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Delaware

Blunt Rochester makes it official: She’s running for Senate

Delaware lawmaker ‘the kind of leader that we’ll need in the days ahead’

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U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester announced that she is running for Senate. (Washington Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Walking slowly through the dramatically lit aisles of Philadelphia’s Bright Hope Baptist Church her family is well acquainted with, soft, jazzy piano music playing in the background, Delaware’s lone U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester announced that she is running for Senate, hoping to take over the seat her mentor Tom Carper is leaving.

Her guiding principle? Bright hope. Just like the church’s. Just like the country’s.

“Bright hope,” Blunt Rochester said, “keeps America forward and it kept me going through my own darkness.”

That darkness included her husband’s death because of a blood clot, which she said inspired her to run for Congress.

“You gotta get your mind right,” he told her.

“So I did,” Blunt Rochester said in the video. “I decided to run for Congress.”

Carper announced his retirement at a press conference on May 22 and all but endorsed Blunt Rochester for Senate.

“I spoke with her this morning, I said, ‘You’ve been patient, waiting for me to get out of the way, and I’m going to get out of the way, and I hope you run, and I hope you’ll let me support you in that mission,’” Carper said with a laugh. “And she said, ‘Yes I will let you support me.’ And so I’m going to.’”

Now that she officially announced her run, two days after Juneteenth, her former mentor endorsed her in a statement.

“She is just the kind of leader that we’ll need in the U.S. Senate in the days ahead, and she will make us proud,” Carper wrote, recalling the first time he met her. “Indeed, she already has!”

Rochester holds up a scarf with a copy of her great-great-great grandfather’s Georgia voter registration oath from 1867 in the video. On it is his signature, which allowed him, a freed slave, to vote in Georgia’s elections.

She holds it up to a diverse crowd of people, telling them that she not only carried it during her inauguration, but during the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

“With the house under siege, I prayed for love over hate, and hope over fear,” she says over a video of her praying on the House floor as rioters swarmed the Capitol.

Accolades and support are pouring in not only from her mentor, but from progressive groups, including Planned Parenthood, which emphasized that it does not officially have a stance, but said the organization is lucky to have her in the congressional delegation. The Human Rights campaign gives her perfect marks on support for LGBTQ issues.

The person that answered Bright Hope Baptist Church’s phone seemed unaware that Blunt Rochester had announced her run and said the people who could comment were out of the office.

Blunt Rochester ends the video ticking off her priorities and her accomplishments –protecting reproductive rights, helping small businesses, and protecting the environment – but cautioned, “We’ve got so much more to do.”

“A more perfect union is not a destination, it is a journey,” she continued. Looking straight into the camera, she said, “Let us go on it together.”

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Delaware

Delaware governor issues executive order creating LGBTQ+ Commission

Body to ‘strengthen ties’ between government and community

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Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, center, on Jan. 16, 2025, signed an executive order that created the state's first LGBTQ+ Commission. (Photo courtesy of Sussex Pride)

Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long on Jan. 16 signed and issued an executive order creating a Delaware State LGBTQ+ Commission that she said will hold public forums for the exchange of ideas on the needs of the state’s diverse LGBTQ community.

“The nine-member commission will serve to strengthen ties between the government and LGBTQ+ organizations,” a statement released by the governor’s office says.

The statement adds that the new commission will “help remove barriers to societal participation for LGBTQ+ people and improve the delivery of services to the community in Delaware to areas such as employment, equality, education, and mental health.”

It says that members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and serve without monetary compensation for a three-year term.

According to the statement, the commission members “will represent different facets of the LGBTQ+ community, taking into account age, race, gender, identity, background, life experiences and other factors, and reflect the geographic diversity of the state.”

Hall-Long’s executive order creating the new commission came at a time when she is serving in effect as interim governor for a period of just two weeks. As lieutenant governor, she became governor on Jan. 7 when outgoing Gov. John Carney resigned to take office in his newly elected position of mayor of Wilmington.

Carney, who served two terms as governor, could not run again for that position under Delaware’s term limit law. Democrat Matt Myer won the governor’s election in November and will be sworn in as Delaware’s next governor on Jan. 21, when Hall-Long will step down.

Myer was expected to appoint the commission members in the weeks following his assumption of gubernatorial duties.

“Ultimately, the commission will advise the governor, members of the governor’s Cabinet, members of the General Assembly, and other policymakers on the effect of agency policies, procedures, practices, laws, and administrative rules on the unique challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ people,”  the statement released by Hall-Long’s office says.

“It is truly an honor to bring this commission to fruition, and I am very excited to see the positive changes the commission will make in the lives of our LGBTQ+ neighbors,” Hall-Long said in the statement.

David Mariner, executive director of Sussex Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Delaware’s Sussex County, which includes Rehoboth Beach, praised the new executive order as an important step in advancing LGBTQ equality.

“It is my hope that through this commission, we can address the critical issues facing LGBTQ Delawareans,” Mariner said in his own statement.

“This includes developing an LGBTQ health report with a tangible roadmap to health equity, increasing collaboration and communication on hate crimes and hate-related activities, and ensuring that nondiscrimination protections, guaranteed by law, are a reality for all of our residents,” he said.

The statement announcing the LGBTQ+ Commission and the full text of the executive order can be accessed here. 

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Delaware

Delaware advocacy group to host panel on media’s role in countering hate

Blade editor among journalists participating in Wednesday event

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Blade editor Kevin Naff is among journalists participating in a panel discussion on hate this week.

LEWES, Del. — Speak Out Against Hate (SOAH) will hold its bi-monthly community meeting at 5 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Lewes Library and via Zoom. The meeting will concentrate on the role of the press in responding to the divisiveness and rising tide of hatred in our country and communities. 

The meeting will feature a panel of journalists comprised of Chris Rauch, owner and publisher of the Cape Gazette; Benjamin Rothstein, journalist at the Daily State News and its sister paper the Greater Dover Independent; Kevin Naff, editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade; and Jake Owens, editor-in-chief of Spotlight Delaware.

Patty Maloney, president of SOAH said, “Following a national and state elections that saw our country nearly evenly divided, this important discussion with our local press will shine a light upon the role of the press locally and nationally in confronting the obvious chasm within our citizenry.”

For more information about the event and to register, please visit Speak Out Against Hate at soah-de.org.

Speak Out Against Hate was formed to confront and counter the rising tide of hate, whenever and wherever it exists.

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Comings & Goings

Owners win top honors from Delaware Restaurant Association

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Bob Suppies, David Gonce, Tyler Townsend, and Lion Gardner of Second Street Hospitality.

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected]

The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success. 

Congratulations to Second Block Hospitality, winners of the Delaware Restaurant Association’s designation as Restaurateurs of the Year. This award was won by business partners Lion Gardner, David Gonce, Tyler Townsend, and Bob Suppies, whose Second Block Hospitality restaurants include Bodhi Kitchen, The Pines, and Drift, all in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

“The partners of Second Block Hospitality, each bring unique expertise from diverse business backgrounds, and have successfully united to create a flourishing restaurant group in downtown Rehoboth Beach. Their first venture, The Pines, was inspired by the rich history and hospitality of old Rehoboth Beach, where pine trees meet the ocean. Their newest ventures, Drift Seafood & Raw Bar, and Bodhi Kitchen, showcase sophisticated seafood and Asian-inspired street food, earning awards, accolades, and features in top regional publications. Driven by a mission of hospitality, innovation, and community, the team exemplifies the qualities honored by the Restaurateurs of the Year Award, celebrating their passion, diversity, and creativity in Delaware’s dining scene.”

Townsend said, “The entire team at Second Block Hospitality is thrilled to have won Restaurateurs of the Year. Since 2018, we have worked hard to bring the very best in dining, cocktails, entertainment, and décor.” 

Suppies added, “Yes, winning this award truly validates we are on the right path to keep bringing innovative design paired with amazing food and drinks. More is coming from Second Block for sure.”

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