Chicago, Il. — In a matter of moments, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester — candidate for U.S. Senate in Delaware and Harris-Walz national co-chair — will take the DNC stage. Below are her remarks as prepared:
I’m Lisa Blunt Rochester, mother, grandmother, Congresswoman, and hopefully… the next Senator from Delaware!
The proud home of President Biden.
We love you, Joe!
In Delaware, we know when small businesses thrive, communities thrive.
When our roads and bridges are strong, communities are strong.
When everyone has a fair shot at a better future… America is limitless.
We know this… Donald Trump doesn’t.
He and his friends have not only said the quiet parts out loud, they put it in a book — Project 2025.
With so much on the line, we’ve got to turn our biggest challenges into the brightest of hope.
Bright Hope was the name of the church my grandmother attended for seventy years.
It’s not just a name.
It’s how I approach my life.
It’s how I’ll lead as Senator.
It’s how Kamala sees the future of America.
Now, there are some who think our politics are too broken for bright hope.
But if you want to see hope — just look…
Bright hope is record numbers of Black and Brown entrepreneurs starting small businesses.
Bright hope is an OPPORTUNITY ECONOMY — where we invest in our communities.
Bright hope is four words: Madam. President. Kamala. Harris.
Are you ready for bright hope?
Are you ready to fight for our freedoms?
Are you ready to flip the House, protect the Senate, and elect Kamala Harris?
Then let’s go!
[Remarks Conclude]
BACKGROUND:
- If elected, Blunt Rochester would be the first woman, and the first person of color to represent the First State in the U.S. Senate. She would be only the fourth Black woman to serve as a U.S. Senator.
- The theme of the campaign is Bright Hope. It’s the name of the church that Blunt Rochester’s grandmother attended for 70 years. Bright hope is also how she approaches her life and how she serves Delaware. It’s the vision she hopes to bring to the Senate.
- Blunt Rochester launched her Senate campaign in June 2023, by sharing her own storyof loss, service, and bright hope. She shared this message with supporters just one year ago at the campaign’s kickoff in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
- The Congresswoman first ran to represent Delaware shortly after unexpectedly losing her husband. After seeing a father put back grapes at the grocery store because they were too expensive, she decided to turn her own pain into purpose.
- The Congresswoman has prioritized the fight to protect American Democracy after seeing just how fragile it can be, first hand, on January 6th. While trapped in the House gallery as insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, Blunt Rochester prayed — one of the day’s most powerful images.
- On the day that she was sworn into office, she carried with her a scarf printed with the Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath from 1867 which gave her great-great-great-grandfather, a freed slave, the right to vote. The scarf is a token that reminds us that we are the authors of our own history — and a symbol of what the ancestors who came before us carried with them: bright hope.
- On the campaign trail, she has been a vocal advocate for protecting our reproductive freedoms by sharing her family’s journey with IVF — which made her a grandmother just over a year ago.
- As the Senator from the First State, Blunt Rochester will fight to reduce costs for Americans. Just last month she shared her “ambitious” plan to do so with Delaware’s WRDE.
- Blunt Rochester’s campaign has been hitting the road on the Delivering for Delaware tour, which has already made stops in each of Delaware’s counties. The tour, which uplifts both Blunt Rochester’s vision for driving positive progress in the Senate and the impact of her accomplishments in Congress, will continue through Election Day.