Lisa Blunt Rochester wins Delaware Senate race

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) has won the race for Senate in Delaware, Decision Desk HQ projects, becoming the only Black woman to ever represent the First State in the upper chamber. 

The 62-year-old Democrat defeated Republican Eric Hansen and independent Michael Katz for Sen. Tom Carper’s seat. Carper, a Democrat who has served since 2000, did not run for reelection. 

A mother of two, Blunt Rochester entered politics after her husband died. She began working as a case worker for Carper before running her own successful campaign for the House in 2016. It was the first time Delaware sent a person of color to Congress. 

She has garnered endorsements from leaders around the country, including President Biden — a Delaware native and former senator. 

Blunt Rochester becomes only the third Black woman ever elected to the Senate. The first was Sen. Carol Moseley Braun from Illinois and the second was Vice President Harris, who formerly served as a senator representing California. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D), currently the only Black woman sitting in the Senate, was appointed after Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s passing. 

A member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Blunt Rochester also served as a co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign.