DOVER, Del. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester defeated Republican Eric Hansen in the race for U.S. Senate in Delaware on Tuesday.

Blunt Rochester will be the first woman and first Black person to represent Delaware in the Senate. Only three other Black women have served in the Senate, two of whom were elected and one was appointed.

Rochester was considered a practical Senate candidate against businessman Hansen, a political newcomer. Democrats have a significant voter registration lead over Republicans in solid blue Delaware, which last sent a Republican to Washington in 2008.

Rochester raised about $8 million for her Senate campaign, while Hansen's campaign revenue totaled only about $1 million, including more than $800,000 in loans he made to his campaign.

Blunt Rochester will fill the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Carper, who handpicked her as his preferred successor when he announced his retirement last year. Blunt Rochester once interned with Carper when he was in the House of Representatives and also served in his Cabinet when he was governor.

Blunt Rochester served four terms as Delaware's only representative in the House of Representatives.

According to the Congressional Record, she introduced 90 bills and seven resolutions during her tenure in the House, many of which sought to improve or expand access to health care, particularly for women and minorities. The only Blunt Rochester-sponsored measure that became law is a resolution to name a post office in Wilmington in honor of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a 19th-century anti-slavery activist and publisher.

Rochester began her political career as a clerk for Carper and has served in appointed positions as Delaware Secretary of Labor, state human resources director and deputy secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services. She also served as CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.

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