Dem
52
Ties
2
GOP
46
The first regular primaries of this cycle took place on March 3. The last will take place tomorrow, That's a total of 196 days, and the actual elections haven't even happened yet. One of the reasons that people in Europe, Asia and Canada think Americans are insane. In any case, let's take a look at the races in Delaware, such as they are:
Statewide Offices: There is no gubernatorial election in Delaware this year. Gov. Matt Meyer (D) was elected in 2024, and his term runs until 2028. However, the state will elect several other statewide officers this year—attorney general, treasurer, and auditor. We don't know exactly why the statewide offices are staggered like that; most states do them all at once.
Anyhow, AG Kathy Jennings (D) is running for a third term. This race actually has (slight) national implications, as she is facing a viable challenger in Dwayne J. Bensing, legal director for the state ACLU. Bensing is running on a two-pronged platform: (1) It's time for new blood (he's 42; she's 73) and (2) Jennings has not done enough to push back against Donald Trump. The winner of that matchup will presumably win in the general. There's only one Republican running; his name is David Graham and he filed (after the deadline) when nobody else did. He's also not an attorney.
Meanwhile, State Treasurer Colleen Davis (D) is retiring. The Democratic primary has had more drama than you would expect from the fourth-highest-ranking office in a small state. Marine Corps vet and financial analyst Ted Lauzen (D) has only been a member of the blue team for a couple of years; he was an independent and then a Republican before that. He's in the moderate lane, as you might imagine. Michael A. Smith, who founded a green energy nonprofit, is running in the progressive lane (well, more like the progressive lite lane). Normally, there is a few hundred thousand dollars spending in a race for state treasurer, a figure that includes both parties, and both the primary and the general. This year, spending on the Democratic primary alone has exceeded $1 million. Thanks to Citizens United, it's unclear where a lot of the money is coming from, but the ostensibly eco-friendly Smith appears to be the preferred candidate of AI interests. The Republican nomination is locked and loaded; the GOP will run former state House Minority Leader Mike Ramone, who will try to become the first Republican in 12 years to win election statewide.
State Auditor Lydia York (D) is running for reelection, no Democrat filed to run against her tomorrow. There is also only one Republican in the race (April Callaway) and one independent (Austin Cassidy). Neither of the latter two has a campaign website, a Wikipedia page, or any other online presence. York would seem to have a glide path to reelection.
U.S. Senate: Sen. Chris Coons (D) began his Senate career by defeating the wacky witch Christine O'Donnell (R) in 2010, and has won two more full terms since that special election. He wants a third full term, and will face off against three challengers. Jeff Appelhans is a teacher who is running to Coons' left. Eric No-Trump Hansen is a perennial candidate who ran for Delaware's other Senate seat in 2024... as a Republican. He changed his middle name before this election, so as to better market himself. Mary Louve has served in the Navy and Marines, and is running as a centrist. Coons has raised $6,897,138. Between them, the other three candidates have raised $1,468. Wonder who is going to win?
On the Republican side, Michael Katz is a former state Senator, who was a Democrat at that time (10 years ago). He ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, for U.S. Senate as an independent in 2024, and now he's decided he's a Republican. Asked about the seeming opportunism, he insists that his principles haven't changed, the parties have, and he just registers with whatever party now fits with his values. Because, as we all know, "Obama-era Democratic platform" and "present-day MAGA platform" are virtually indistinguishable.
Katz' primary opponent is U.S. Army veteran Col. John Shulli (ret.), who is an actual Republican. In fact, he is a very MAGA Republican who has been endorsed by Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani, who seem to spend most of their time these days making endorsements. There has been no polling of this primary that we can find, and we have no idea who will win. We tend to assume that Delaware Republicans are largely moderate. If so, one candidate would seem to be too lefty for their tastes, and the other would seem to be too righty for their tastes. Hard choice.
DE-AL: We've avoided mentioning the PVI of Delaware thus far, but it's D+8. This probably explains why no Republican has won statewide there in a long time. And since there is only one House district in the state, that necessarily means that DE-AL is also D+8. Rep. Sarah McBride (D) is certainly in a position to be a "show horse," if she really wants, but instead has been a "work horse" focused on constituent services. She is running for a second term.
There are three Republicans who would like to challenge McBride. The first is minister and entrepreneur Earl Cooper who, in a theme that seems to run through these primaries, used to be a Democrat. He has not explained what motivated the switch, but his platform is 100% Democratic (fewer prisons, more education, help for seniors, support for labor, etc.). Joseph Arminio is an academic who is running on a budget hawk platform. John Whalen III is a former police officer who ran for this seat 2 years ago and got crushed, losing by 16 points. He is the most MAGA of the three Republicans, particularly on border issues. That said, he's not full-bore MAGA; he wants to support Ukraine and he wants limits on aid to Israel. As with the Senate race, we have no idea who will win the Republican primary, but we have a pretty good idea of who will win the general election.
We will, of course, have a rundown of the results on Wednesday. (Z)