Report finds Black women are still underrepresented in U.S. politics despite progress

University Of Delaware

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Delaware Public Media

Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester held an official campaign kickoff rally last Saturday, formally launching her bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Tom Carper who plans to retire after this term. If elected, Blunt Rochester would become just the third Black woman to ever serve in the U.S. Senate.

While a record number of Black women serve in congressional, statewide, and legislative offices, they still make up less than 6% of those elected offices. That’s according to a new report from Rutgers University, which also found Delaware is among the top five states for Black women serving in the state legislature.

Delaware Public Media’s Kyle McKinnon talks this week with the report’s author Kelly Dittmar – an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University – to learn more about the state of Black women in American politics.