And The Winner Is

Chris Coons won the Delaware Senate election on Nov. 3, 2026, retaining the Class II seat he has held since 2010. Coons entered the general election with a receipts advantage of more than 40-to-1 over Republican Michael Katz. ​

The Delaware Department of Elections showed Coons leading Katz by 102,429 votes, with Coons at 240,084 votes and Katz at 137,655.

Coons won the Democratic primary on Sept. 15, taking 68,154 votes out of 87,392 cast, or 78.0%, according to the race record. Three challengers ran against him in the Democratic primary: Jeff Appelhans received 10.6%, Mary Louve 7.5%, and Eric No-Trump Anthony Hansen 3.9%.

On the Republican side, Katz won the primary with 77.3% of the vote, defeating John Shulli, who received 22.7%.

Money

Coons reported $7,685,072 in total receipts against Katz's $190,416, a ratio of more than 40 to 1, as of Oct. 14, 2026, per Federal Election Commission filings. Coons also held $5,031,711 in cash on hand compared with Katz's $16,085.

Outside spending broke entirely in one direction:

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  • three committees reported independent expenditures supporting Coons, a Democratic candidate: AB PAC, the National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee, and Sierra Club Independent Action.
  • Independent expenditures supporting Coons total $11,569, with another $231,764.19 in pending notices, and no independent expenditures opposing Coons or supporting Katz have been reported.

The Incumbent's Record

Coons has served in the Senate since 2010, a span of about 16 years as of 2026.

His committee assignments, per the U.S. Senate, cover Appropriations, Foreign Relations, the Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Select Committee on Ethics:

  • Senate Appropriations Committee, including subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Department of Defense (ranking member); Energy and Water Development; Financial Services and General Government; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including subcommittees on Africa and Global Health Policy; East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy (ranking member); Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy; and State Department and United States Agency for International Development Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development.
  • Senate Judiciary Committee, including subcommittees on Border Security and Immigration; Crime and Counterterrorism; Intellectual Property; and Privacy, Technology, and the Law.
  • Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
  • Select Committee on Ethics, where he serves as vice chairman.

In the 119th Congress, Congress.gov lists Coons as the sponsor of S.5308, the Afghanistan Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Act of 2026.

Pre-Election Indicators

At an Oct. 22 forum, Katz said Delaware had become "unaffordable and is dying" during Coons's 16 years in office, citing rising energy costs and education problems, according to WHYY News. Coons, at the same forum, urged voters not to "take a risk on an untested candidate."

WHYY also reported that Katz alleged a "powerful elite" was behind hacks of his campaign communications and threats to staff; Katz declined to identify whom he blamed, and the claim was not a direct accusation against Coons.

Cook Political Report rated the race Solid Democratic as of Feb. 11; Inside Elections rated it Solid Democrat for the 2026 cycle, with no update date stated on its page; and AllCiv's consensus rating stood at Solid Democratic as of Nov. 3.

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