Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester could become the United States’ fourth and fifth Black women to ever serve in the U.S. Senate.
It’s 2024. Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population—meaning we are the only true majority in the country. But when we look at who our decision-makers and powerholders are, we see a very different picture. Despite having multiple “record-breaking” years for women’s representation in politics, women still only make up:
- 28 percent of Congress.
- 32 percent of statewide executive offices.
- 33 percent of state legislatures.
It’s even worse when we break it down by race and ethnicity:
- Women of color make up 11 percent of Congress, 7 percent of statewide executive offices and 10 percent of state legislatures.
- We currently have zero Black women governors and only one Black woman in the Senate.
But that could soon change. This week, exciting news came out of Maryland’s Democratic primary race: U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks won big, despite being outspent 10 to 1 by her opponent, Rep. David Trone, a wealthy businessman who threw more than $60 million of his own money into his campaign.
Alsobrooks is the county executive for Maryland’s second-largest county, and this win means she, along with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, could become the United States’ fourth and fifth Black women to ever serve in the U.S. Senate—following Carol Moseley Braun (1993-1998), Kamala Harris (2017-2021) and Laphonza Butler (2023-2024).
Representation Matters
Alsobrooks understands why representation matters.
“It’s hard to represent people who you don’t understand and whose lives you don’t know,” she told The 19th. “I understand the struggles of hard-working families because I grew up in one. How we solve a lot of these issues is borne directly from my personal experience of watching people work hard to make things happen for their families.”
At RepresentWomen, our work centers around the idea that our government works best when its decision-makers reflect the communities they serve. The reality is that we are making only incremental progress toward this goal. Our annual Gender Parity Index (GPI) was designed to illustrate this while highlighting notable wins.
It’s hard to represent people who you don’t understand and whose lives you don’t know. I understand the struggles of hard-working families because I grew up in one.
Angela Alsobrooks
Maryland earned a “D” grade and ranked 33rd in the country for women’s political representation, according to our 2023 GPI. Over the last 10 years, Maryland has never achieved higher than a “D” in the GPI. Alsobrooks has the potential to change this.
- In the event that she wins this November, Alsobrooks would help close the gap between a “D” and a “C” grade in the 2025 Index.
- In addition to becoming one of the only Black women to have ever served in the U.S. Senate, this victory would also make Alsobrooks the second Black woman to represent Maryland in Congress, following Donna Edwards (2008-2016), and the second woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate, following Barbara Mikulski (1987-2016).
Meanwhile, Delaware earned a “C” grade and ranked 16th in the country in the 2023 GPI. If Lisa Blunt Rochester wins her bid for the U.S. Senate and her House seat goes to another woman, Delaware could go from a “C” grade to a “B” in the Gender Parity Index.
Currently, Lisa Blunt Rochester holds the distinction of being the only woman to have represented Delaware in Congress, as she has served as the U.S. representative for Delaware’s at-large congressional district since 2017.
For Delaware to make sustainable progress toward gender balance, another woman must take her seat in the U.S. House following her election to the Senate.
Breaking Barriers for Black Women in Politics
Earlier this year, we released new research on the barriers and solutions to electing more Black women in the United States. This research highlights the role that traditional gatekeepers, particularly party elites and major donors, play in shaping opportunities for Black women candidates to run for office and win. Oftentimes, sexist and racist concerns about “viability” and “electability” overshadow their decision-making processes, which leads party leaders and donors to rally behind the “safest” (read: white and male) candidates.
Alsobrooks’ primary win underscores her electability, despite the attacks she endured suggesting otherwise. Angela Alsobrooks represents a new generation of leaders urgently needed in a body that lacks a single elected Black woman.
We saw this play out in the leadup to this week’s primary in Maryland, with both traditional media outlets and Alsobrooks’ opponent feeding into the idea that only a white male multimillionaire would be a safe bet against the Republican nominee, Larry Hogan.
Alsobrooks’ primary win underscores her electability, despite the attacks she endured suggesting otherwise. Angela Alsobrooks represents a new generation of leaders urgently needed in a body that lacks a single elected Black woman. Don’t buy the line that she won’t trounce Larry Hogan in November.
We Need the Best and Brightest
We are at a moment in our nation’s history that requires the wisdom and creativity of the best and brightest among us. As Shirley Chisholm said, “Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society because that talent wears a skirt.” Women of color face significant barriers to being fairly represented, many of them baked into our political system.
Thankfully, there are solutions: funding and recruitment targets, ranked-choice voting and living wages are just a few of the solutions that RepresentWomen’s research points to that would transform the face of politics. Join us in supporting and spreading the word about these solutions so we can ensure more leaders like Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. Blunt Rochester have a fair shot not only at having a seat at the table, but at the head of the table.
Up next:
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