Only 11 Black people have served in the Senate, and only three of them were women. Never before have two black women sat at the same time.

The two Democrats will take office just steps from a desk that belonged to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy.

Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester join Kamala Harris and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois as the only other Black women elected to the Senate. A Harris ally, Laphonza Butler, was appointed to serve the remainder of the late Dianne Feinstein’s term but did not run to keep the seat.

“So I prepare to walk this path paved by three strong Black women senators before us,” Blunt told Rochester. “I have a message for the young people who stand up, raise their voices and give everything for their country and the world. I see you, I’m grateful and you’re next.”

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Throughout U.S. history, more than 2,000 senators have held office.

Next year there will be a record five Black senators, with Alsobrooks and Blunt joining Rochester alongside Cory Booker of New Jersey, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Tim Scott of South Carolina – the only Republican in that group.

Alsobrooks, a Prince George’s County executive and former prosecutor, was a formidable fundraiser, enabling her to defeat two-term Gov. Larry Hogan even though early polls showed a closely contested race.

Hogan, who did not support Donald Trump and promoted a bipartisan approach, condemned Alsobrooks for claiming property tax credits to which she was not entitled. She said she didn’t realize the mistakes. Alsobrooks, in turn, warned that Hogan would cede control of the Senate to Republicans and that he could not be trusted on abortion rights, even though he insisted on voting to enshrine those rights in law.

“It is remarkable that America will celebrate its 250th birthday in two years. And in all these years, more than 2,000 people have served in the United States Senate. And only three looked like me,” Alsobrooks said at her vigil in College Park, Maryland. “I want to recognize everyone before me who made it possible for me to be on this stage tonight.”

During the primary, Alsobrooks defeated Democratic Rep. David Trone, the founder of Total Wine & More, who spent more than $62 million of his own fortune. Most of Maryland’s top elected officials supported Alsobrooks, including Gov. Wes Moore, the state’s first black governor.

In 2016, Blunt Rochester became the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives from Delaware, President Joe Biden’s home state.

Blunt Rochester, who serves as co-chair of Harris’ campaign, has sought to address health care disparities for minorities and pass funding for clean energy programs and infrastructure projects, while also vowing to work in the Senate to restore abortion rights to fight.

She will replace outgoing Democrat Tom Carper, for whom she worked as an intern when he was Delaware’s lone congressman and later as labor secretary when he was governor. She later served as the state’s deputy minister of health and human services and human resources director.

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