Herstory: For the 1st Time Ever, There Will Be 2 Black Women in the Senate

On Tuesday, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks both won their Senate races.

By Audra Heinrichs | November 6, 2024 | 11:18am

Photo Credit: Twitter, Angela Alsobrooks Campaign Politics

Herstory: For the 1st Time Ever, There Will Be 2 Black Women in the Senate

Back in 2018, Ziwe Fumudoh coined the phrase “sadgressive” to describe an event that both marked progress and signified that it took a shameful amount of time to be achieved. Well, at least one example of that happened on election night. On Tuesday, some truly sadgressive herstory—over two centuries in the making—finally occurred: not one, but two Black women were elected to the U.S. Senate. Now, for the first time ever, two Black women will serve concurrently. Bleak, I know. But if you’re a Democrat you know how crucial it is to count every win.

Lisa Blunt Rochester, who became Delaware’s first ever Black congresswoman in 2017, won her Senate race against Republican challenger Eric Hansen. The victory makes her the state’s fourth-ever Black woman to serve in the Senate. The race was long projected to be a blowout for Blunt Rochester, who as of just last week was polling 20 points ahead of Hansen. She also had the endorsement of President Joe Biden, who is famously from Delaware, and incumbent Sen. Tom Carper, who announced his retirement last year and named her as who he’d like to be his successor.

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“The people have spoken and we’re bringing bright hope to the United States Senate,” Blunt Rochester told supporters during her victory remarks. “I stand here before you tonight, extremely humbled and with a heart filled with gratitude to God and to the people of Delaware, who put their trust in me. That victory is ours and the Diamond State is shining bright.”

Angela Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George’s County in Maryland, also trounced her opponent, Larry Hogan, the state’s former Republican governor. Alsobrooks not only held solid leads in public polling in the lead-up to Election Day, but campaigned hard on a pro-abortion platform and aptly pointed out that Hogan’s pivot to being pro-choice was convenient at best. His track record proved as much: In 2022, Hogan vetoed a measure that would have expanded access to an abortion in the state, and when the legislature overrode his decision, Hogan retaliated by withholding state funding to train nonphysicians to perform abortions.

“It’s remarkable to think that in two years, America will celebrate its 250th birthday,” Alsobrooks said during her victory speech. “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. I want to salute those who came before me and made it possible for me to stand on this stage tonight, who sacrificed, I will continue to carry with me.”

When only three other Black women—including Vice President Kamala Harris—have ever served in the Senate (two of whom were elected; one was appointed), this is a big deal. As Jezebel noted earlier this year, there were more men named John seeking to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell than Black women in the entire Senate…

Blunt Rochester recently told the New York Times that it would be invaluable “to know that you’re going to be in a place and belong in a place with someone who has shared values and expectations and lived experiences.” Well, Blunt Rochester and Alsobrooks will finally have that experience.

Only took 248 years.