | Mexican American | Republican | New Mexico | ||||||
| [4] [5] | Mexican American | Democratic | New Mexico | ||||||
| Mexican American | Democratic | New Mexico | |||||||
| [6] | Japanese American | Hawaii | |||||||
| [7] | Japanese American | Hawaii | Retired | ||||||
| [8] | African American | Republican | Massachusetts | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts | |||||
| Japanese American | Hawaii | Resigned to accept appointment to Supreme Court of Hawaii | |||||||
| [9] | Chinese American | Hawaii | |||||||
| [10] | Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | ||||||
| Mexican American | Democratic | New Mexico | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate | ||||||
| [11] | Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | ||||||
| [12] | Korean American | Democratic | Hawaii | ||||||
| Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | |||||||
| [13] | Native American (Pawnee) | Democratic | Idaho | Retired to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Idaho | |||||
| [14] | Mexican American | Democratic | Texas | Retired | |||||
| [15] | African American | Democratic | Illinois | Retired to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Illinois | |||||
| African American | Democratic | Indiana | Lost reelection | ||||||
| [16] | African American | Democratic | Georgia | Retired to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Georgia | |||||
| [17] | Mexican American | Democratic | New Mexico | Term limited, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress in New Mexico's 1st district | |||||
| [18] | Mexican American | Democratic | Colorado | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate seat from Colorado | |||||
| Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | |||||||
| African American | Democratic | Indiana | Was appointed as interim AG, lost reelection | ||||||
| [19] | Mexican American | Republican | Nevada | Retired to become a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada | |||||
| [20] | African American | Democratic | New Jersey | Retired | |||||
| [21] | Mexican American | Democratic | Nevada | Term limited; ran successfully for U.S. Senate seat from Nevada | |||||
| [22] | Democratic | California | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senate from California | ||||||
| [23] | Chinese American | Democratic | Hawaii | Retired | |||||
| Republican | Utah | Incumbent | |||||||
| Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | Acting | ||||||
| [24] | Mexican American | Democratic | New Mexico | Term limited | |||||
| [25] | African American Haitian American | Democratic | District of Columbia | Retired | |||||
| [26] | Chinese American | Democratic | Hawaii | Ascended to Lieutenant Governor's office | |||||
| [27] | African American | Republican | Indiana | Lost renomination | |||||
| [28] | Mexican American | Democratic | California | Retired to become U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services | |||||
| [29] | Indian American | Democratic | New Jersey | Retired to become Enforcement Director at the Securities & Exchange Commission | |||||
| [30] | African American | Democratic | New York | Incumbent | |||||
| [31] | African American Haitian American | Democratic | Illinois | Incumbent | |||||
| [32] | African American | Democratic | Nevada | Incumbent | |||||
| [33] | African American | Democratic | Minnesota | Incumbent | |||||
| [34] | Chinese American Taiwanese American | Democratic | Connecticut | Incumbent | |||||
| [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] | African American | Republican | Kentucky | Retired to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Kentucky | |||||
| [40] | Filipino American | Democratic | California | Incumbent | |||||
| Japanese American | Democratic | Hawaii | |||||||
| [41] | Cuban American | Republican | Virginia | Incumbent | |||||
| Hispanic American | Democratic | New Mexico | Incumbent | ||||||
| Puerto Rican | Republican | Idaho | Incumbent | ||||||
| [42] | African American Jamaican American | Democratic | Maryland | Incumbent | |||||
| African American | Democratic | Massachusetts | Incumbent | ||||||
| [43] | Hispanic American | Republican | Texas | Interim AG during Ken Paxton's impeachment trial |
Several attorneys general of U.S. territories have been ethnic minorities. Many of these officials were appointed before elections were instituted in these jurisdictions. In each of the five current U.S. territories, Hispanic or non-white ethnic groups make up large majorities: Puerto Rican Hispanic Americans in Puerto Rico, African Americans in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Chamorros in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, and Samoans in American Samoa. Elected attorneys general and some appointed attorneys general in these territories that have come from these majority ethnic groups are not listed here; for more details see the lists in the articles for Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico, Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands, Attorney General of Guam, Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Attorney General of American Samoa.
| Picture | Name | Ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [44] | Japanese American | Territory of Hawaii | Retired | |||||
| Japanese American | Territory of Hawaii | Would again serve as AG after Hawaii attained statehood | ||||||
| Korean American | Territory of Hawaii | |||||||
| Japanese American | Republican | Territory of Hawaii | Resigned to accept appointment to the Circuit Court | |||||
| Dominican American | Puerto Rico | Resigned | ||||||
| Native Hawaiian Chinese American | Republican | Guam | Retired | |||||
| Incumbent |