Democrats expect to keep majority in Delaware

STATE STATS

Voter makeup: As of Oct. 1, more than 353,000 Democrats and 206,000 Republicans are registered to vote in Delaware. Over 226,000 voters are registered with a minority party or have no party affiliation. As of 2023, eligible voters are automatically registered when applying for or renewing a driver’s license. The system automatically enters them as unaffiliated, and voters can declare a party affiliation later. The totals represent an increase of nearly 50,000 voters from 2020. Democrats hold all nine statewide elected offices and a majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.

Voting: Until 2020, Delaware had few avenues for voting besides in person at a polling place on Election Day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state temporarily allowed no-excuse mail-in ballots and automatically mailed all voters absentee ballot applications. In 2022, the legislature passed a vote-by-mail bill that expanded the option for voters who had a state-approved excuse such as caring for a disabled family member. Voters may also request to become a permanent absentee voter. The law provided same-day registration and enacted early voting. A lower court struck down the new voting laws in February 2024 following a lawsuit from conservative organizations. But in June, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled to reinstate it. Early voting begins on Oct. 25. Absentee ballots returned by 8 p.m. on election night will be counted.

PRESIDENTIAL

Delaware has elected Democratic presidential candidates since 1988. As the first state in the union, it is one of the few to have participated in every presidential election in the nation’s history. It has three Electoral College votes. President Joe Biden won Delaware by 19 percent in 2020.

Both parties canceled their presidential primaries this year since Republican candidate Nikki Haley suspended her campaign and President Joe Biden was the only Democrat candidate on the ballot. Democratic delegates unanimously backed Vice President Kamala Harris at the national convention virtual roll call after Biden dropped out of the race.

GUBERNATORIAL

Democratic Gov. John Carney, 68, is term-limited, leaving his seat available in November’s election. Carney won the Democratic primary for mayor of Wilmington, Del., in September and is the de facto mayor-elect as there is no Republican running. Because the mayoral term starts before the gubernatorial one, Lt. Gov. Bethany Long-Hall, who lost the Democratic primary to succeed Carney, will serve as governor for two weeks in January.

• Delaware House minority leader Mike Ramone, 63, is hoping to be one of the rare Republicans to claim a statewide office. He represents a majority Democratic district but has won eight consecutive terms by appealing to unaffiliated and minority party voters. He won by only 35 votes in 2022. Ramone calls himself “Delaware yellow,” a businessman who puts state over party. If elected, he promises to appoint a bipartisan cabinet, expand education voucher programs, establish a task force to fight violent crime, and simplify the tax code. Ramone’s campaign website says he will protect women’s reproductive health but does not mention abortion. He did not vote on a House bill that protected abortionists in 2022. The state allows abortion up to the point of fetal viability and requires insurance carriers to cover the procedure.

• Democratic nominee Matt Meyer, 52, battled strong party opposition but won the primary with 47 percent of the vote. A former lawyer, teacher, and veteran, Meyer has served since 2017 as county executive for New Castle County, the largest local government in the state. While in high school, he volunteered for then–Sen. Joe Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1988. He was embedded as a diplomat with the U.S. Army for a year in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. On the campaign trail, he has touted his leadership of New Castle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meyer supports universal preschool, police reforms, and a constitutional amendment to allow abortion in Delaware. He also said he would pass an assisted suicide legalization bill that Carney vetoed if elected.

SENATE

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, 77, announced he would retire after more than 50 years in public, state, and federal offices. His seat is considered secure for Democrats. It is the first time the state has had an open Senate seat since 2010, when Biden assumed the vice presidency.

• Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, 62, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary to fill Carper’s seat. If she wins, she’ll be the state’s first black and female U.S. senator. Blunt Rochester has won each of her four consecutive terms in the U.S. House by 12 percentage points or more. She got her start in politics interning for Carper in the U.S. House and when he was governor. Carper formally endorsed Blunt Rochester last summer. She has risen through the ranks of Democratic leadership in Congress, now serving as an assistant whip for House leadership. She currently sits on the Energy & Commerce Committee and on the black and progressive caucuses.

• Eric Hansen is the Republican nominee for Senate after he ran unopposed in the primary. The businessman started out at Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson but spent the bulk of his career as a Walmart executive. Hansen calls himself a “reasonable” Republican political outsider with the business savvy needed in Washington. Most of his campaign has centered on his leadership at Walmart and actions that he says saved American shoppers billions of dollars. He said he will work on lowering the cost of living, building an inflation tax credit, and reducing government spending. Hansen has promised that if elected he would collaborate with any colleague regardless of party.

• Independent candidate Mike Katz, 62, is challenging Blunt Rochester because he said one-party control over the state is not healthy. The anesthesiologist and former Democratic state senator left his party in 2022.

U.S. HOUSE

Delaware sends only one representative to Congress. With incumbent Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester campaigning for the U.S. Senate, it’s another open race. The seat is considered safely Democratic.

• State Sen. Sarah McBride, 34, won the Democratic primary for the at-large House seat. McBride, a male who identifies as a female, will likely be the first openly transgender member of Congress. McBride plans to push for universal Medicare, marijuana legalization, and raising the federal minimum wage to $15 if elected. Before serving as state senator, McBride did campaign work for the late Beau Biden, President Biden’s son and the former Delaware attorney general. McBride was also the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign. High-level Democrats like Carper, Blunt Rochester, and Sen. Chris Coons are supporting McBride with millions in contributions.

• Republican challenger John Whalen was a state police officer for 20 years in a variety of areas including major crimes, the K-9 unit, road troopers, and the FBI joint violent crimes fugitive task force. After retiring in 1997, he started a residential construction company. The only two issues on his campaign website are the Biden administration’s economic and border policies. Whalen promised to vote to close the U.S. southern border and stem illegal immigration. In an interview with a local ABC affiliate, he said he would only serve two terms if elected because he thinks Congress members should have term limits.

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