Growing up in the Mon Valley in western Pennsylvania – a historic industrial center just south of the City of Pittsburgh – Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis saw the struggles of working families firsthand. He watched his mom – a hairdresser in McKeesport for more than 40 years – juggle raising a family with putting food on the table. He watched his dad work hard every day as a union bus driver.

After an incident of gun violence occurred in his neighborhood, Lieutenant Governor Davis knew from an early age he wanted to dedicate his life and career to public service. Throughout his career, he has fought for economic equality, worked to lift people out of poverty, secure fair funding for education, and has been committed to bettering the lives of people in every Pennsylvania community.

A first-generation college graduate, he began pursuing a career in public service after earning a political science degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Austin started his career in Allegheny County government, spearheading the county’s vision and transition teams and worked to create the county’s first violence prevention office. By age 21, the Tribune-Review called him “a veteran at the politics of helping others.”

In 2018, Lieutenant Governor Davis successfully ran for the state House of Representatives. He became the first western Pennsylvania African-American to serve as state representative outside the City of Pittsburgh, eventually being elected by his legislative colleagues as the leader of the Allegheny County House Democratic Delegation.

In 2022, he successfully ran for and won the nomination for lieutenant governor alongside then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro, winning all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in a three-way primary. He was subsequently elected as Pennsylvania’s 35th and first African-American lieutenant governor. In addition, he is our nation’s youngest sitting lieutenant governor.

As lieutenant governor, he serves as President of the Pennsylvania Senate. Additionally, he chairs the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Governor’s Local Government Advisory Committee, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council, the Pennsylvania Advisory Council for Inclusive Procurement, and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Aerospace States Association. He also serves as co-chair on the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission.

Since taking office, Lieutenant Governor Davis has led the efforts to drive out $85 million in Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grants to over 130 projects statewide, $5 million increase in funding to secure places of worship and community centers, and $60 million in new funding for county 911 services.

He also championed efforts to provide $11.5 million to launch the Building Opportunity through Out of School Time (BOOST) program, supporting 46 programs in its first year to give young people in Pennsylvania a safe environment during after-school hours. This is the first ever state program that directed state dollars directly into after school programs in Pennsylvania history.

Lieutenant Governor Davis championed efforts to re-establish Pennsylvania’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and won a $4 million competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to expand hospital-based violence intervention programs.

His steadfast commitment to providing second chances to deserving individuals, has resulted in a modernization of Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons. During his tenure, Lieutenant Governor Davis oversaw the launch of a fully online pardons application system, an increase in staffing to help process a record number of applications, and holding a record number of hearings over the course of his tenure as the board chair.

Along with service to Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Governor Davis also served as chair of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA) and a member of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA).

He currently resides in the Mon Valley region of western Pennsylvania with his wife, Blayre Holmes Davis, and their daughter, Harper.