Nov 9, 2024 Story by: Editor
Voters made historic decisions on Tuesday by electing two Black women to serve concurrently in the U.S. Senate and welcoming an openly transgender lawmaker to Congress for the first time. This election showcased a trend toward greater representation across nearly a dozen races, despite Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in her own historic presidential bid.
Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester and Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks won their Senate races, increasing the number of Black women ever elected to the Senate from two to four. Delaware also made history by electing Sarah McBride in an at-large House race, making her the first openly transgender person in Congress.
The election highlights a year marked by firsts, despite deepening national divisions over affirmative action and race issues. “Marking these milestones does two things: One, it celebrates the increasing diversity that we are seeing in women’s political representation,” said Kelly Dittmar, research director at Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics. “But at the same time, it reminds us that we have more work to do.”
Blunt Rochester, a Democrat currently representing Delaware’s at-large district, is now the state’s first woman and first Black person in the Senate. Alsobrooks, also a Democrat and former executive of Maryland’s Prince George’s County, has become the first Black woman senator from Maryland. “In 250 years of our nation’s history, only three have looked like me,” Alsobrooks said, honoring those who paved the way.
Their election raises Black membership in the Senate to five, a record high, though the Senate remains largely composed of white men. Aimee Allison, president of She the People, remarked, “We increased our representation of Black women in the Senate by 100%.” For years, Black women have been a significant force as voters and organizers, often overlooked by fellow Democrats, according to Allison. “We have figured out additional paths to be successful.”
In another groundbreaking achievement, McBride, a Democratic state senator from Delaware, became the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. Her victory comes amid a heated political debate over transgender issues, from sports participation to gender-affirming language. McBride previously gained national attention as the first transgender speaker at a major party convention in 2016 and aims to bring “historic progress for Delawareans” to Congress.
The Center for American Women and Politics notes that gender and racial progress in politics has typically come with Democratic successes. “We have not seen those same levels of gains in the Republican Party,” said Dittmar, pointing out the challenges of achieving gender parity without bipartisan efforts.
Allison emphasized that representation alone isn’t enough: “The first step in creating this multiracial democracy is creating an American government that serves all people,” highlighting a continued push for social and economic equality across generations. Source: KXII
