Races to Watch: New Castle County State Senate primary pits Democratic incumbent against Gov. backed challenger
As part of our 2026 Election coverage, Delaware Public Media is highlighting a series of “Races to Watch” ahead of the September Primary.
The latest race we are featuring is in New Castle County.
The Democratic primary in 5th State Senate District was expected to be a competitive race between two candidates who are active members in the community, but it recently drew even greater attention when Gov. Matt Meyer endorsed the challenger over the incumbent.
Delaware Public Media’s Joe Irizarry takes a closer look at those candidates and the issues they’re focused on.
Candidate Conversations: Republican Candidate for U.S. House John Whalen
As part of its election coverage, Delaware Public Media is delivering a series of Candidate Conversations, in which candidates in statewide races are asked about the same set of topics to allow voters to get to now them and compare them.
On this special edition of The Green, we continue our look at the race for Delaware's lone U.S. House seat where 3 Republicans are vying to unseat the incumbent Democrat Sarah McBride.
We start with the third Republican in the race - John Whalen.
Whalen is a retired Delaware State Police trooper and former residential construction company owner.
He ran for Delaware's U.S. House two years ago, winning the GOP primary before losing to Sarah McBride in the General election.
Candidate Conversations: Democratic Candidate for U.S. House Sarah McBride
We continue Delaware Public Media’s series of Candidate Conversations highlighting the race for U.S. House with the Democrat in the race - Congresswoman Sarah McBride.
McBride won this seat two years ago, after serving in the Delaware State Senate from 2020 to 2024.
She does not have a Democratic primary opponent.
