Who’s running for office in Delaware?
With multiple contested races up and down the ballot in Delaware this year, make sure you know who is running before heading to the polls.
Delaware’s primary election will take place Sept. 10, which will help further shape contested races for federal, state and local positions, including governor, lieutenant governor and Delaware’s U.S. Senate seat.
The general election is Nov. 5. As races take shape, stay up to date with us here at Delaware Online/The News Journal for a running list of all the respective candidates.
Familiar faces vie for New Castle County executive
Two familiar faces to New Castle County politics are vying for the county executive office.
Democrat Marcus Henry, son of former Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, and county council President Karen Hartley-Nagle are running for county executive in 2024.
Current county Executive Matt Meyer is running for Delaware’s governor.
Henry has over 20 years of experience in public service and has worked for the past three county executive administrations, including as the general manager of the county Department of Community Services under Meyer and a brief stint as the county’s economic development director.
He has publicly stated his intention to bring transparency to the position and ensure that the county remains “a safe and flourishing home for residents, and an attractive destination for visitors.”
Hartley-Nagle has served as council president for the past six years, with two left in her current term. She previously served as a board member of Delaware Common Cause and the Coalition for Open Government and was a member of the New Castle County Board of Adjustment. She has publicly stated that as county executive, her main focus would be on core services such as public safety, parks and recreation, libraries, land use and infrastructure.
Hartley-Nagle has come under scrutiny from her fellow council members in the past, and was under investigation for hostile work environment claims. As council president she has focused on uplifting the county’s senior population and attracting business development to the area.
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Val Gould pursues run for New Castle County Council president
Former policy analyst Val Gould, a New Jersey native and University of Delaware alum, announced intentions to run for county council president.
Gould currently teaches music at George Read Middle School. Before teaching, they worked as a legislative fellow for the State House Majority Caucus during the 2021 legislative session and as a policy analyst for the Delaware State Senate Majority Caucus during the 2023 legislative session.
Gould plans to run on the promises of advocating for sustainable development, creating more affordable housing and ensuring that land use decisions are designed to benefit historically neglected communities. If elected, Gould would be the County Council’s first queer and nonbinary member.
“I hope to make my family, friends, community, coworkers and neighbors proud by leveraging my privilege to encourage responsible development and positive, impactful change for those who need it most,” Gould said. “I truly believe that, if we strive to uplift everyone, our communities and businesses will thrive.”
Wilmington mayoral races take shape
Former city treasurer Velda Jones-Potter was the first to announce a run for Wilmington mayor in March 2023.
Jones-Potter unsuccessfully ran for the city seat in 2020, trailing incumbent Mayor Mike Purzycki by just over 1,000 votes in the
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Democratic Primary. Purzycki captured 42.9% of the total vote, compared to Jones-Potter’s 35.6%. Former City Councilmember Justen Wright also vied for the Democratic nomination, garnering 21.5% of the vote.
In October, Purzycki announced he would not seek a third term, citing his age and desire to spend more time with family. That opened the door for Delaware Gov. John Carney to consider a run for office.
Carney is unable to seek a third term as Delaware governor due to term limits. City mayor has a limit of three terms.
The governor has not said whether he’s officially running for Wilmington mayor, but year-end campaign finance reports show Carney’s mayoral campaign fundraising outpaced those of Jones-Potter.
The former city treasurer’s mayoral campaign touts a focus on making neighborhoods safer, empowering Wilmington residents and using city resources efficiently.
3 Democrats, Republican vying for Delaware governor
Three Democrats and a Republican are running in Delaware’s gubernatorial race.
Meyer, who has been county executive since 2016; Lt. Gov. Bethany HallLong, who has spent two decades in public office; and Collin O’Mara, a former Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary and current CEO of the nonprofit National Wildlife Federation, are all running on the Democratic line in September.
O’Mara was the first democrat to file his candidacy in the race for governor on March 13. Meyer filed two weeks later. Hall-Long has yet to file her candidacy, but, if elected, she would be the state’s second female governor, following Ruth Ann Minner, who served in the early 2000s.
Longtime police officer Jerrold Price is seeking the Republican nomination.
Price is a retired New York Police Department officer, who moved to Delaware’s coast about 20 years ago and resides in Lewes. According to his campaign website, he later joined the Rehoboth Beach Police Department and has an extensive career in law enforcement.
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Three spar for lieutenant governor
Three candidates familiar to Delaware politics are seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
State Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, who represents North Wilmington; state Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, who represents the city of Wilmington; and Debbie Harrington, a retired U. S. Army colonel and state Democratic Party vice-chair, are running for Delaware lieutenant governor.
Gay was elected to the legislature in 2020, when she flipped a Republicanheld seat. The senator worked as deputy attorney general in the Delaware Department of Justice before going into private practice. Her campaign video, which featured her two young daughters, focused on parenting.
The representative ran for the seat in 2016, coming second to now Lt. Gov. Hall-Long in the 2016 Democratic primary.
“As Lt. Gov. I will continue to be a boots-on-the-ground advocate for all Delaware citizens,” Dorsey Walker said in her announcement last year. “My decision to announce on Juneteenth is symbolic of the advancements made by people of color, women, and those who seek the freedom that comes with change for the advancement of all mankind.”
Harrington, a Middletown resident who served in the Army for 25 years, became an advocate for children with disabilities in her retirement. Her daughter is visually impaired.
Harrington has run unsuccessfully for other elected offices. She is a vice chair of the state Democratic Party, vice chair of the Middletown Police Advisory Board and part of Delaware State University’s Board of Trustees, according to her website.
Dorsey Walker or Harrington could become the state’s first Black woman to serve in the role if elected.
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Republican challenger enters U.S. Senate race
Wilmington resident and businessman Eric Hansen is the latest candidate for Delaware’s soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Hansen, who built his career at Proctor and Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Walmart, is seeking the Republican nomination for the post, which is being vacated by U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat, who has decided to retire.
Blunt Rochester, if elected, would become the first Black Delawarean and the first woman to represent The First State in the U.S. Senate – and possibly the fourth Black woman ever in the country’s history.
Blunt Rochester announced her intentions to run shortly after Carper announced his retirement plans in May last year. Carper publicly called on the congresswoman to run — admitting she probably should have done so years ago.
Dr. Mike Katz, an anesthesiologist and former Delaware state senator, has filed to run as an Independent in the U.S. Senate race. Katz, a former Democrat, created the Brandywine Valley National Scenic Byway Advisory Board, according to his campaign website, and helped restructure the Delaware Health Information Network.
Katz is running on a platform of dismantling partisan politics and what he calls “America’s two party problem.” If elected, Katz would be Delaware’s first Independent U.S. Senator.
With candidates on three different party lines, they all will face off in the general election Nov. 5.
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U.S. House race down to two Democrats, one Republican
The race for Delaware’s at-large U.S. House of Representatives seat has narrowed down to three contenders, with two Democrats vying for a spot on the general election ballot.
Republican Donyale Hall, a veteran, Dover resident and small business owner, is the sole Republican nominee running for the seat formerly held by Blunt Rochester, and is guaranteed a spot in the general election.
Hall, who is biracial, has run for political office before. She said she brings a “unique” perspective to the seat having served in the U.S. Air Force in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm; being a survivor of domestic violence; and overall understanding others who feel as though they have been forgotten or overlooked.
The Democratic Primary has narrowed to two contenders after state treasurer Colleen Davis withdrew from the race in February, citing personal and family health concerns. She has since endorsed state Sen. Sarah McBride, who will face former Delaware State Housing Authority Director Eugene Young in the primary.
Young has been viewed as a rising star in Delaware politics for years. If elected, he would be the first Black man to represent Delaware in Washington, D.C.
—If McBride — the country’s highest-ranking transgender elected official — were elected to the Congressional seat, she would become the first trans person elected to federal office, catapulting the already nationally known politician to an even bigger stage. She would also be the youngest elected official Delaware has sent to Washington since President Joe Biden’s U.S. Senate win in 1972.
The race got slightly less crowded in February when state Treasurer Colleen Davis, who had intentions to run for the U.S. House seat, dropped out of the race due to health issues and family obligations.
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First candidate enters Insurance Commissioner’s race
Kayode Abegunde, a member of New Castle County’s Financial Advisory Council, is the first candidate to officially file as a candidate in the insurance commissioner’s race.
Abegunde, a Democrat, previously lost in the primary to incumbent Trinidad Navarro, who has served in the role since 2016. The two will likely face off again in the primary, though Navarro has not yet filed his candidacy with the Department of Elections. In his announcement, Abegunde said would “bring more insurance products” to Delaware and provide more options to veterans.
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