Blunt Rochester will fill the seat left vacant by fellow Democrat Tom Carper, who handpicked her as his preferred successor when he announced his retirement last year. Blunt Rochester once interned for Carper when he was in the House and also served in his cabinet when he was governor.

Blunt Rochester has served four terms at Delaware’s lone representative in the House.

According to the Congressional Record, she has sponsored 90 bills and seven resolutions during her House tenure, many aimed at improving or expanding access to health care, especially for women and minorities. The only measure sponsored by Blunt Rochester to become law is a resolution naming a Wilmington post office in honor of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a 19th-century anti-slavery activist and publisher.

Blunt Rochester began her political career as a case worker for Carper and served in appointed positions as Delaware’s labor secretary, state personnel director and deputy secretary of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services. She also served as CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League.