Release: Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester Endorses Sarah McBride to Succeed Her in Congress
Wilmington, DE — Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester announced her endorsement of State Senator Sarah McBride, the lone Democratic candidate for Delaware’s open Congressional seat.
“I could not be more proud to endorse my friend, State Sen. Sarah McBride for the United States House of Representatives. In her time in the State Senate, Sarah’s already proven that with a collaborative spirit, we can accomplish big things as Delawareans. Sarah led the effort to pass paid family and medical leave, helped raise the minimum wage, and passed common sense gun safety laws,” said Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. “As Delaware’s Congresswoman, I know what it takes to deliver for our state and that Sarah will hit the ground running as our state’s lone member of the U.S. House.”
Since launching, McBride has built a campaign that has made her the frontrunner for the seat by earning a wide coalition of endorsements, beating fundraising records, and leading a grassroots organizing operation that has reached thousands of Delaware voters. McBride has been endorsed by more than twenty Delaware unions, four Delaware statewide elected officials, 21 of her colleagues in the General Assembly and counting, community organizers, and national advocacy organizations. She has also been endorsed by caucuses representing nearly every Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, including both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the moderate NewDems Coalition caucus.
Leaders and organizations that have announced their support of Senator McBride include:
Delaware Building and Construction Trades
AFSCME & AFSCME Council 81
Teamsters Local 326
Delaware State Association of Letter Carriers
UFCW Local 27
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 313
United Association Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United States and Canada Local Union 74
Delaware Laborers Local 199
International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 5 & Local 7
UA Sprinkler Fitters Local 669
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers Local 451
Millwright and Machinery Erectors Local 219
Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Local 255
Piledrivers & Divers Local #474
IUPAT District Council 21
Boilermakers Local 13
Cement Masons Local 592
Sheet Metal Workers Local 19
United Telephone Workers of Delaware/CWA Local 13101
Heat & Frost Insulators Local 42
Roofers Local 30
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542
Amalgamated Transit Union
Association of Flight Attendants
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Reproductive Freedom for All
EMILY's List
Delaware Stonewall PAC
Shore Democrats
End Citizens United / Let America Vote
Next50
National Women’s Political Caucus
National Organization for Women PAC
Elect Democratic Women
Defend the Vote
Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate
New Democrat Coalition Action Fund
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Our Revolution
Human Rights Campaign PAC
LPAC
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund
Attorney General Kathy Jennings
Treasurer Colleen Davis
Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro
State Auditor Lydia York
Former Lt. Governor & Attorney General Matt Denn
Former State Auditor & New Castle County Executive Dennis Greenhouse
Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Dave Sokola
Senate Majority Leader Senator Bryan Townsend
Senate Majority Whip Senator Elizabeth Lockman
Sen. Laura Sturgeon (SD-04)
Sen. Kyle Evans Gay (SD-05)
Sen. Russ Huxtable (SD-06)
Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos (SD-07)
Sen. Jack Walsh (SD-09)
Sen. Stephanie Hansen (SD-10)
Sen. Nicole Poore (SD-12)
Sen. Marie Pinkney (SD-13)
Sen. Kyra Hoffner (SD-14)
Fmr. Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (SD-02)
Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (HD-01)
Rep. Kendra Johnson (HD-05)
Rep. Debra Heffernan (HD-06)
Rep. Krista Griffith (HD-12)
Rep. DeShanna Neal (HD-13)
Rep. Sophie Phillips (HD-18)
Rep. Kim Williams (HD-19)
Rep. Paul Baumbach (HD-23)
Rep. Ed Osienski (HD-24)
Rep. Cyndie Romer (HD-25)
Rep. Bill Carson (HD-28)
Wilmington City Council President Trippi Congo
Mayor Valarie Windle Leary, New Castle
Former Newark Mayor Polly Sierer
Y.F. Lou, Christina School Board Member
Maria Matos, Nonprofit Leader & Community Advocate
Dr. Terri Hodges, Education & Civil Rights Advocate
A growing list of local elected officials, mayors and advocates from across Delaware
ABOUT SARAH MCBRIDE
Sarah McBride represents roughly 50,000 Delawareans in the First State Senate District, which includes parts of Wilmington and Brandywine Hundred. Sarah grew up in Wilmington and has been advocating for her community for decades. She worked for former Governor Jack Markell, the late Attorney General Beau Biden, and served in the Obama White House. Most recently, she served as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ equal rights organization.
When McBride was elected in November 2020, she became the first openly transgender state senator in American history. In just her first term, McBride passed the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave to workers throughout the First State and marking the largest expansion of Delaware's social safety net in decades. She also passed legislation expanding access to health care, requiring mental health and media literacy education in public schools, promoting green technologies, preventing lead poisoning in youth, and protecting workers and families.
McBride currently serves as chair of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee and is a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, Education Committee, Banking, Business, Insurance, and Technology Committee, and Executive Committee.
Sarah married her late husband Andrew Cray in 2014 and is the proud aunt of seven. She is a graduate of Cab Calloway School of the Arts and American University. McBride has taught public policy at the University of Delaware and is the author of the 2018 memoir, “Tomorrow Will Be Different,” which includes a foreword from President Joe Biden.
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