News from The Hill: Former senator Edward Brooke, first black popularly elected to Senate, dies at 95

News from The Hill Former senator Edward Brooke, first black popularly elected to Senate, dies at 95 By Megan R. Wilson Former Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.), who ended an 85-year absence of African-American senators, died on Saturday at age 95, according to Kirsten Hughes, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Brooke served in the Senate from 1967 to 1979 and was the first African-American to be elected to the upper-chamber by popular vote. Before his two terms in Congress, Brooke served as the Massachusetts attorney general. Read more on this article here.