Lisa Blunt Rochester

CTL-E-5402 · Person · politician · 2010s–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester (born February 10, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the United States senator from Delaware. She built her career in Delaware state government — deputy secretary of Health and Social Services and secretary of Labor — before winning the state's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, becoming the first woman and the first person of color Delaware had ever sent to Congress. She served four terms in the House, from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2025. In November 2024 she won the Senate seat left open by Tom Carper's retirement, and on January 3, 2025, she was sworn in as the first woman and the first Black person to represent Delaware in the United States Senate. Her election, with Angela Alsobrooks's in neighboring Maryland the same night, raised the number of Black senators serving simultaneously to five — the most in American history, and the spine of this record set. With Scott, Booker, Warnock, and Alsobrooks, she completes the five.

The record

• Also known as: Lisa LaTrelle Blunt Rochester

Notes

Statistics: Sworn into the Senate January 3, 2025 (Wikipedia). First woman and first Black senator from Delaware; before that, Delaware's first woman and first person of color in the U.S. House (2017–2025). One of the two 2024 victories that completed the five-senator spine. · Curator's Judgment: DRAFT — for founder review: Delaware is the First State, and it took until 2017 for its congressional delegation to include a woman or a Black citizen — and until 2025 for its Senate seat. The record states the dates without ornament; in this case the dates are the argument. · Photo slot: CLEARED CANDIDATE — Wikimedia Commons File:Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester official Senate photo, 119th Congress.jpg, Public domain (United States Senate), license verified from Commons API metadata on 2026-10-15; not downloaded — visual pass follows merge per standing pattern.

Sources

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 'Blunt Rochester, Lisa' (via TrackBill) — supports: birth February 10, 1962, Philadelphia — https://trackbill.com/legislator/us-congress-senator-lisa-blunt-rochester/1054-14505 (primary source)
• Wikipedia, 'Lisa Blunt Rochester' — supports: House service January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2025 as Delaware's first woman and first person of color in Congress; the November 2024 Senate victory and January 3, 2025 swearing-in as Delaware's first woman and first Black senator — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Blunt_Rochester
• Akron Beacon Journal, 'Delaware voters elect Lisa Blunt Rochester to US Senate,' November 5, 2024 — supports: the election-night framing of her firsts — https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/05/election-results-delaware-voters-elect-lisa-blunt-rochester-us-senate/75913705007/
• Associated Press / USA Today reporting on the 2024 elections (intake audit, 2026-10-15) — supports: the five Black senators serving simultaneously as the most in U.S. history

Record CTL-E-5402 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 4 sources (1 primary) · CTL research: BCI-001.
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