Historic Victory: Angela Alsobrooks Will Become Maryland’s First Black U.S. Senator – Essence

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks is reported to be the projected winner of the U.S. Senate race in Maryland against Republican Larry Hogan. Associated Press.

The victory makes her the primary black U.S. senator within the state’s history. With a distinguished record of public service – including eight years as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney, followed by two terms as County Executive – Alsobrooks is poised to bring her deep-rooted experience to Congress, where she joins a small, historic cohort of Black women who served within the Senate.

Alsobrooks’ campaign was historic, and her victory marks a brand new chapter for Maryland. “People like me don’t get into the Senate, and we should,” Alsobrooks said during her speech on the Democratic National Convention in August. She highlighted the systemic barriers black women face in achieving high political office. Reflecting on the experience, she told ESSENCE: “We’ve only elected two black women to the Senate so far and only three have served, so to come out on that stage and represent so many people whose voices I think we’ve been so happy to have been underrepresented.” within the Senate. And it was an excellent moment.

Alsobrooks said her inspiration for public service partly got here from Kamala Harris, then San Francisco’s district attorney. In 2009, Alsobrooks read an article in ESSENCE about Harris’s progressive approach to justice. “I read an article in Essence magazine about a district attorney using new ideas to keep his community safe,” she recalled. Motivated, Alsobrooks began implementing restorative justice principles in her own work, working on a brand new justice system that expands access to opportunity and reduces recidivism.

Looking ahead, Alsobrooks said he’s committed to creating significant changes on key issues, including economic opportunity and access to health care. Her platform emphasizes expanding reproductive rights, improving access to health care and increasing educational resources for Marylanders. She also expressed her support for comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, and called for a reconsideration of corporate tax policy, particularly the Trump-era tax cuts, to redirect resources to programs that profit working families relatively than corporate interests .

Alsobrooks will officially take office on January 3, starting a historic chapter for Maryland and the complete Senate. Her election also means she’s going to join fellow senator-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was recently elected as the primary black senator-elect within the state of Delaware. Together they are going to make history as, for the primary time, two Black women will serve in Congress concurrently.