Two Black women could make US Senate history this election. But they strive to make a difference
WASHINGTON — The Senate has the potential to make history this fallwith the potential for not one, but two black women to be elected to the House, a situation America has never seen since Congress was founded more than 200 years ago.
Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester marks the milestone by saying that the reason she does this work is not to make history, “but to make a difference, to have an impact on people’s lives.”
Maryland Angela Ookbrooks said that people like her, and stories like hers, don’t typically end up in the U.S. Senate, “but they should.”
If the two Democratic candidates win the election this novemberTheir arrival would double the number of black women — from two to four — ever elected to the U.S. Senate, whose 100 members have historically, and still today, been predominantly white men.
Never before have two black women served in the Senate at the same time.
“I have to pause and think: How is that possible?” asked Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
“It’s not that the perspective of white male lawyers shouldn’t be at the table,” Walsh said, “but they shouldn’t be the only ones at the table.”
It is certainly true that there are still many steps to climb before history is made in this election in the Senate, where not only the White House, but control over Congress is hotly contested and essentially a toss-up. Senate races in particular are heated, grueling, and expensive.
Blunt Rochester is almost certain to defeat the Republican candidate after Tuesday’s uncontested primaries for the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Tom Carper in the small state where President Joe Biden and where she is the House Representative at large. But the race in Maryland between Alsobrooks and Republicans Larry Hoganthe popular former governor is expected to fight a close race until the end, which could determine which party gains a majority in the Senate.
Alsobrooks overturned conventional wisdom to beat back wealthy David Trone in the primary to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin by garnering deep grassroots and party support, showcased in a flashy campaign ad that featured hundreds of backers. She is the former district attorney for sprawling Prince George’s County and is now the top county executive.
In their private text chain, Blunt tells Rochester they call themselves “future sister senators” as they vote for vice president Kamala Harris — a friend and colleague who became the second Black woman ever elected to the Senate when she won in 2016 — in her own historic race for the White House.
The first black woman elected to the Senate, the Democratic senator. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1992, served a single term. Harris was the second. And a third black woman, Senator Laphonza butlerwas appointed to complete the term of the long-serving senator from California. Dianne Feinsteinwho died in 2023.
“People are anxious and excited at the same time,” said Glynda C. Carr, the president and CEO of Higher Heights for America, an organization that works to elect black women to government positions.
What’s striking about their campaigns is the way the two women embrace their own backgrounds, but also, like Harris, don’t dwell too much on the historical firsts they bring to the job. It’s up to voters to see their black heritage and hear their voices as women.
“The vast majority of us know that we have so much more in common than what divides us,” Harris said on the debate stage this week, sidestepping Trump when he again raised questions about her race.
During her campaign, Blunt told Rochester the story of Reconstruction-era documents showing that her great-grandfather, who had been enslaved in Georgia, now had the right to vote.
As she thinks back on that history, “what we’ve been through as a country,” she also thinks about what she will pass on to her own newborn granddaughter.
“There is no standard way to run” for office, Blunt Rochester told the AP.
Blunt Rochester and Harris are close, both entering Congress the same year and often sitting together at Congressional Black Caucus events. “The most important thing is that we show up as our authentic selves,” she said, adding “because it takes all of our different and diverse life and work experiences.”
Alsobrooks launched her Senate campaign in a video telling the story of her family leaving South Carolina for Maryland after her great-grandfather was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy following a traffic stop.
She first met Harris, then California’s attorney general, as a young prosecutor, and their friendship began more than a decade ago.
But unlike 2016, when Hillary Clinton ran for president in a white suit emblematic of the suffragettes, the 2024 Senate candidates are positioning themselves more broadly, in ways that appeal to a broader electorate but also signal a cultural shift as the country becomes more diverse and Congress becomes more reflective of the electorate.
“We learned in 2016 that we don’t approach identity the same way Hillary Clinton did,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, an organization that supports women of color in American leadership roles.
Allison said a new generation of candidates shows that you can have “multiple identities” at once. “It shows that you have a heart for people who are not you … but who deserve to be served by the government and who deserve representation.”
The challenges Black women face in reaching this point in the campaign are vast and rooted in a two-party political system that is often slow to endorse Black women candidates and quick to doubt their ability to run for state office, despite qualifications.
Over the years, the parties have not always shared sufficient resources with black female candidates, who strategists say have proven they could have been more successful in several close races, creating a vicious circle that reinforces biased attitudes toward their electability.
In fact, the Senate was set to swear in another Black woman, Rep. Barbara Lee, who ran for the open California seat after Feinstein’s death but failed to win in a multi-candidate primary. Adam Schiff ran a strong campaign to become the Democratic frontrunner with broad party support and is expected to easily win the seat now temporarily filled by Butler.
With the Senate headed for a 50-50 split, tens of millions of dollars are being spent in Maryland, where the popular Hogan was recruited by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to help the GOP regain the majority.
Hogan and Alsobrooks generally seem to like each other. Alsobrooks said Hogan was a good governor but cautioned that he would be a decisive GOP vote in the Senate.
Hogan’s campaign team said he greatly values Alsobrooks and is proud of the work they have done together during his time in office.
“Our campaign is laser-focused on Maryland and the people of Maryland — their local concerns and priorities, and the opportunity to elect an independent swing vote who puts the best interests of the state above partisan politics,” said Blake Kernen, Hogan’s campaign spokesman.
During the Democratic National Convention, the two female candidates held a rally at a black history museum in Chicago. Moseley Braun gave a speech and Butler introduced them.
Blunt Rochester, who named her own powder-blue power suit with a soft base, said she stands on the shoulders of her predecessors and has strong shoulders for those who come after her.