Delaware Senate: Carper Calls It Quits
Delaware Sen. Tom Carper announced Monday that he wouldn’t seek a fifth term in the Senate, signaling the end of a political career that began nearly a half century ago.
Carper’s decision opens up a Solid Democratic Senate seat, but don’t expect a messy primary. If Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester runs, she will have a clear shot at the nomination and the general election. When announcing his retirement, Carper said that he had encouraged Blunt Rochester (his former intern) to run and would support her if she did. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also “nudged” her to run.
Blunt Rochester, 61, comes from a political family — her father, Ted, was a Wilmington City Council president — and she first won election to Congress in 2016. In addition to having backing from Carper, she is a close ally of President Joe BIden; she co-chaired the former Delaware senator’s 2020 presidential campaign and was one of four people Biden tapped to oversee the selection of his running mate.
In Congress, Blunt Rochester sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce. She is one of 23 Democrats to be a member of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the more moderate New Democrat Coalition.
Blunt Rochester has been backed by pro-choice group EMILY’s List, and is rated highly by a litany of progressive organizations. In 2022, she received 100 percent ratings from the League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2020,…
