This fall is shaping up to be a busy election season, with a number of local races as well as statewide races for representative in Congress, U.S. Senate, governor and lieutenant governor.
Delaware’s primary election is set for Sept. 10, with early voting starting Aug. 28. The general election will be held Nov. 5, with early voting starting Oct. 25.
Locally, the race to watch is the District 21 House race in Pike Creek, which is an open race after Republican Mike Ramone decided to run for governor instead of seeking another term in the legislature. Democrats — who hold a strong registration advantage in the district — have been trying to flip the seat for several elections, and Ramone’s departure from the race gives them a prime opportunity to do so this year.
Statewide, all eyes are on the Democratic gubernatorial primary, which features Bethany Hall-Long, Matt Meyer and Collin O’Mara.
The filing deadline passed earlier this month, but political parties have until Sept. 3 to nominate candidates for races in which no member of that party has filed.
Residents can look up their district and polling place at gis.elections.delaware.gov.
Here’s a look at where local and statewide races stand now.
State house
In District 21, the race to replace Mike Ramone starts with the Democratic primary. Frank Burns, a business owner from the Roseville Park neighborhood who lost to Ramone by just 41 votes in 2022, is running again. His primary opponent is Michael Alexander Smith, a resident of the Abbey Walk Apartments who runs the clean energy nonprofit Powering Our Future and previously served as a legislative aide for Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton. The winner of the primary will face Republican Brenda Mennella, a teacher from the Tree Top neighborhood in Pike Creek who unsuccessfully ran for state senate two years ago.
In District 22, Republican incumbent Michael Francis Smith is seeking his fourth term. Challenging him is Democrat Monica Beard, a resident of Hockessin Valley Falls who works as a policy coordinator for the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
In District 23, Democrat Mara Gorman is unopposed in her bid to replace the retiring Paul Baumbach. A resident of Newark’s Cherry Hill neighborhood, Gorman is a former public affairs manager for Planned Parenthood of Delaware. She previously served as leader of the state chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
In District 24, seven-term incumbent Democrat Ed Osienski is being challenged by Republican Joan Godwin, a nurse who lives on Old Red Mill Road. The race is a rematch of the 2022 election, when Osienski defeated Godwin 66 percent to 33 percent.
In District 25, Democrat Cyndie Romer is seeking her second term. She is being challenged by Republican David Hansberger, a resident of Sandy Brae Meadows.
In District 27, two-term Democratic incumbent Eric Morrison is facing a primary challenge from Margie Lopez Waite, the founder of Las Américas ASPIRA Academy and a resident of the Clairborne neighborhood in Bear. The winner will face Republican Kristina Griffing, a resident of Middletown.
Two Democratic incumbents, District 18’s Sophie Phillips and District 26’s Madinah Wilson-Anton, are running unopposed.
In the state senate race, Democratic incumbents Bryan Townsend (District 11) and Stephanie Hansen (District 10) are running unopposed. Newark’s other senators, David Sokola (District 8) and Jack Walsh (District 8), are halfway through their four-year terms, and there are no elections for those seats this year.
County races
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer is term-limited, and there are two Democrats vying to replace him: Karen Hartley-Nagle a Wilmington resident who serves as president of county council, and Marcus Henry, a Wilmington resident who previously served as general manager of community services for the county government. With no Republican in the race, the winner of the primary will be unopposed in the general election.
Five Democrats are running to replace Hartley-Nagle as council president. George Frankel is a Wilmington resident who works as senior business liaison for the Delaware Workforce Development Board. Val Gould is a Wilmington resident who has worked as a teacher and legislative policy analyst. Jason Hoover is a Wilmington resident who runs a web company and founded the Save the Valley land preservation organization. Monique Johns is a paralegal, author, minister and life coach who ran for council president in 2020 and state legislature in 2016 and 2018, when she made headlines after being caught on surveillance camera stealing her opponent’s campaign literature from a voter’s door and replacing it with her own. Robert Williams is a retired Wilmington police officer and former Wilmington councilman who now lives in the Newark area. The winner of the primary will face Wilmington Republican Melissa Brayman.
County councilmen Tim Sheldon and David Tackett are both unopposed for re-election, as is Clerk of the Peace Lisa Darrah.
U.S. Senate
The race to replace the retiring Tom Carper features Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester, who has served as Delaware’s lone representative in Congress since 2017; Republican Eric Hansen, a Walmart executive from Wilmington; and independent Michael Katz, a doctor from Wilmington.
Representative in Congress
Democratic State Sen. Sarah McBride is the party favorite to replace Blunt Rochester in Congress. In the primary, she faces Wilmington business owner Earl Cooper and Glasgow resident Elias Weir. Republican candidates include Donyale Hall, an Air Force veteran from Dover who runs a general contracting company; and John J. Whalen III, a retired state trooper and former business owner from Millsboro.
Governor
Six candidates are running for governor, seeking to replace John Carney, who is term-limited and, in an unusual move, is now running for mayor of Wilmington. Democratic candidates include Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, County Executive Matt Meyer and Collin O’Mara, who is CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and a former secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Republican candidates include Michael Ramone, a state legislator from Pike Creek; Jerry Price, a retired New York City police officer from Rehoboth Beach; and Bobby Williamson, a business owner from Bridgeville.
Lieutenant governor
Three Democrats are vying for lieutenant governor: Kyle Evans Gay, a state senator and lawyer from Talleyville; Debbie Harrington, an Army veteran and community advocate from Middletown; and Sherry Dorsey Walker, a state legislator and former councilwoman from Wilmington who previously ran for lieutenant governor in 2016. The winner of the primary will face Republican Ruth Briggs King, a former state representative from Georgetown.
Insurance commissioner
Incumbent Democrat Trinidad Navarro is being challenged by Kayode Abegunde, a New Castle resident who has worked as an accountant, auditor and insurance consultant and unsuccessfully ran against Navarro four years ago. The winner of the primary will face Ralph Taylor, a Republican from Dover.
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