Historic Victories For Dems Include Three Black Women

By Stacy M. Brown
Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
NNPA Newswire

While the Trump administration doubles down on policies many see as anti-minority, the new Congress will also usher in a wave of historic firsts. Two Black women will serve simultaneously in the U.S. Senate for the first time. Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester and Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks join a small but growing list of Black women elected to the Senate, doubling the total from two to four.

Blunt Rochester, the first woman and Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate, reflected on her groundbreaking victory. “This is a historic step forward for our state and our nation,” she said.

Alsobrooks, a former Prince George’s County executive, highlighted the broader significance of her win. “In over 2,000 people who have served in the U.S. Senate, only three have looked like me,” she said. “I stand here because of the sacrifices of those who came before me.”

Oregon’s Janelle Bynum also made history, flipping the state’s 5th Congressional District to become its first Black member of Congress. Bynum, who unseated a Republican incumbent, noted, “It’s not lost on me that I’m one generation removed from segregation. We believed in a vision and didn’t stop until we accomplished our goals.”

Delaware voters made further history by electing Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person to serve in Congress. These victories occurred even as the country faced deep divisions over affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and racial equity.