Sarah McBride hoping to make history in Delaware race for Congress
DOVER, Del. – With less than three weeks to go until election day, candidates are scrambling across Delaware to connect with voters in the hopes of being elected. State Senator Sarah McBride is hoping to go from the State Senate to the U.S. House in what could be a historic election.
After securing the Democratic nomination for Delaware’s lone seat in Congress, a historic feat in and of itself, if she wins this November, McBride would become the first trans woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The ability of someone like me to run and compete for public office in Delaware – whether it’s the State Senate or the United States House of Representatives – is a testament to Delawareans,” McBride told our Rob Petree. “I’m not running to be known for my identity, I’m running to be Delaware’s member of Congress, working on all of the issues that matter to Delawareans.”
Those key issues include a focus on the economy, a woman’s right to choose, and keeping people across the First State safe.
“Bringing down the cost facing families, to protecting reproductive freedom, to making our communities safe for all of us to live,” McBride explained. “Those will be my priorities in the U.S. House of Representatives – just as they have been my priorities in the Delaware State Senate.”
A Wilmington native, McBride has been at the forefront of issues affecting the LGBTQ community for decades – having previously served as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
“I helped to draft, introduce, and pass – through the U.S. House of Representatives – the first comprehensive Civil Rights Bill to pass a chamber of Congress in roughly three decades, something we did in 2019 with bipartisan support,” McBride said of her time with the HRC.
It’s that same record of bipartisanship leadership that McBride says she will bring to the halls of Congress.
“I have a long record – both in public office and prior to public office – of taking on big issues and bringing people together to make progress, working across the partisan divide,” McBride emphasized. “To uplift and empower people of all backgrounds.”
McBride also touted her record as a State Senator to pass paid family and medical leave, expand Medicaid, and cap the costs of certain prescriptions as proof that she would continue to fight to improve the lives of families across the First State if elected.
“At the federal level, I’ll continue that work,” McBride said. “To bring down the costs facing families, and health care, in child care, in housing, and of course the day to day costs that families struggle to keep up with like gas and groceries – that’ll be my focus.”
Congressional races like McBride’s could be the deciding factor as to whether or not Republicans maintain control of the House. A prospect that McBride feels could be detrimental to the country.
“Instead of improving public schools and expanding access to child care – they will defund them,” McBride said emphatically. “Instead of protecting social security and Medicare – they will gut them. Instead of protecting reproductive freedom – they will ban it.”
All controversial – but key issues that McBride vows to be a champion for on Capitol Hill. She says Delaware’s next U.S. Representative needs to be ready to deliver results.
“That’s exactly what we need in our member of Congress,” McBride said. “Someone who’s ready on day one to hit the ground running to deliver jobs, deliver investments, and deliver progress for Delaware.”
McBride will face Republican John Whalen in the general election on Tuesday, November 5. The winner will replace current Congresswoman Lisa Blunt-Rochester who is running for U.S. Senate.
