Two Black women could make US Senate history this election. But they strive to make a difference

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has the potential for history-making this fall, with not one, but two, Black women possibly elected to the chamber, a situation never seen in America since Congress was created more than 200 years ago.

Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester marks the milestone by saying that the reason she does this work is not about making history, “but to make a difference, an impact, on people’s lives.”

Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks said that people like her, and stories like hers, don’t usually make it to the U.S. Senate, “but they should.”

If the two Democratic candidates prevail in their elections this November, their arrival would double the number of Black women — from two to four — who have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate, whose 100 members have historically been, and continue to be, mostly white men.

Never in the Senate have two Black women served together at the same time.

“I have to pause and think, How is that possible?” asked Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

“It’s not that white male attorneys’ perspective shouldn’t be at the table,” said Walsh, but “they shouldn’t be the only thing at the table.”

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