One race came down to seven votes. Six sitting lawmakers lost their seats. Here’s what actually happened.

DOVER, Del. —Four voters. That’s all it would have taken to flip the closest race in Delaware’s 2026 primary. Morgan Hudson beat Matt Bucher by seven votes, 1,017 to 1,010, for the Republican nomination in State House District 33, an open Kent County seat. That’s a tighter margin than New Castle County Council District 4, which was decided by 28 votes.

The bigger surprise is what happened to incumbents. Twenty-one Delaware incumbents drew a primary challenger this cycle. Six of them lost.

Five of those six losses have something in common: the challenger in each race was backed by the Delaware Working Families Party, a political group that describes itself as working to build power for the working class in Delaware by electing candidates and pushing progressive policy.

• Shay Frisby defeated Sen. Ray Seigfried.
• Michelle Booker defeated Rep. Stephanie Bolden.
• Branden Fletcher-Dominguez defeated Rep. Josue Ortega.
• Pamela Salaam defeated Rep. Franklin Cooke Jr.
• Tyeisha Grier defeated Rep. William Carson Jr.

Five different districts, five different incumbents, the same group backing the winner each time, all in one night.

The Working Families Party endorsed 13 candidates this cycle. Eight won. Five of those winners beat a sitting incumbent, the five races listed above. Two more winners ran in open seats: Rachel Krantz in House District 6 and Kira Alejandro in New Castle County Council District 3. The eighth winner, Rep. Sherae’a Moore in House District 8, was already the incumbent, defending a seat she already held.

One more incumbent lost that night, and it had nothing to do with the Working Families Party. It was the New Castle County Recorder of Deeds, the office that keeps the county’s property records. That loss shows the anti-incumbent mood wasn’t limited to one group’s list of targets.

Most primaries weren’t close. But the ones that were came down to a small number of voters deciding who represents tens of thousands of people for the next two years. Turnout was low this cycle, which is part of why. The full breakdown, race by race, is in the table below.

Delaware’s primary election was Sept. 15, 2026. Results below are unofficial until certified.

2026 Delaware primary: unofficial results at a glance

Turnout

Voters who cast a ballot
128,598 of 593,286 (21.7%)

Democratic primary votes cast
391,116

Republican primary votes cast
87,033

Closest races

Top 3 closest races
• Morgan Hudson beat Matt Bucher, 7 votes, House District 33
• Jason Hoover beat Helena Creamer, 28 votes, NCC Council District 4
• Sen. Dan Cruce beat Adriana Bohm, 146 votes, Senate District 1

Races decided by fewer than 5 points
6 of 33 contested races

Races decided by 50-plus points
5 of 33 contested races

Incumbents who lost (6 of 21 who ran)

Beaten by a WFP-endorsed challenger (5)
• Sen. Ray Seigfried
• Rep. Stephanie Bolden
• Rep. Josue Ortega
• Rep. Franklin Cooke Jr.
• Rep. William Carson Jr.

Lost, not a WFP race (1)
• Recorder of Deeds Michael Kozikowski Sr., beaten by David Tackett

No November race: already won (8 races, one party only)

State Senate & House
• Jack Walsh, Senate District 9
• Michelle H. Booker, House District 2
• Dave Redlawsk, House District 23
• Tyeisha “Tye” Grier, House District 28
• Kerri Evelyn Harris, House District 32

New Castle County
• Jason Hoover, Council District 4
• Valerie George, Council District 5
• David Tackett, Recorder of Deeds

(Source: Delaware Department of Elections. Results are unofficial until certified.)

(Correction [Sept. 16, 2026]: An earlier version of this article and table said 20 incumbents faced a primary this cycle. The correct total is 21. The affected figure have been updated. Also, updated table and added New Castle County’s three candidates to “no Nov. race.”)