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2026 Delaware Elections: Data & Analysis

Who's running, which races are contested, and what the primary alone will decide, all sourced directly from Delaware's own official filing records.

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Methodology

All figures come directly from the Delaware Department of Elections' candidate filing records, last updated September 13, 2026 (data scraped Friday, September 11). "Contested" means more than one person from the same party is running for the same seat; "Incumbent" means someone already holding the office. Figures cover all of Delaware government, not just statewide races, including county offices like Sheriff and Recorder of Deeds.

Who's Running: Party Breakdown

60%
(D)
38%
(R)
2% (I)
Democratic: 105
Republican: 66
Ind. Party of DE: 4

Note: Of 175 total candidates running this cycle across every office: 105 are Democratic, 66 are Republican, and 4 are with the Independent Party of Delaware.

Primary Races: Contested vs. Uncontested

Contested
35
Uncontested
89

Note: Of 124 distinct party primaries: of the 35 contested races, 28 are Democratic primaries and 7 are Republican primaries.

How Many Races Will the Primary Decide Outright?

Decided by the primary
34
Decided in November
43

Note: Of 77 distinct races where at least one Democrat or Republican filed as a candidate, regardless of whether that race is contested: in the 34 single-party races, whoever wins September's primary effectively wins the seat, since the other party doesn't have a candidate on the ballot in November. Of those 34, 22 are Democratic-only and 12 are Republican-only. Within those 34, 26 candidates are completely unopposed, no primary fight either, while the other 8 do face a primary contest.

Nearly Every Incumbent Is Being Challenged

18 of 19
incumbents face a primary challenge

Note: 18 of the 19 sitting officeholders who filed to run again face a primary opponent. One, Brandon Toole (New Castle County Council, District 1), is running completely unopposed, with no primary or general election challenger. Delaware's own filing data didn't flag Toole as an incumbent, an apparent gap in their records rather than ours; his current officeholder status is independently confirmed on New Castle County's own government site.