DOVER, Del. (AP) — Voters in Delaware are expected to vote on the candidates for several political competitionsincluding a closely watched gubernatorial race and a potentially historic race for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Contest for the Democratic governor’s nomination The decisive race in Tuesday’s primary election is the battle between the lieutenant governor of Delaware and the head of the state’s most populous county.
The Democrats also vote in a U.S. House of Representatives, where the favored candidate, if elected, first openly transgender person in Congress. The only Democratic candidate for a vacant U.S. Senate seat joins another groundbreaking race in November that could make her one of only two Black women in the Senate next year.
Meanwhile, Democratic Governor John Carney hopes to continue his long career in politics by winning his party’s nomination for mayor of Wilmington.
The polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Here’s a closer look at these key races:
Democratic primary for the US House of Representatives
A victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary would bring state Sen. Sarah McBride one step closer to her goal of becoming the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress. Delaware’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is being vacated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who has no primary opponent and is seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper, who has held the seat since 2001.
McBride faces only token opponents in the primary: businessmen Earl Cooper and Elias Weir, neither of whom reported raising money for their campaigns. Cooper is a political newcomer, while Weir finished last in the 2016 congressional primary with less than 1% of the vote. McBride has now raised nearly $3 million in donations from across the country.
McBride gained national recognition at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention in the United States.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face either Donyale Hall, a Dover businesswoman and Gulf War-era U.S. Air Force veteran, or James Whalen IIII, a retired Millsboro police officer and contractor, who are facing each other in the Republican primary. Democrats have held the seat since 2010.
With a victory in November, Blunt Rochester could become one of only two black women in the Senate next year, joining Angela Alsobrooks of neighboring Maryland if she too is victorious in her campaign.
Democratic gubernatorial primary
Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long, who has held public office since winning the House in 2002, is hoping to overcome a campaign finance scandal and replace Carney, who cannot run for governor again because of term limits. Hall-Long is backed by Carney and the Delaware Democratic Party establishment.
But the two-term lieutenant governor faces a tough challenge in the primary from New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, who has raised far more money and has repeatedly pointed out Hall-Long’s campaign finance violations. Former state environmental secretary Collin O’Mara is also seeking the Democratic nomination but has been overshadowed by the other two candidates.
Hall-Long’s campaign finance scandal came to light last September when she abruptly postponed a campaign event with Carney, claiming she had to take care of “a personal, private matter.”
What you should know about the 2024 election
In reality, her campaign was in disarray after the people hired to run it discovered major discrepancies while reviewing years of financial reports. The scandal led to a series of resignations among the campaign’s top staff and prompted election officials to commission a forensic audit. The audit found that Hall-Long and her husband had received payments totaling $33,000 more than she allegedly loaned her campaign over several years — with many of the loans never initially reported.
Additionally, Hall-Long’s husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana Long, was found to have written 112 checks to himself or cash. The checks totaled just under $300,000 and should have been reported as expenses. Instead, 109 checks were never mentioned in the initial financial reports, and the other four, payable to Dana Long, were reported as being made out to someone else.
Despite the violations, Delaware’s attorney general and election commissioner, both Democratic Party members, declined to bring charges against Hall-Long.
Democratic primary for mayor of Wilmington
Carney is barred by law from running for a third term as governor, but he wants to continue serving in public office as a government leader and is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor of Wilmington, Delaware’s largest city.
His opponent is Velda Jones-Potter, a former Wilmington city treasurer who lost the mayoral election four years ago. Potter served as Delaware’s state treasurer for two years after her 2008 appointment, but lost election to a four-year term as treasurer in 2010.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face no opposition in November. Carney has said that as mayor he will build on the investments his gubernatorial administration made in Wilmington, focusing on improving public schools, expanding affordable housing and supporting small businesses.
