REPLACING:

Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)

WORK HISTORY:

Delaware Senate (Member, First State Senate District); Human Rights Campaign (Spokesperson); University of Delaware (Public Policy); The White House (Intern); Office of Governor Jack Markell; Office of Attorney General Beau Biden[i]

EDUCATION:

Diploma, Cab Calloway School of the Arts; BA, American University[ii]

CAMPAIGNED ON:

Expanding access to healthcare and bringing down costs; Ensuring access to reproductive health care; An economy that benefits workers and families; Advocating for workers’ rights and strengthening unions; Reforming our criminal justice system; Rescuing our climate and promoting sustainability; Keeping our families safe from gun violence; A future-looking economy that benefits Delaware; Protecting and expanding access to voting[iii]

ON THE ISSUES

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS:

Endorsed by EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood, McBride pledges to be a “staunch advocate for coverage, including through Medicaid” for reproductive health care, as well as to end the global gag rule. McBride touts her work to support or cosponsor “every pro-choice bill that has come before me.”[iv] [v] [vi]

ECONOMY & JOBS:

McBride’s campaign platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 and setting it to rise with inflation, as well as passing investments in housing and elder care. She pledges to sponsor the PRO Act and to work to codify the Biden administration’s executive order that federal projects are contracted with unionized workforces. She also advocates for enacting new securities laws, data privacy legislation, and embracing new technologies like fintech, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.[vii]

TAXES:

While McBride did not make taxes a focal point of her campaign, she has argued that the government is “not doing enough to support people as they set off in their careers and seek to start a family.”[i] In the Delaware Senate, McBride sponsored legislation that raised taxes on hospitals to help fund an infusion into the state’s Medicaid program.[ii]

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY:

On her campaign website, McBride touts her work in the Delaware Senate to pass laws aimed at reducing recidivism, expanding expungements, and ensuring reintegration after incarceration. She has also supported expanding the use of police body cameras, training reform, and increased transparency in policing. She promises to vote to end mass incarceration, legalize marijuana and expunge convictions, and “help to reimagine” a criminal justice system that prioritizes reentry.[x]

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

Describing climate change as an “urgent threat” to Delaware given its elevation, McBride has prioritized building on the Inflation Reduction Act. She supports increasing investments in renewable energy, making green technologies affordable and accessible, and ensuring that sustainable industries employ a “local and unionized workforce.”[xi] She was endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club.[xii] [xiii]

FOREIGN POLICY:

In October, McBride advocated for further support for Ukraine and pushed for a ceasefire and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.[xiv]

HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL SAFETY NET:

On her campaign website, McBride advocates for expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing, while also lowering the age of eligibility and providing a public option. She has also called for increased federal investments to support the nursing workforce in Delaware and federal action to put more spending toward primary care physicians and independent clinics outside of hospitals.[xv] She also pledges to fight for guaranteed paid sick time and paid family and medical leave.[xvi] In the Delaware Senate, McBride sponsored legislation, which became law, to unlock $175 million annually in federal funding for Medicaid through a hospital tax, as well as to increase paid family and medical leave.[xvii] [xviii] [xix]

DEMOCRACY:

McBride supported legislation for voting by mail, early voting, and same-day voter registration, which was struck down by the state Superior Court. She has pledged to cosponsor the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.[xx]

SOCIAL ISSUES:

Though she is the first trans woman elected to Congress, McBride did not campaign on identity issues, stating, “I think that folks know that I am personally invested in equality as an LGBTQ person […] But my priorities are going to be affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, housing, health care, reproductive freedom.”[xxi] She was endorsed by Equality PAC.[xxii]