Well, we find ourselves headed for another Delaware primary. What does this mean to me? A long time ago it was decided for the purpose of making things easy on the voter that the Department of Elections for Delaware would restrict the number of candidates on a ballot in the General Election down to one candidate per political Party. In order to make this happen each Representative District and each Senate District would have to have a pre-election election.  This is what we call the Primary.  Only parties who have more than one candidate can vote in the primary. 

The Primary elections are meant to reduce the size of the ballot.  For example, I live in state Senate district 14 and Representative district 28. I am only allowed to vote in the Primary if there is more than one candidate running for Senate district 14 in my party. I am only allowed to vote in the Primary if there is more than one candidate running for Representative district 28. During the Primary I am only allowed to only vote for my Party. This is different from the General Election where I can vote for any Party that I want to. This can be confusing but if you remember what the purpose of the Primary is this will make sense to you. 

On September 13, 2022 I will have to vote for one of the five candidates in Senate district 14. This means that five people decided to run against each other in my Party. As a voter it is my job to pick one candidate from these five. The candidate who wins the Primary will be added to the ballot for the General election on November the 8,2022.  The five candidates that I have to choose from are, “Michael “Tater” Hill-Shnaer, Kyra Hoffner, Kevin Musto, Sam Noel, and Robert Sebastiano”.  I will also have to vote for one of two candidates for the Auditor of Accounts in my Party. The candidates that I have to choose between are “Kathleen K. McGuiness and Lydia York”. 

There are no other candidates that will be on my ballot on September 13, 2022 for me. Representative district 28 has only one candidate for my party so there is no need to vote to eliminate the candidates. Bill Carson who is my current Representative for district 28 will automatically be placed on the ballot on November 8, 2022. 

The Department of Elections website has a sample ballot that you can view. This will help you make the determination of what you will need to do. Now there are some people who will not be able to participate on September 13, 2022.  because there is only one candidate running for that office. This year is particularly different because it is the midterm elections and every Representative district and Senate district must vote on November 8, to determine who will hold the office in 2022. 

If you live in the following Representative districts you do not have a Primary:  3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41.  If you are a Democrat and live in the following Representative districts you have a Primary:  1, 2, 6, 13, 18, 25, 26, 27, and 32.  If you are a Republican and living in the following Representative districts you have a Primary:  4 and 36. 

If you In the following Senate districts you do not have a Primary:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. if you are a Democrat and you live in the following Senate districts you have a Primary: 6 and 14.  if you are a republican and live in the following Senate district you have a primary: 16.  If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me.