As the General Assembly hurtles toward the end of its
session on June 30, the legislators know they will be
saying good-bye to some of their colleagues because of
retirement, but they also are wondering who else will
not be back.
Up and down the state, the legislative elections are
taking shape. The Republicans have more to be nervous
about than the Democrats.
In the Senate, where the Democrats have a 13-8
majority, the best the Republicans can hope for is
holding on to what they have, particularly because two
Republican senators are retiring from districts where
the Democrats have a registration advantage.
In the House of Representatives, a shift of two seats
would cost the Republicans their 22-19 majority. Control
of the chamber is in desperate dispute, an objective
probably secondary only to electing a governor.
Here are the key races.
| Office |
Democrat |
Republican |
Registration |
Rundown |
| 4th Senate |
|
Rich Abbott John Clatworthy
Michael Fleming |
Voters: 30,989
Dem:
34%
Rep:
42%
Other: 24% |
With Minority Leader Charlie Copeland
running for lieutenant governor, the Chateau
Country seat is
open but so Republican, the Democrats are
ignoring it. The Republicans have no clear
favorite in a three-way primary |
| 6th Senate |
John Mackenzie Mike Terranova |
Liane Sorenson |
Voters: 21,379
Dem:
38%
Rep:
35%
Other: 27% |
Democratic infighting is a gift that keeps
on giving to Sorenson, the minority whip with 14
years in the Newark-Hockessin district |
| 10th Senate |
Bethany Hall-Long |
|
Voters: 31,380
Dem:
44%
Rep:
32%
Other: 24% |
Hall-Long's interest in moving from the
House to this Newark-Middletown seat nudged
Republican Steve Amick into retirement.
Republicans plan on a serious candidate, too |
| 16th Senate |
Harold Stafford |
Colin Bonini |
Voters: 28,491
Dem:
38%
Rep:
37%
Other: 25% |
Bonini is defending a
Dover-Harrington district from Stafford, an
ex-secretary of labor, as the registration
creeps more Democratic |
| 17th Senate |
Brian Bushweller |
Jim Hutchison |
Voters: 27,891
Dem:
45%
Rep:
30%
Other: 25% |
With Republican John Still retiring, the
Dover-Camden-Wyoming district is the scene of a
premier showdown between Bushweller, a onetime
public safety secretary, and "Hutch," an
ex-mayor of Dover |
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| 4th House |
Gerald Brady |
Tyler Nixon |
Voters: 15,779
Dem:
46%
Rep:
30%
Other: 24% |
Republicans are following conventional
politics by going after Brady in his rookie
term, but the Wilmington district is too
Democratic and Brady too well-known from his
time on the City Council to be threatened |
| 7th House |
Bryon Short |
Jim Bowers |
Voters: 14,819
Dem:
38%
Rep:
39%
Other: 23% |
Republicans were stunned to lose this
Brandywine Hundred seat in a 2007 special
election between the same candidates. The
rematch will be a slugfest |
| 8th House |
Quinn Johnson |
|
Voters: 18,095
Dem:
46%
Rep:
30%
Other: 24% |
The Middletown-Townsend district being
vacated by Hall-Long was drawn to favor the
Democrats, and they are positioned to keep it |
| 9th House |
Rebecca Walker |
Dick Cathcart |
Voters: 17,914
Dem:
42%
Rep:
34%
Other: 24% |
A rematch of a 2006 race that Cathcart won
by fewer than 600 votes, it keeps the Republican
majority leader pinned at home in lower New
Castle County |
| 10th House |
Dennis Williams |
Bob Valihura |
Voters: 15,877
Dem:
41%
Rep:
36%
Other: 23% |
With the once-Republican registration
shrinking in this Brandywine Hundred district,
Valihura draws a challenger who ran for the
Congress and should not be confused with the
Wilmington representative of the same name |
| 18th House |
Mike Barbieri |
Terry Spence |
Voters: 12,356
Dem:
51%
Rep:
25%
Other: 24% |
For a House speaker, Spence sits uneasily in
a Christiana-Stanton district that gave him only
a 600-vote victory over Barbieri in 2006 and has
a 2-1 Democratic registration |
| 27th House |
Earl Jaques |
Vince Lofink |
Voters: 13,769
Dem:
45%
Rep:
31%
Other: 24% |
Lofink eked out a win to keep his
Bear-Glasgow seat from Jaques in 2006. Since
then, Lofink's son was involved in a scheme to
bilk the state, and whether the voters hold it
against the father is the $1.2 million question |
| 29th House |
Trey Paradee |
Pam Thornburg |
Voters: 15,564
Dem:
40%
Rep:
35%
Other: 25% |
The Kent County Democrats are so energized,
they even are going after someone they let run
unopposed in 2006 |
| 31st House |
Darryl Scott |
Nancy Wagner |
Voters: 12,281
Dem:
46%
Rep:
30%
Other: 24% |
Democrats were surprised in 2006 when a weak
candidate came within 500 votes of Wagner in the
Dover district, so this time they mean business,
ready to jump on the Wagners' wife-and-husband
jobs on the public payroll |
| 32nd House |
Brad Bennett |
Donna Stone |
Voters: 11,194
Dem:
44%
Rep:
30%
Other: 26% |
Stone is president of the National
Conference of State Legislatures, but locally
the Democrats see her as a Republican in a Dover
district they should have. Bennett is a top-tier
challenger for a seat his father once held |
| 33rd House |
Bob Walls |
Jack Peterman |
Voters: 14,774
Dem:
38%
Rep:
37%
Other: 25% |
Peterman, a former Levy Court member, was
the loser in a 2006 primary that helped to cost
the Republicans the Milford-Magnolia seat. Party
unity may be coming too late to beat Walls with
a term to his credit |
| 37th House |
Helen Truitt |
Joe Booth |
Voters: 13,155
Dem:
38%
Rep:
38%
Other: 22% |
Booth was unopposed in 2006 in the
Georgetown-Lewes district, but the registration
has slipped Democratic by 19 voters, so why not
take him on? |
| 41st House |
John Atkins |
Greg Hastings |
Voters: 14,790
Dem:
42%
Rep:
38%
Other: 20% |
Atkins, who resigned in 2007 over rowdy
conduct, is asking voters in the Millsboro area
district to see him as a new man in a new party
and give him another chance in office |
