Delaware sees two U.S. House candidates this year, the fewest since 2014


The filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Delaware this year was July 12, 2022. Two candidates are running for Delaware’s At-Large U.S. House district, one Democrat and one Republican. 

The two candidates running this year are one fewer than the three who ran in 2020 and 2018, and five fewer than the seven who ran in 2016, when the seat was last open. Two candidates ran in 2014, and three did in 2012.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • Because it has only one U.S. House seat, Delaware did not need to redistrict after the 2020 census.
  • Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester (D), first elected in 2016, is running for re-election.
  • Lee Murphy (R) was the only Republican candidate who filed to run this year. 
  • Blunt Rochester and Murphy were the Democratic and Republican nominees in 2020, meaning this year’s general election will be a rematch. 
  • Since the two candidates are from different parties, there are no contested primaries this year. The Republican primary was contested in 2020, 2018, and 2012, while the Democratic primary was contested in 2016. There were no contested primaries in 2014. 

Delaware and two other states — New Hampshire and Rhode Island — are holding primary elections on September 13, 2022. In Delaware, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if he or she does not win an outright majority of votes cast.