As part of theGrio’s “Running Black” election series, we sit down with U.S. Rep. Blunt Rochester, who is running to become the first Black American from Delaware elected to the U.S. Senate.
TheGrio’s “Running Black” election series profiles Black candidates running for office in the 2024 elections. If successful, each candidate profiled could make history in their state. Hear from them in their own words about what’s at stake in their races, for the country, and for Black and brown communities on the political margin.
After serving four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., is ready for higher office.
The current Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Delaware told theGrio she believes she could have a “greater impact” in the upper chamber of Congress. “Democracy is on the line,” Blunt Rochester said of the 2024 elections.
If her campaign is successful, Blunt Rochester would become the first woman, Black person, and person of color to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware. The seasoned public servant said that, if elected to the Senate, she would continue to focus on job growth and the economy, reproductive rights, and strengthening the nation’s health care system, including lowering medical drug prices.
Blunt Rochester, 62, said she is “proud” of the work she has been able to do as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has served since 2017. She said one of the “highlights” of working in Congress has been “fighting for the passage of both the bipartisan infrastructure law and elements of the Build Back Better Act,” the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We ended up with the greatest investment in climate in the history of this country,” she said of critical investments, which “allowed us to lower costs” for Americans, particularly seniors.
While Blunt Rochester has experienced some victories working in the U.S. House, she also experienced one of Capitol Hill’s darkest moments in U.S. history.
The Democratic lawmaker recounted witnessing.
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