Delaware election 2026: Meet the 3 Democrats fighting to unseat Chris Coons in the U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, is seeking his fourth term in Congress.

Coons faces three Democratic challengers in Delaware’s 2026 primary  — artificial intelligence systems builder Jeff Appelhans, small business owner Mary Louve and business executive Eric No-Trump Hansen.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary will face the winner of the Republican primary — either commercial real estate agent and former health care executive Mike Katz and military veteran John Shulli — in the general election on Nov. 3.

What’s at stake in Delaware’s U.S. Senate race

What does a U.S. senator do?

Each of the 50 states has two U.S. senators, who serve six-year terms.

Senators write laws and vote on bills, including budget bills. They sit on committees that consider pieces of legislation and hold hearings. They also approve the president’s nominations for cabinet members, federal judges and U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

What will it take to win?

Despite pushback from the more liberal wing of his party, Coons is in a good position to emerge victorious from this year’s crowded field. He won his last primary race in 2020 with nearly 73% of the vote against progressive challenger Jessica Scarane. He’s also viewed as easily winning reelection in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024 by 8 percentage points.

What to know about incumbent U.S. Sen. Chris Coons?

Coons is 62 years old and grew up in Hockessin. He lives in Wilmington with his wife and adult children.

He earned a law degree from Yale Law School and a master’s degree in ethics from Yale Divinity School.

What is Coons’ political experience?

Before being elected to the Senate, Coons served as New Castle County Council president for four years and was the county executive for six years.

Coons won a special election in 2010 to replace U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman, who was appointed to temporarily fill the seat when retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Biden assumed the office of vice president.

The senator serves on Senate Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees. He is the vice chair of the Ethics Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee.

Coons said he is the best candidate for this position because of his record fighting President Donald Trump’s administration.

“I’m proud to have helped remove the far-right U.S. Attorney here in Delaware, fought Trump’s plan to pay Jan. 6 insurrectionists, and released the Epstein Files,” he said.

What are Chris Coons’ top priorities?

The senator said his top priorities are making sure Delawareans have opportunity, security and justice through raising wages, protecting residents from threats abroad and at home and rooting out corruption in Washington, D.C.

“If reelected, I’ll keep standing up to Trump and delivering for Delaware,” he said.

Where has Chris Coons drawn criticism?

Coons has faced criticism primarily from the progressive side of the Democratic Party. He has drawn backlash from that wing for his staunch support of Israel in its war in Gaza.

The left has also faulted Coons for his centrist legislative style, working to build consensus with Republicans and cautioning members of his party not to embrace far-left positions like Medicare for All.

Who has endorsed Chris Coons?

Endorsements include Delaware U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, Gov. Matt Meyer, the Delaware Democratic Party, the Delaware State Education Association, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council and the Human Rights Campaign.

What to know about challenger Jeff Appelhans

Appelhans is a historian and builder of AI systems who lives in Newark. He holds a doctorate in history from the University of Delaware. He also has a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Colorado.

He taught in a Colorado school district from 2001 to 2010 before moving to Delaware, where he was a University of Delaware teaching assistant and then professor from 2010 to 2019. Since then, he has worked as a fellow for the American Philosophical Society.

What are Jeff Appelhans’ top priorities?

Appelhans said his background in history and experience using AI tools makes him the best person for the U.S. Senate seat because he knows how to regulate AI before private companies dictate the rules.

“The agents are built; now citizens must decide whom they serve,” he said. “Require worker voice, human appeal, authorship protection, transparent power and water burdens, host-community terms, and a public return.”

Appelhans’ top priorities are ending America’s support of Israel’s war in  Gaza, treating AI as a constitutional problem and restoring digital privacy.

“Government should not evade the Fourth Amendment by buying location, camera, health, or other intimate data from Flock Safety or a broker,” he said. “Require warrants, limits, deletion, disclosure, and a human route to challenge automated decisions.”

Who has endorsed Appelhans?

He is not listing endorsements at this time.

What to know about challenger E. No-Trump Hansen?

No-Trump Hansen is businessman Eric Hansen.

Hansen said he changed his legal name to E. No-Trump Hansen as a show of commitment to oppose what he calls President Trump’s overreach.

“Trump has said he’ll go after his critics by any means available,” Hansen said. “He will go after me, but I’m willing to bear that risk anyway — because the alternative is letting things get worse for Delawareans.”

This is Hansen’s second time running for U.S. Senate in Delaware. Hansen ran as a Republican in 2024, and lost to the current U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester.

He earned an MBA from Yale School of Management, and he has spent the bulk of his career as an executive at Walmart.

What are E. No-Trump Hansen’s top priorities?

Hansen said he is the best person to serve as U.S. senator because he knows how to lower prices for consumers. His top priorities include lowering prices and the cost of living, protecting workers from AI-driven job loss and ending executive overreach and corruption.

He said he is not accepting money from political action committees or super PACs.

“Furthermore, I have signed a term-limit pledge committing to no more than two terms in the Senate,” he said. “This guarantees I remain true to my values without outside influence.”

Who has endorsed Hansen?

Hansen is not seeking political endorsements of his campaign.

Who is challenger Mary Louve?

Louve is a small businesswoman who works as a naval architect. She said she has spent most of the past decade working in regulatory compliance and project management, as well as the defense and maritime industries.

She has a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of New Orleans and a certificate in project management from Penn State University.

She said she was the best person to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate because of her strong problem-solving skills and experience making ends meet as a mother of three kids.

“Delaware needs someone who understands what it means to build something, raise a family, run a business, solve complex problems, and fight when the system isn’t working,” she said.

What are Mary Louve’s top priorities?

Louve’s top priorities concern cost of living, affordability, rebuilding the economy through good-paying jobs and protecting families and children from abuse.

“I am a survivor of domestic violence, and I have personally experienced the challenges of navigating the family court and child-protection systems while fighting to keep my own children safe,” she said. “That experience has given me a firsthand understanding of where these systems can fail families.”

Who has endorsed Louve?

No endorsements to list at this time.