Delaware voters choose nominees in final 2026 primaries

Delaware voters cast ballots Tuesday in the final state primary elections before November’s midterms, choosing nominees for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and several state and local offices in a state where Democrats are favored to hold the top federal seats.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. ET and close at 8 p.m. ET. Delaware uses a closed primary system, meaning only registered Democrats may vote in Democratic primaries and only registered Republicans may vote in Republican primaries. Primaries are held only when more than one candidate from a party seeks the same office; unopposed candidates advance directly to the Nov. 3 general election.

The marquee race is the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, where Sen. Chris Coons is seeking another term. Coons was first elected in 2010 to fill the seat vacated when Joe Biden became vice president, and he faces three challengers: University of Delaware history professor Jeff Appelhans, naval architect Mary Louve and former business executive Eric Hansen.

Hansen, who was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024, is now running as a Democrat and will appear on the ballot as “E. No-Trump Hansen.”

Coons is widely expected to win the primary. He has raised more than $6.8 million for his reelection campaign, compared with $150,000 for his closest primary challenger, CBS News reported. The other two challengers, including Hansen, have not reported fundraising, according to CBS.

On the Republican side, former state Sen. Michael Katz and U.S. Army Reserve Col. John Shulli are competing for the nomination to face Coons in November. The race is not expected to be among the most competitive Senate contests nationally. Delaware has shifted heavily Democratic since the 1990s, and its federal seats are expected to remain in Democratic hands.

Accounts differ on the last Republican U.S. Senate victory in the state: CBS News reported that no Republican has won a Delaware Senate seat since J. Caleb Boggs in 1966, while Al Jazeera reported that Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate seat in Delaware since 1994. CBS noted that Boggs was defeated six years after his 1966 win by Biden, then 29, making Biden one of the youngest people ever elected to the Senate.

In the U.S. House race, Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride is unopposed in her primary as she seeks a second term as Delaware’s sole House member. McBride is the first out transgender member of Congress, and Democrats have held the seat since 2010.

Three Republicans are running for the chance to challenge her in November: Joseph Arminio, Earl Cooper and John Whalen III. Cooper previously ran against McBride in the 2024 Democratic primary before switching parties, CBS reported. Whalen was her Republican opponent in the 2024 general election.

McBride became a focus of Republican criticism before she took office. In November 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that House members would have to use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who introduced the ban, said it was aimed at McBride. McBride said at the time the move was meant to “distract from the real issues facing this country,” but said she would comply with the rules.

McBride later told The New York Times that “folks who are coming after me” in Congress “were trying to bait me into a fight to get attention, and I refused to be used as a political pawn.”

Voters also are choosing nominees for the state legislature and an open state treasurer seat. Delaware’s Democratic attorney general is seeking reelection, according to Al Jazeera.

As of Sept. 1, Delaware had about 808,000 registered voters, including about 331,000 Democrats and about 199,000 Republicans.