Black women to serve together in Senate for first time with Rochester, Alsobrooks wins

Sens.-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) will become the first two Black women to serve together in the Senate. Neither Delaware nor Maryland have ever had a Black senator. And Delaware has never been represented by a woman in the upper chamber.

Blunt Rochester and Alsobrooks become only the fourth and fifth Black women to serve in the senate and only the third and fourth ever elected. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) and now Vice President Harris were the first and second. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) is the third serving Black woman, but she was appointed following the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

“It’s remarkable to think that in two years, America will celebrate its 250th birthday,” Alsobrooks said during her victory speech Tuesday evening. “And in all those years, there have been more than 2,000 people who have served in the United States Senate. Only three have looked like me.”

“And so I want to salute all those who came before me, who made it possible for me to stand on this stage tonight, whose sacrifices and stories I will continue to carry with me,” she added.

Blunt Rochester, who currently represents the at-large congressional district of Delaware, made history in 2016 as the first woman of color to be elected to the House from Delaware.

But her senatorial campaign, she said, wasn’t about making history. Still, she paid homage to the trail “blazed by three strong Black women senators” before her.

“Here is my commitment to you: that I will go to the Senate, each and every day, with you in my heart and on my mind," she said in her victory speech. "Whether you voted for me or not."

And she added a special message to young voters.

“I have a message to the young people who are standing up, speaking up and giving your all for your country and the world: I see you. I'm grateful to you. And you got next."

In a statement, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) PAC said it was “overjoyed” by both women’s wins.

On Blunt Rochester, the group said her “trailblazing victory” came as no surprise.

“Lisa will make Black women and Black Americans from coast to coast proud as Delaware’s next United States Senator.”

The group also said it is “proud” to welcome Alsobrooks as one of the newest CBC members.