Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is seeking a third full term.
Delaware voters headed to the polls on Tuesday to choose their nominees for U.S. Senate, House and a number of local races — the last primary contests of the 2026 midterm election cycle.
Delaware state law dictates that state and local primaries be held the second Tuesday after the first Monday in September in general election years, pushing the primary back into the third week of September this year.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who was first elected to the seat in 2010 to fill an opening when Joe Biden became vice president, sailed to victory on Tuesday, defeating three primary challengers, The Associated Press projected.
His challengers included former business executive Eric Hansen, who appeared on the ballot as "E. No-Trump Hansen."
Coons had raised more than $6.8 million for his reelection bid, compared to $150,000 for his closest primary challenger. The other two, including Hansen, have not reported any fundraising.
Former state lawmaker Mike Katz won the Republican primary to take on Coons, the AP projected.
Delaware is a solidly blue state, and Coons is expected to win easily in November. A Republican has not won a Delaware Senate seat since 1966, when the state elected J. Caleb Boggs to the upper chamber. Boggs was defeated six years later by a 29-year-old Biden, making him one of the youngest people ever elected to the Senate — nearly a half-century before Biden became one of the oldest people to serve as president.
Delaware's lone U.S. House member, incumbent Rep. Sarah McBride, is running for reelection and does not face any primary challengers. Democrats have held the seat since 2010.
Joe Arminio won the Republican primary to take on McBride in November, the AP projected, defeating McBride's 2024 general election opponent and an opponent from her 2024 Democratic primary who has switched parties.
McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, has become a lightning rod in Congress among Republicans in her first term. In November 2024, ahead of her arrival in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that all House members would have to use the restroom corresponding to their biological sex. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who introduced the ban, said it was aimed at McBride.
McBride issued a statement at the time saying it was intended to "distract from the real issues facing this country," but she said she would comply with the rules.
McBride told The New York Times last year that there have been "folks who are coming after me" in Congress, saying they "were trying to bait me into a fight to get attention, and I refused to be used as a political pawn."