The delaware delegation

congressional officials …

Former President Joe Biden’s home state congressional delegation is small.

Of the three members, one is male, and two are female with minority representation at that from U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester and first openly transgender House member Sarah McBride. One of the two Senators is a lawyer; the other two delegation members come from the political and business worlds.

Only Senator Rochester earned a degree from a Delaware university.

The average tenure for the delegation currently is only 1.3 terms, assuming everyone completes their service through the end of 2026.

When you look at these profiles, we have given each a letter grade for their effort this Congress, based on various factors, which you will find in What Is Thomas Looking For? These letter grades are probably pretty familiar to you if you have ever been a school student (we hope the answer to that is we all have!)

If you see a meager score for a particular member, it will probably be due to one or two key factors: ethics challenges or anti-democratic behavior.

• Republicans have been hit hard on their lack of push back on former and now current President Trump and their support of election denying in the 2020 presidential campaign. The unanswered soaring deficit on their watch, the dismantling of allied relationships around the globe, and opposition to funding anti-authoritarian initiatives. The denial of climate change weighs heavily on us as well. We make no secret that transparency and Government in the Sunshine are important to us, and we further argue that some have been awful stewards of this category. None of the Delaware delegation members voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on the same evening as Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

• Democrats have been hit hard for their lack of progress on key matters because they do control the United States Senate and have a razor-close margin in the U.S. House of Representatives. They have not been, in our opinion, innovative or necessarily insistent on finding rational, reasonable solutions to the problems plaguing the American public today. We want to see more and better.

• Both have been dinged for being too partisan and not collaborative where evident. In our opinion, being too doctrinaire or an obstructionist to good government in the 21st century does not get one a good grade from Thomas.

We also indicate what we believe might be the outcome of these Members’ 2026 elections today. One of the two United States Senators’ term is expiring.

Our prospect ratings fall into three categories:

• Safe Bet - which means what it means. These members of Congress are running strong and look to be overwhelming prospects for re-election at this time. However, we reserve the right to re-categorize their chances if necessary.

• It’s A Race - means this race is too close to call, and we can not reasonably predict who will win this seat.

• Nudging - means the seat is leaning one way or another for this candidate. We have just a small number of current members of Congress in this category. Stay tuned!

So, would you like to meet these fascinating Delawareans? If so, keep reading on!

What is Thomas looking for?

There are no vulnerable races in Delaware for Thomas to watch in 2026.

the senators

United states senator chris coons (D)

Delaware’s senior senator is serving in his second full term in the U.S. Senate after first being elected in a special election in 2010.  A former New Castle County Executive, Senator Coons serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Foreign Affairs Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee; and is the ranking member on the Select Committee on Ethics.  A graduate of Amherst College with a Master’s and a law degree from Yale University, Coons is married and the father of three.

Thomas Take: Up For Re-Election in 2026

Thomas Rank: A

Website

the representatives