Wilmington, Del.— In case you missed it, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester joined the Bakari Sellers Podcast to discuss her political journey, why she is running for the U.S. Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris’s consequential presidential campaign, and what’s at stake this November.

You can listen to the full podcast here:

On what motivated her to run for Congress:

• “The love of my life passed away, and I was not sure what to do next with my life. And it literally was like a year of just being on autopilot — [I was] just mad and sad. I’m a person of faith, [but] I thought I was going to lose my faith. And I was in the supermarket with a dad and three kids in front of me, and I saw this [dad] put back grapes because they were $9. And it snapped me out of my own pain and made me realize [that] I’m blessed, I’m okay. I’m going to be okay.
      
  “But a lot of people were struggling, and my city of Wilmington, [Del.] was being 
  called “Murder Town” because of gun violence. [So], I decided I’m going to run – I’m 
  going to run for Congress. And in 2016, we won that election.”

On what she hopes to accomplish in the Senate:

• “I have loved serving in Congress, even as hard and crazy as it can be at times, bringing clean drinking water to Delaware communities that didn’t have it [and] being able to focus on jobs and the economy. Health care has [also] been a priority for me. But, I will tell you, January 6th was a turning point for me. And now the ability to fight for democracy and reproductive freedom — in the Senate, it means I can do this work on a deeper level, have more impact on people’s lives, and hopefully make sure that there’s a better world for the generations to come. And, so, it was not a hard decision to say, ‘You know, I’m all in. I’m all in.’ And I want to see this country move forward instead of going [backward].”

On how critical it is for Democrats to take back the House, expand the Senate and elect VP Kamala Harris as president in November:

• “A lot of times […] we’re not thinking about the fact that […] the President on their own can’t do all of these things that we need to get done as we move forward. […] You need the House and the Senate. And right now, […] we’ve got some really challenging races that we need to win to make sure we hold the Senate because that also [determines] who’s on the Supreme Court — the fact that we now have Supreme Court decisions that have taken away our fundamental right to reproductive freedom. [We have to] make sure [we don’t just have] a President, but a Senate that can make sure that things happen. 
  
  “We are so close to flipping […] and [controlling] the House. And many of the major things that we saw happen — whether it was capping the cost of insulin to $35 [a month], infrastructure and our roads and bridges, and making sure that HBCUs have the support of the Biden-Harris administration — a lot of these things came because we had the power [in the House] to make it happen. And so, whether it is flipping the House and making sure Hakeem Jeffries becomes the next Speaker of the House, which would be so powerful, or holding the Senate, it’s going to be pivotal.”

On why no one should sleep on her Senate race in Delaware:

• “Some people feel like ‘you got this, Lisa. We’re not worried about [your race]. We don’t have to come out to vote for you,’ but Delaware is only three counties, and in those three counties, we vote blue, purple, and red. [..] We’re urban, suburban, rural and coastal. And, so, I tell people, don’t sleep on Delaware, don’t take this race for granted, because you’re going to get 40 percent of the vote just [by] being a Republican in Delaware because we’re a pretty moderate state. 
  
  “And, so, we want to make sure that people show up and show out and connect their vote to their life. You want a clean drink of water? Vote. If you want criminal justice reform — vote. You want a planet [to live on]? Vote. All of these things are connected to your life.”