Delaware Primary Looms As Key Battleground In Upcoming Statewide Elections‌ ‌

With 67 days remaining until the general election on November 5, Delaware is set to hold its statewide primary on September 10. Other states may also have primary elections scheduled before the general election.

Various ballot measures are awaiting certification before being included on the general election ballot. These measures cover a range of important issues and will be of interest to voters.

Four other states are also set to hold their primaries. Massachusetts will host its primaries on Sept. 3. The elections will cover various positions including U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state Senate, state House, governor’s council, and more.

Delaware’s primaries will include governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state Senate, state House, and more. The Democratic gubernatorial primary is expected to be a closely contested battle.

New Hampshire is set to hold its primaries on Sept. 10, with positions including governor, U.S. House, state Senate, state House, and more. The Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District is anticipated to be a tightly fought contest.

Rhode Island’s primaries will cover the U.S. Senate, state Senate, state House, and more. However, there are no contested primaries for the U.S. House in the state.

Louisiana’s statewide primary will be held Nov. 5, coinciding with the federal general election.

All ballot measure signature deadlines for the November election have passed. In Colorado, state officials have until Sept. 4 to verify signatures for pending ballot measures. In Nebraska, officials have until Sept. 13.

As of Aug. 28, 157 statewide ballot measures have been certified in 41 states. This matches the average of 157 statewide measures on the ballot in even-numbered years from 2012 to 2022.

Six additional measures may be added if election officials certify one pending measure from Arkansas, two from Colorado, and three from Nebraska. 

Voters will cast the first general election ballots in September. Election officials in North Carolina will begin mailing ballots to voters on Sept. 6. Early (or in-person absentee) voting begins on Sept. 20 in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Virginia. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act requires ballots to be mailed to military and overseas citizens by Sept. 21.

The first voter registration deadlines for the Nov. 5 election are coming up at the beginning of October, with 17 states having registration deadlines in the first two weeks of the month. The first absentee ballot request deadline is Oct. 15 in Rhode Island. 

These elections are very important as they influence the outcome at the national level. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats currently have a majority. There are 46 Democrats, 49 Republicans, four independents, and one vacancy.

Three independents caucus with the Democratic Party. Another independent, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, counts toward the Democratic majority for committee purposes. Thirty-four of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Of the seats up for election in 2024, Democrats hold 18, Republicans hold 11, independents hold four, and one is vacant.

In the U.S. House, Republicans currently have a 220-211 majority with four vacancies. Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester currently represents Delaware’s At-Large Congressional District. Delaware is one of six states with an at-large House district. The other five are Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

At the U.S. Senate, both the Democratic and Republican primaries were canceled after Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) and Eric Hansen (R) were the only candidates to file for their respective primaries. Michael Katz (independent) is also running in the general election. 

Five candidates are running for Delaware’s At-Large Congressional District, including three Democrats and two Republicans.

In Delaware this year, there are five candidates running for office, which is the highest number since 2016, when there were seven candidates. The At-Large District in Delaware is open this year because Rochester is running for the U.S. Senate.

The district was last open in 2016, making this a rare occurrence in the last 10 years. Additionally, both the Democratic and Republican primaries are contested this year, which is a unique situation, as it’s the only year in the last 10 years in which both primaries were contested.

There are three state executive offices up for election this year: governor, lieutenant governor, and insurance commissioner. Both major party gubernatorial primaries are contested, while the Democratic primaries for both the lieutenant governor and insurance commissioner races are contested. The Republican primaries were uncontested and canceled for those two offices. 

Ballotpedia identified the Democratic gubernatorial primary as a battleground election. 

Bethany Hall-Long (D), Matt Meyer (D), and Collin O’Mara (D) are running in the primary. Spotlight Delaware‘s Karl Baker wrote that the trio’s campaign funds “far surpass past fundraising totals in gubernatorial races at the same stage of the campaign, except those from the 2008 contest—the last time Democrats held a competitive primary for governor.” 

Hall-Long was elected lieutenant governor in 2016. Governor John Carney (D), who is term-limited, endorsed Hall-Long. 

“I’m proud of my record of innovative ideas like leveraging public-private partnerships to help students in need through the Basic Needs Closet, creating the Behavioral Health Consortium, and managing Delaware’s robust pandemic recovery, and I’m ready to lead on day one,” said Hall-Long.

Meyer, who served as New Castle county executive, said, “As the only candidate in this race who has managed a government, we’ve delivered one of the only property tax reductions in Delaware history while also delivering real results for hard-working families. I know we can deliver at the state level, too.”

O’Mara, the state’s former secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said, “I’m running for governor to offer an ambitious agenda and provide a progressive alternative on the ballot for Democrats. Being the First State can’t just be our history, it has to be our future.”

Democrats have a 15-6 majority in the state Senate. Ten of 21 districts are up for election this year and all 10 have incumbents running for re-election. Only one of those has an incumbent facing a primary challenger: Sen. David Wilson (R-18). The 6th Senate District race is the only one in which the incumbent has a general election opponent.

This year’s lack of general election competition is notable if we compare it to previous years where only 10 of 21 districts were up for election. For example, in both 2014 and 2018, eight out of 10 districts were contested in the general election.

The last time a Republican won the 6th Senate District was in 2018. The incumbent, Russ Huxtable (D), defeated Stephen Smyk (R) 51.5%-47.5% in 2022. Huxtable will face Kimberly Hoey Stevenson (R) in the general election.  

Democrats have a 26-15 majority in the state House. All 41 districts are up for election this year. 

An open primary is a type of primary election where voters do not have to formally affiliate with a political party in advance to participate in that party’s primary. Voters can choose which primary they would like to participate in on the day of the primary. In some states, a voter’s decision to participate in a given party’s primary may be considered as affiliating with that party.

Other types of primaries include closed primaries (14 states and Washington, D.C.), semi-closed primaries (15 states), and top-two primaries or some variation thereof (five states). 

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