This week, Republicans unveiled their ‘2026 Contract with Delaware Voters’

DOVER, Del. — State Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford, and Delaware Republicans are pitching voters on a 10-bill platform ahead of November’s general election. It promises no state tax on overtime or tips, help for first-time homebuyers, deferred property taxes for seniors, and new rules on school sports and civics education.

Richardson unveiled the “2026 Contract with Delaware Voters” Tuesday at an event at the Delaware State Police Museum in Dover. It is modeled on the 1994 “Republican Contract with America,” the national platform U.S. House Republicans released weeks before the 1994 midterm elections, when they won control of the U.S. House for the first time in 40 years.

Delaware Republican Party Chairman Gene Truono said the Contract is important for the people of the state. “Like the Contract with America in the 1990s, the Contract with Delaware will help drive bipartisan conservative policy for generations to come,” Truono told Delaware LIVE.

What’s in the ‘2026 Contract with Delaware Voters’

The 10 bills fall into three categories:  Affordability Acts, Good Governance and Our Youth. Below are summaries of each. Click here to read the full “2026 Contract with Delaware Voters.”

1.) Affordability Acts:  Creates a tax-advantaged savings account for a first-time home down payment; lets homeowners 65 and older defer property taxes until the home is sold; eliminates state income taxes on overtime pay and tips.

2.) Good Governance:  Ensures police presence to prioritize neighborhood safety and keep repeat offenders off the streets; adds “informed choice” requirements for abortion; returns local control over issues such as right-to-work ordinances and offshore wind siting.

3.) Our Youth:  Requires student athletes to compete in sports matching their biological sex; requires students to learn what it’s like to live under communism, totalitarianism, and other political ideologies, alongside the principles of freedom, democracy, and individual liberty; creates Education Empowerment Accounts for tutoring, special education services, and instruction at public or private schools.

Why Republicans say their bills get stuck

Richardson’s central argument is that many of these ideas never get a vote. In Delaware, a bill needs signatures from a majority of a committee’s members before the full Senate or House can vote on it. Democrats hold 15 of 21 Senate seats and 27 of 41 House seats, and they control every committee.

His Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act is one example. Richardson has introduced a version in each of the last three General Assemblies, most recently as Senate Bill 215 in January, and none has been released from committee. The bill would have schools label each team boys’, girls’ or coed based on students’ sex as recorded at or near birth, while letting girls play on a boys’ team when no girls’ team exists.

Richardson says it protects fairness and privacy for female athletes; opponents have argued such bills discriminate against transgender students. Richardson said keeping it in committee lets lawmakers avoid taking a public stand.

Richardson says the “deeper problem” is that “when one side holds the votes to pass anything it wants, it no longer has to listen to the voices of those who disagree.” That’s a line from his self-published booklet, “Citizen’s Guide to Delaware Public Policy,” which he had available on a table at the event and told attendees to take.

“Eleven Republican senators could make a huge difference,” Richardson told supporters. “We would be the heads of the committee. We would get things out of committee for a full vote on the Senate floor.”

What it would take for Republicans to win a majority

Richardson acknowledged the climb is steep. With supermajorities in both chambers, Democrats can pass certain measures, like tax increases, without a single Republican vote.

To take the majority, Republicans need five more Senate seats and seven more House seats. Only 11 Senate seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot. Republicans hold three of them and have candidates in six of the eight held by Democrats, according to the Delaware Department of Elections’ candidate list, so a Senate majority would mean winning most of those races outright.

Two of those Republican candidates were at the event: Brent Burdge, running in the 5th Senate District, and Chris Rowe, running in the 7th. Rowe said voter education should extend to candidates themselves: “We just started electing people to office that don’t know the Constitution.”

State Rep. Lyndon Yearick, R-Magnolia, thanked Richardson: “You’re the tip of the spear, but it’s gonna take everybody.”

Sen. Dave Lawson, R-Marydel, who is not seeking reelection, closed with a direct appeal to the room: “Delaware needs this. Every one of you has a Facebook, and has friends. If you’re not handing this out, you’re not helping your grandchildren.”

Vilayvanh “Vil” Ramunno is a contributing journalist with DelawareLIVE and a Delaware-based policy writer and researcher, specializing in translating complex legislative and economic issues into plain English residents can understand and relate to. She founded and developed “Dover Dash” on CivicDelaware.com, a free legislative bill tracker that matches Delaware General Assembly bills to the specific personas they affect, such as homeowners, renters, and small-business owners. She is a recurring on-air guest on WDEL’s The Rick Jensen Show, discussing pending legislation. You can email her at [email protected].