Blunt Rochester to become the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in US Senate

DOVER, Del. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester won her contest for a seat in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, setting her up to become the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate.

She’ll join another Black woman, Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, who also won a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday night, marking the first time in history that the American public elected two Black women to the Senate at once. Only three other Black women have served in the chamber until now, two of them elected and one who was appointed.

“The people have spoken, and we’re bringing bright hope to the United States Senate,” Blunt Rochester said in a victory speech to supporters who greeted her with chants of “LBR! LBR!”

“I stand before you tonight extremely humbled, and with a heart filled with gratitude to God and to the people of Delaware who put their trust in me,” Rochester said.

She acknowledged the trail previously “blazed by three strong Black women senators,” but said her run was not about making history.

“It’s about making a difference,” she said.

Blunt Rochester defeated Republican Eric Hansen. She was considered a virtual shoo-in for the Senate against businessman Hansen, a political newcomer. Democrats hold a significant voter registration advantage over Republicans in solid-blue Delaware, which last sent a Republican to Washington in 2008.

Blunt Rochester raised some $8 million for her Senate campaign, while Hansen’s campaign receipts totaled only about $1 million, including more than $800,000 in loans he made to his campaign.

Blunt Rochester will fill the seat left vacant by fellow Democrat Tom Carper, who handpicked her as his preferred successor when he announced his retirement last year. Blunt Rochester once interned for Carper when he was in the House and also served in his cabinet when he was governor.

Blunt Rochester has served four terms at Delaware’s lone representative in the House.

According to the Congressional Record, she has sponsored 90 bills and seven resolutions during her House tenure, many aimed at improving or expanding access to health care, especially for women and minorities. The only measure sponsored by Blunt Rochester to become law is a resolution naming a Wilmington post office in honor of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a 19th-century anti-slavery activist and publisher.

Blunt Rochester began her political career as a case worker for Carper and served in appointed positions as Delaware’s labor secretary, state personnel director and deputy secretary of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services. She also has served as CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.