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First State voters cast primary ballots Thursday

Delaware Public Media

Thursday is Primary Day in Delaware.

Typically, midterm elections see lower voter turnout than Presidential election years,though this year could be a bit different.

There are contested U.S. Senate primaries on both sides of the ballot.

The Democratic contest between incumbent Sen. Tom Carper and progressive activist Kerri Harris is drawing national attention as Harris seeks to become the latest progressive to pull off a primary upset.

On the GOP side, Sussex County Councilman Rob Arlett and former financial services executive Gene Truono  are part of a three way primary.

Democratic voters will also have four candidates to choose from in a primary for state Attorney General and will settle a three-way primary for State Auditor.

The past four midterm primaries have see about 9 percent turnout among Democrats and 17 percent among Republicans

This year's primary is also a bit unusual, coming on a Thursday rather than a Tuesday. State law puts the primary on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in September.  That would have been Sept. 11 - next Tuesday - but two years ago, legislators voted to move it to Thursday, Sept. 6 because Rosh Hashanah is Sept 10 and Sept. 11 marks the end of that Jewish holiday.

Polls for today's primary will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you need information on where to cast your ballot, visit the state's Ivote website.

And Delaware Public Media will have live coverage and analysis is the results come in Thursday night, starting at 8pm when the polls close.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.
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