Delaware General Election Brings a Few Changes to the General Assembly & Sussex County Council
With nearly all the districts reporting there will be a few changes in Delaware, but it was a night for incumbents. Looking at statewide races, Senator Chris Coons and Representative McBride will return to Washington. In State offices Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Auditor Lydia York return to Dover. The State Treasurer’s office was won by Democrat Ted Lauzen over Republican Michael Ramone – after Democrat Kathleen Davis announced that she would retire at the end of her term.
In the Delaware State Senate there were no changes of party by the winners. Two seats – Districts 5 and 8 – that were vacated by Democrats were won by Democratic candidates and the one Republican held seat in District 15 – will remain with a newly elected Emily Thompson.
The State House, Delaware Republicans lost two seats and a third – District 34 will likely see a recount as only 150 votes separate Democrat Annie Norman and incumbent Republican Lyndon Yearick. According to Delaware’s recount laws, “For state legislative and county offices, a recount occurs automatically if the margin of victory is less than 1000 votes or 0.5% of all votes cast for the two candidates – whichever is less.” Republicans held on to three downstate seats in Districts 33, 38 and 41 which saw the current Representatives set to retire at the end of the term. However the District 4 seat currently held by Republican Dr. Jeff Hilovsky, was won by Democrat Gregg Lindner. The other seat that turned blue is in District 9.
Several Sussex County Row Office seats were unopposed – but the two County Council seats up for election will bring a change on the Council. In District 4, Council President Doug Hudson won 55.5% of the vote over Democrat Justine Cuccia. In District 5 Democrat challenger Jill Hicks has a 552 vote lead over Council Vice President John Rieley.
In Kent County, long-time Recorder of Deeds, Republican Eugenia Thornton was beaten by Democrat Ramona Bracy. In the only other contested race in Kent County row offices, Democrat Terry Pepper retains his at-large seat on the Kent County Levy Court.
At 1:15am – there are two districts that have not yet reported – and the absentee ballots have not all been tallied. According to the Department of Elections website “County absentee ballot tabulation statuses are updated manually. They are separate from election district reporting and do not mean all ballots are counted or that results are official or certified.” The absentee ballots were last reviewed at 8:15 pm in each county.
