Sen.-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)
Date of Birth / Feb. 10, 1962
Residence / Wilmington, Del.
Education / B.A., Fairleigh Dickinson University; master’s degree in urban affairs and public policy, University of Delaware
Family / Widow to Charles Rochester with two children, daughter-in-law and granddaughter
Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester triumphed over Republican Eric Hansen in Delaware’s Senate race.
With her win, the 62-year-old becomes the first Black woman from Delaware elected to serve in the upper chamber — and only the fourth Black woman to ever serve as a senator.
In 2016, Blunt Rochester was elected to the House of Representatives, serving Delaware’s at-large district. She filled the seat vacated by John Carney Jr. (D), who did not seek reelection.
She won reelection in the 2022 midterms.
During her time in the House, Blunt Rochester served as assistant whip for House leadership.
Blunt Rochester also sat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Blunt Rochester is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus.
— Cheyanne M. Daniels
Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.-At large)
Date of Birth / Aug. 9, 1990
Residence / Wilmington, Del.
Occupation / State senator
Education / B.A., American University
Family / Widowed to late husband Andrew Cray
Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, who in 2020 became the nation’s first openly transgender state senator, made history again in November as the first trans person elected to Congress.
When she was a state senator, McBride co-sponsored successful legislation that included an expansion of mental health care resources in Delaware public schools. She spearheaded an effort to create a statewide paid medical and family leave program during Delaware’s 2022 legislative session, drawing on her experience as a caregiver to her late husband, Andrew Cray, whom she lost to cancer in 2014.
Last year, McBride co-sponsored legislation that made Delaware the 17th state to outlaw the gay and trans “panic” defense.
McBride came out publicly as transgender at age 21 while a senior at American University, where she studied political science. She previously worked for organizations dedicated to LGBTQ advocacy.
As a teenager, McBride worked on Delaware campaigns for former Democratic Gov. Jack Markell and the late state Attorney General Beau Biden (D), President Biden’s eldest son. She published her memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality,” in 2018 with a foreword from President Biden.
— Brooke Migdon
