What to Know
- Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester says she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Carper.
- Blunt Rochester’s announcement on Wednesday came as no surprise. Carper said in announcing his retirement last month that he favored her as his replacement.
- Blunt Rochester is Delaware's lone representative in the U.S. House. She is the only woman and only person of color to represent Delaware in Washington. She was reelected to a fourth term in Congress last November.
Delaware's only representative in U.S. Congress is looking to become one of the First State's two U.S. Senators.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester on Wednesday announced that she is hoping to secure the 2024 Democratic nomination for the soon to be vacant U.S. Senate seat held by longtime Sen. Tom Carper.
“Representing the First State has been the honor of my life," Blunt Rochester said while announcing her plan with a video titled "Bright Hope." "I look forward to continuing to represent and deliver for all of Delaware from Wilmington and New Castle County, to Kent County, and down to Sussex County in the United States Senate."
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Blunt Rochester, 61, has served as Delaware's only congress member since 2017. She started her fourth term in office earlier this year.
Blunt Rochester is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
According to the Congressional Record, she has sponsored 89 bills and resolutions during her House tenure, many aimed at improving or expanding access to health care, especially for women and minorities. The only measure sponsored by Blunt Rochester to become law is a resolution naming a Wilmington post office in honor of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a 19th-century anti-slavery activist and publisher.
Rochester is the only woman and only person of color to represent Delaware in Washington. She is the first person to announce a bid to succeed Carper in the Senate.
The last time Delaware voters sent a Republican to Washington was 2008. Delaware remains a deeply blue state, with roughly 358,000 registered Democrats almost equaling the combined total of some 209,000 registered Republicans and 173,000 unaffiliated voters.
Before being elected to Congress, Blunt Rochester served as state personnel director in Delaware, as well as labor secretary. She also is a former Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League member.
Carper -- also a Democrat -- announced last month that he wouldn't seek a fifth term in the Senate and planned to retire from politics.
“I spoke with her this morning,” Carper said while announcing his retirement. “I said, ‘you’ve been patient waiting for me to get out of the way, and I'm going to get out off the way.'” He said he told Blunt Rochester that he hoped she would run and hoped she would let him support her.
"And she said, 'yes, I will let you support me,' and so I’m going to,” said Carper.
She also appears to already have the support of Democratic President Joe Biden, a Delaware voter.
It isn't clear at this point, which other candidates will run for Delaware's Senate seat.
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