Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester launches Delaware Senate run

Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester launched her campaign for Senate in Delaware on Wednesday, becoming the top candidate to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Carper.

Blunt Rochester, who represents the entire state in the House, had been expected to jump into the race since Carper announced his retirement last month. Carper even name-checked Blunt Rochester, one of his former staffers, as his preferred successor.

Blunt Rochester kicked off her campaign with a launch video referencing the Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia where she worshipped with her grandmother, saying "Bright hope is the story of America, too."

She went on to describe how her husband died suddenly from blood clots, and she eventually decided to run for Congress.

"That's the thing about bright hope, it can make you do crazy things," she said in the video.

Blunt Rochester closed her launch video with footage featuring her praying in the House chamber during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.

"People ask me if Jan. 6 was my worst day. It was," Blunt Rochester says. "But it was also one of my proudest moments, because we walked back in that House chamber and we completed our work. The forces of fear did not win and democracy prevailed. And now I'm running to represent Delaware in the United States Senate."

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When Blunt Rochester was first elected in 2016, she became the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in either chamber of Congress. She has also served in state government as the Director of Personnel, Secretary of Labor and Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services.

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Blunt Rochester is also a national co-chair for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign. She recently told NBC News that she hopes to have Biden's endorsement in the Senate race, and it appears she already has his support.

Blunt Rochester told NBC 10 Philadelphia that Biden, also a Delaware voter, called her on Tuesday. She said Biden "did tell me that I’ve got his vote, so I’m excited about that as well."

The Delaware Senate seat is expected to remain in Democratic hands. Biden carried the state by 19 percentage points in 2020.