At age 62, Blunt Rochester will now be sworn in as the first black Delawarean and the first woman to represent the First State in the Senate. She is the third Black woman elected to the House out of more than 2,000 in American history. And the Wilmington native has already spent nearly eight years serving as Delaware’s first federal representative of color and first woman in Congress.

She has said she is “not running to make history” – but is more interested in making an impact.

The landslide victory means Blunt Rochester will fill Senator Tom Carper’s shoes. She had long been seen as a likely candidate for the seat, even though her old mentor and first boss in politics had had a firm grip on the seat for more than two decades. Last spring, a Delaware statesman publicly called on her to deliver the same speech announcing his retirement. She also found support from President Joe Biden, who personally endorsed her for the seat last week.

Now she will make it her own.

“From the beginning, our focus has been on ensuring that every Delawarean has a fair shot at a better future – from access to good-paying jobs and affordable health care to safe, thriving communities,” the new senator told Delaware Online/The News Journal. after the primaries, “the Senate is an opportunity to work on these issues at a deeper level, plus the most pressing issues of our lifetimes: restoring our reproductive freedoms and advancing the right to vote for every American.”

She defeated Republican challenger Eric Hansen and an independent in Mike Katz. And Tuesday’s result is understandable in a state with divided registered voters: about 45% Democrats, 26% Republicans and 23% no party heading into this election. According to the AP, Delaware has not elected a Republican president in the last eight elections, and Republicans have not won a single U.S. Senate seat since 1994.

These results flowed into her Election Night party at the Delaware Contemporary on Tuesday, while nearby other Democratic nominees from Delaware occupied the Chase Center on the Riverfront in hopes of celebrating more election victories all night long.

As for the top of the ticket, the party and the rest of the country are waiting for more results from this election day. Both the tension of the race and the time it takes to count ballots in key swing states are expected to add time before a winner can be determined among the presidential hopefuls.

(This is a development story. Contact Delaware Online/The News Journal for more Election Day 2024 results.)

More Delaware Election Day 2024 results: View Delaware Online/The News Journal’s voter guide and election landing page

Who is Delaware’s newest senator?

Blunt Rochester first entered politics in Carper’s own congressional office.

In the 1980s, the young mother interned there before becoming a caseworker and later serving in his governor’s office as labor secretary. Blunt Rochester also worked as personnel director for the late Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and she was the CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.

As this career continued to grow, her first boss in politics kept telling her to run.

“When I decided to run after losing my husband, he was one of the people who were there for me and talked to me about running for office and what Congress is like,” Blunt Rochester said in an interview in August. Kaper’s legacy. The loss of her husband, Charles, who died suddenly in 2014, inspired her to take another step in the election.

When she first ran in 2016, Blunt defeated Rochester in a much more crowded primary and ultimately captured Delaware’s only seat in the House of Representatives.

There she worked as a member of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the New Democrats Coalition, a centrist group of lawmakers. The congresswoman was also the first Delawarean in about 120 years to serve on the House Agriculture Committee.

Senator Tom Carper announces he will not seek re-election

Tom Carper announced Monday morning that he will not run for U.S. senator from Delaware. 22/5/23

Damian Giletto, Delaware News Journal

When Blunt Rochester was asked about her legislative achievements as she announced her run for Senate, she pointed to the clean air and drinking water legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act – in which she pushed to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors – and more. She was also the first member of Delaware’s congressional delegation to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

In September, Common Cause released a “2024 Democracy Scorecard,” documenting every member of Congress’ support for voting rights, Supreme Court ethics and other reforms. Blunt Rochester managed to achieve a perfect score, according to the impartial watchdog group.

Blunt Rochester has said she sees the Senate as a place to “serve at a deeper level,” from codifying Roe v. Wade to protecting such voting rights. She doesn’t see it as ‘filling’ anyone’s shoes.

“I think that’s the beauty of this moment,” she said in August. “It’s what I hope people take away from even my run: that every person can now play a role. And I think even in very difficult times it produces new leadership, new vision and new ideas.”

It looks like Delaware said it’s time to get to work.

Delaware legacy is still active: Senator Tom Carper has been running for 50 years. Now only his Delaware legacy will surpass him

Do you have a story? Contact Kelly Powers at [email protected] or (231) 622-2191 and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.