Nov 5, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Two states elect a Black woman to the Senate for the first time

April Rubin

A collage of Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks — Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and (right) Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) Photos: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images, and Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Prince George's County, Maryland, Executive Angela Alsobrooks made history Tuesday by winning their U.S. Senate races.

Why it matters: This will be the first time two Black women, both Democrats, serve in the Senate at the same time, and each is the first Black senator to represent their state.

Four of 100 current senators are Black: Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

Zoom out: Three Black women have served in the Senate, two of whom were elected.

Carol Moseley Braun served from 1993 to 1999 as a Democratic senator representing Illinois.
Vice President Harris served from 2017 to 2021 as a Democratic senator representing California.
Butler has served since 2023 when she was appointed after the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Blunt Rochester bested her Republican opponent, Eric Hansen, and will succeed retiring Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.).

She served four terms as a U.S. representative, where she was the first Black person and first woman elected to represent Delaware in Congress.

Alsobrooks, who was elected county executive for Prince George's County in 2018, beat former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in one of the country's bluest states.

She will succeed retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)

Go deeper: These women are the Senate's new center of power

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Two states elect a Black woman to the Senate for the first time

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