Delaware State Senate elections, 2026

2026 Delaware Senate Elections
Primary	Pending
General	November 3, 2026

2026 Elections
Choose a chamber below:

Elections for the Delaware State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The Delaware State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party	As of March 2025
	Democratic Party	15
	Republican Party	6
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total	21

Candidates

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

This list will be updated after the candidate filing deadline has passed and the official list of candidates becomes available. Please contact us if you notice an official candidate missing from the list or the inclusion of a candidate who withdrew.

Primary

General election

Voting information

See also: Voting in Delaware

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Delaware. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Delaware

See statutes: Title 15 of the Delaware Code

Major party candidates

A major party candidate may be nominated in one of two ways: by filing a notice of candidacy or by being nominated at convention.^[1]

Filing a notice of candidacy

To be nominated at the primary election, a major party candidate must file by this method. The candidate must first file a notice of candidacy. If filing for a statewide office, the candidate must file this form with the chair of the state committee of his or her party. If seeking district office, the candidate must file this form with the chair of the county committee of his or her party. The notice of candidacy must include the signature, printed name, and address of the candidate. A candidate must be a registered member of the party he or she is seeking to represent in the election.^[2][3]

A major party candidate must file a copy of the original notice of candidacy with the state election commissioner and pay the party filing fee by noon on the second Tuesday in July. Filing fees are determined by the political parties but cannot be greater than 1 percent of the total salary for the entire term of the office being sought by the candidate.^[3][4][5][6]

A candidate may file an in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition if he or she is considered indigent by the state. To be considered indigent by the state, the candidate must be receiving benefits under the Supplemental Security Income Program for Aged, Blind, and Disabled, or the state election commissioner must determine that the candidate meets the income and resources test to receive such benefits. In order to determine indigent status, the candidate must provide copies of his or her income tax returns and must authorize the state election commissioner to receive any other information that might be needed from banks, credit reporting services, etc.^[5]

The in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition must be signed by a number of registered voters equal to 1 percent of all registered voters in the election district(s) in which the candidate will appear on the ballot. These petitions cannot be circulated until after January 1 of the year of the election in which the candidate is running.^[5]

Nomination at a party convention

A major party candidate may be nominated at a state convention only for offices for which no candidate has filed or for offices for which minor party candidates have been selected. A candidate nominated at a convention must be registered with the party he or she seeks to represent at the time of the convention. Conventions to nominate such candidates must be held before August 1 of the year of the election. If any candidates are nominated by convention, the presiding officer and secretary of the convention must submit a certificate of nomination to the state election commissioner by September 1 in the year of the election. If September 1 falls on a weekend or holiday, this certificate must be filed by the next business day.^[1][7]

Minor party candidates

Minor party candidates are selected by conventions. To be nominated at a convention, a candidate must be a registered member of the minor party. These nominating conventions must be held on or before August 1 in the year of the election. For a candidate for statewide office, the party must file a nominating resolution with the state election commissioner by 4:30 p.m. on August 15 in the year of the election. For a candidate for a district office, the party must file a nominating resolution with the appropriate local election official by 4:30 p.m. on August 15 in the year of the election. A nominating resolution must contain the candidate's name and address and the office for which he or she was nominated. Certificates of nomination for each candidate must be filed by September 1 in the year of the election.^[7]

Unaffiliated candidates

Unaffiliated candidates petition to gain access to the general election ballot. An unaffiliated candidate must collect signatures equal to 1 percent of all eligible voters as of December 31 of the year prior to the election. The petition can be circulated between January 1 and July 15 of the election year and must be filed with the department of elections in each county in which the petition was circulated. An unaffiliated candidate must also file a sworn declaration stating that he or she has not been affiliated with any political party for at least three months prior to filing as an unaffiliated candidate. This form is filed with the state election commissioner.^[8]

Write-in candidates

Write-in candidates are only permitted to run in general or special elections. To have his or her votes counted, a write-in candidate must file a declaration form. If running for statewide office, the candidate must file this form with the state election commissioner. If running for a district office, the form must be filed with the appropriate local department of elections.^[9][10]

A candidate cannot run as a write-in if he or she has already been placed on the general election ballot. Additionally, a candidate cannot run as a write-in if he or she withdrew as a candidate in the same election year.^[10]

Residency requirements

A candidate for elective office must provide the state election commissioner with proof of residency. Proof of residency must show that the candidate lives in the district or area that the candidate seeks to represent.^[11]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article II, Section 3 of the Delaware Constitution states: No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-seven years and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding the day of his election and the last year of that term an inhabitant of the Senatorial District in which he shall be chosen, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024[12]
Salary	Per diem
$50,678/year	No per diem is paid.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Delaware legislators assume office the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November (the day after election day).^[13][14]

Delaware political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Delaware Party Control: 1992-2025
Seventeen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Presidential politics in Delaware

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024

2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020

2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016

Delaware presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 16 Democratic wins
• 16 Republican wins

Redistricting following the 2020 census

On November 2, 2021, Gov. John Carney (D) signed Senate Bill 199 into law, enacting the state's new House and Senate district lines.^[15] The Delaware General Assembly previously approved the final House and Senate map proposals on November 1, 2021.^[16] The Delaware House of Representatives voted 40-1 in favor of the maps with state Rep. Michael Smith (R) voting against it. The Delaware State Senate approved the maps along party lines with all 14 Democrats in favor and all seven Republicans against.^[16] These maps took effect for Delaware's 2022 legislative elections.

See also

Delaware	State Legislative Elections	News and Analysis
Delaware State Executive Offices Delaware State Legislature Delaware Courts	2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 Delaware elections: 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015	Party control of state government State government trifectas Partisan composition of state legislatures Partisan composition of state senates Partisan composition of state houses

External links

• Delaware State Senate

Footnotes