When Barack Obama began what at first appeared to be a quixotic run for the presidency, the first congressperson outside of Illinois to endorse him was a little-known Democrat from Alabama. Artur Davis, 42 and a Harvard alumnus, probably saw a lot of himself in the future president: both are young, well-educated, black, and ambitious. And after mulling over a run at the Senate, Davis has now decided to test whether Obama's election has indeed pushed us closer to a postracial America by running for governor of Alabama.Should he beat Alabama's agriculture commissioner, Ron Sparks, in a primary, Davis would become the first black nominee of either party to run for governor of the state. Should he then go on to win the general election, he would be the fifth black governor in the entire history of the United States. He only has to win the first of the two elections to make history, but don't count him out on winning both, mostly because Davis is both politically savvy and popular, but also because of the inevitable presidential stops once the election heats up.Photo by Jonathan Purvis
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