2019 Delaware legislative session

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Delaware General Assembly

Seal of Delaware.svg.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 8, 2019
Session end:   June 30, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Bethany Hall-Long (D)
House Speaker:  Peter Schwartzkopf (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Nicole Poore (D)
House: Valerie Longhurst (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Gerald Hocker (R)
House: Daniel Short (R)
Structure
Members:  21 (Senate), 41 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art II, Section 1, Delaware Constitution
Salary:   $44,541/year
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Senate
House
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Senate
House
Redistricting:  Delaware Legislature has control

Delaware convened its legislative session on January 8, 2019, and legislators remained in session until June 30, 2019. No party had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session. Following the 2018 election, Democrats had a 12-9 majority in the Senate and a 26-15 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Neither party held a veto-proof supermajority in either chamber.
  • Delaware was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Delaware's governor was Democrat John Carney Jr..

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and |state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    Delaware was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Delaware was one of 28 state legislatures where no one party had a veto-proof supermajority. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Delaware State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.

    Delaware State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 12
         Republican Party 9
    Total 21

    From 1992 to 2018, the Delaware Senate was controlled by Democrats, often by significant margins. However, by 2016 the chamber had reached levels of competition between the parties not seen since the 1970s. The table below shows the partisan history of the Delaware Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Delaware State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 15 12 15 13 13 13 13 13 16 14 13 12 11 12
    Republicans 6 9 6 8 8 8 8 8 5 7 8 9 10 9

    From the 1920s through the 1950s, the Delaware Senate was competitive and it often switched partisan control. Starting in 1954, Democrats gained a strong majority in the chamber and did not lose it until the chamber split 9-9 between the parties in 1966. Republicans won control in the next three elections before losing to the Democrats in 1974, the year that marked the beginning of decades of Democratic dominance.

    In the years following 1974, Democrats usually held more than 13 seats, the margin needed for a three-fifths majority capable of overriding gubernatorial vetoes. They dropped below 13 seats first in 1980 and again after the 1994 election. After 1994, Democrats again gained a three-fifths majority. In 2008, Democrats won 16 seats and dropped the Republicans to five.

    In the years from 2008 to 2016, Democrats lost seats every election, eventually bringing their majority to 11-10 following the 2016 elections. Democrat Bethany Hall-Long resigned her seat in 2017 to become the state's lieutenant governor and left the chamber in a 10-10 tie. Democrats won the special election to fill Hall-Long's seat, restoring their 11-10 majority. In 2018, Democrats saw their first gain in the state Senate since 2008, controlling 12 seats to Republicans' 9 after the election. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Delaware House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 26
         Republican Party 15
    Total 41

    From 1992 to 2018, the Delaware House shifted from Republican to Democratic control, completing the transition during the 2008 elections. The state House was the last part of Delaware's government to move away from Republican control. The governor's office and the state Senate had both been under Democratic control since the early 1990s. The table below shows the partisan history of the Delaware House following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Delaware House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 18 14 18 15 15 12 15 18 24 26 27 25 25 26
    Republicans 23 27 23 26 26 29 26 23 17 15 14 16 16 15

    The Delaware House was competitive during the early 1900s. It flipped partisan control 10 times between 1912 and 1938. Republicans maintained control from the 1938 election until 1954. After that election, the chamber continued to alternate control, although not as frequently. From 1954 to 1984, control flipped six times and ended in a Republican advantage that would persist for another 24 years.

    From 1992 to 2008, Republicans maintained a consistent majority that usually controlled between 23 and 26 seats. Republicans lost three seats in 2006, bringing them to just a five-seat advantage. In 2008, Democrats gained six seats and won their first majority since 1982. The Democratic majority survived the presidency of Barack Obama (D), where Democrats lost 968 state legislative seats across the nation. Delaware's House Democrats gained two seats in 2010 and only lost two seats in 2014. From 2010 to 2018, their majority never dropped below a nine-seat advantage.

    Leadership in 2019

    Delaware State Senate

    Delaware House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Delaware state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 53 standing committees in Delaware's state government, including three joint legislative committees, 25 state Senate committees, and 25 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees


    Senate committees


    House committees


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Delaware.

    Delaware Party Control: 1992-2025
    Seventeen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    House R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

    See also

    Elections Delaware State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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