Dover, Delaware
| Dover, Delaware | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Dover
Robin Christiansen | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 9 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 37,523 |
| Race: | White 43.1% African American 46.5% Asian 2.6% Native American 1.0% Pacific Islander 0.0% Two or more 4.8% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 7.7% |
| Median household income: | $47,669 |
| High school graduation rate: | 87.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 26.3% |
| Related Dover offices | |
| Delaware Congressional Delegation Delaware State Legislature Delaware state executive offices | |
Dover is a city in Kent County, Delaware. The city's population was 39,403 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Dover utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[1]
Mayor
The mayor of Dover is the executive and chief elected official of the city. The mayor is responsible for the Dover Police Department, is in charge of appointing the chief of police, serves as an ex-officio member of all committees, and represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1][2] The current Mayor of Dover is Robin Christiansen (nonpartisan). Christiansen assumed office in 2014.
City manager
The city manager of Dover serves as the chief administrative officer of the city. The city manager leads all departments that do not directly report to the city council or the mayor, coordinates city government activities, responds to citizens' inquiries, monitors Capital Investment Projects, and prepares the annual budget.[3]
City council
The Dover City Council is the city's primary legislative body. The city council is in charge of appointing the city manager, tax assessor, city clerk, city treasurer, city solicitor, fire marshal, building inspector, and city planner. The city council also enacts public policy, supervises city administration, and oversees citizen boards and commissions.[1][3]
The city council is made up of nine members elected to four-year terms. Eight members are elected from the city's four council districts, and the ninth is elected at large.[1]
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Dover, Delaware.
Mayoral partisanship
- See also: Partisanship in United States municipal elections (2025)
Dover has a mayor who identifies as nonpartisan or unaffiliated. As of March 2025, the mayors of 35 state capitals are affiliated with the Democratic Party, seven are Republicans, one is independent, and two are nonpartisan. The partisan affiliation of five state capital mayors is unknown. While most mayoral elections in state capital cities are nonpartisan, most officeholders are affiliated with a political party.
Elections
2025
- See also: City elections in Dover, Delaware (2025)
The city of Dover, Delaware, is holding general elections for city council on April 15, 2025. The filing deadline for this election was January 31, 2025.
2023
The city of Dover, Delaware, held general elections for mayor and city council on April 18, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was January 31, 2023.
2021
- See also: City elections in Dover, Delaware (2021)
The city of Dover, Delaware, held general elections for city council on April 20, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was February 12, 2021.
Dover also held a special general election for Dover City Council District 1 on November 16, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was November 1, 2021.[4]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Dover | |
|---|---|
| Dover | |
| Population | 39,403 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 23 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 37.3% |
| Black/African American | 45.2% |
| Asian | 2.8% |
| Native American | 0.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% |
| Two or more | 10.5% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.3% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 90.4% |
| College graduation rate | 27.1% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $58,336 |
| Persons below poverty level | 17.5% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from July 1 to June 30. The city manager presents a proposed budget to the city council. In the proposed budget, proposed expenditures cannot exceed the expected income for the year. The city council is in charge of adopting the budget.[2]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[5]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[6] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[7] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 City of Dover, "Type of Government," accessed October 15, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 City of Dover, "2022-2023 Draft Annual Operating Budget," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbudgetdraft - ↑ City of Dover, "Nominating Information November 16, 2021 Special First (1st) District Municipal Election," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
