(The Center Square) — Though Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t win the presidency, Black women in Delaware and Maryland accomplished something that hadn’t been done before.
On Tuesday, Lisa Blunt Rochester became Delaware’s first female and Black senator. In Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks defeated former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in a race for the Senate, making her the state’s first Black senator.
Blunt Rochester and Alsobrooks will also be the first Black women to serve together in the Senate.
In 2016, Blunt Rochester became the first Black woman to represent Delaware in Congress. Before that, she served as an intern and caseworker for Democratic Sen. Tom Carper when he was a representative and in his cabinet when he became governor. She also served in the cabinet of Delaware’s first female governor, Ruth Ann Minner. She was a co-chair for both Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ presidential campaigns.
She ran for Senate to “create good-paying jobs, protect our seniors” – Blunt Rochester is a grandmother and senior herself – “and secure our fundamental freedoms – from reproductive freedom to voting rights,” according to her campaign website.
With more than 95% of votes in as of Wednesday afternoon, she defeated Republican candidate Eric Hansen by more than 17%, according to the Associated Press.
For Alsobrooks, this will be her first time representing Maryland legislatively. She was the youngest and first female state’s attorney for Prince George’s County, the county’s first full-time domestic violence prosecutor and its current county executive.
During her time as county executive, she “has focused on creating jobs and growing economic opportunity, investing in education and breaking ground on 10 new schools, expanding access to health care, mental health and addiction treatment, youth outreach and making sure people are safe,” according to her campaign website.
The Associated Press called the race between Alsobrooks and Hogan on Tuesday; as of late Wednesday afternoon, she led Hogan by almost 7% with 79% of votes counted.
