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Delaware State Senate

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Delaware State Senate

Seal of Delaware.svg.png
General Information
Type:   Upper house
Term limits:   None
2013 session start:   January 8, 2013
Website:   Official Senate Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Patricia Blevins, (D)
Majority Leader:   David McBride, (D)
Minority leader:   F. Gary Simpson, (R)
Structure
Members:  21
   Democratic Party (13)
Republican Party (8)
Length of term:   4 years
Authority:   Art II, Section 1, Delaware Constitution
Salary:   $41,680/year + $7,334 expenses/year
Elections
Last Election:  November 6, 2012 (21 seats)
Next election:  November 4, 2014 (10 seats)
Redistricting:  Legislature controls redistricting
Meeting place:
Delawaresenatechamber.png

Contents

The Delaware State Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, which is the state legislature of Delaware. The Senate meets at the State Capitol in Dover. The senate includes 21 state senators who are elected from single-member districts to a four-year term.[1] (When re-districting occurs every ten years, some senators may instead be elected to two-year terms.) Delaware Senators are not subject to term limits. Each member represents an average of 42,759 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[2] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 37,314 residents.[3]

The Lieutenant Governor of Delaware serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote when doing so is required to break a tie. When the Lieutenant Governor is not present, the President Pro Tempore -- who is elected by the majority party -- presides over the Senate.

As of May 2013, Delaware is one of 12 Democratic state government trifectas.

Sessions

Article II of the Delaware Constitution establishes when the Delaware General Assembly, of which the Senate is a part, is to be in session. Section 4 of Article II states that the General Assembly is to convene on the second Tuesday of January of each calendar year, and it is not to extend beyond the last day of June.

Section 4 also allows the General Assembly to be convened into special session by the Governor of Delaware or by the mutual call of the presiding officers of both Houses.

2013

See also: Dates of 2013 state legislative sessions

In 2013, the Legislature will be in session from January 8 through June 30.

Major issues

Major issues for the 147th legislative session include gun control, gay marriage, and budgetary problems.[4]

2012

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

In 2012, the Senate was in session from January 10 through June 30.

Major issues

Legislators focused more on economic rather than social issues this session, including reforms to Medicaid and addressing the budget deficit.[5]

2010

In 2010, the Senate was in session from January 12th to June 30th.[6]

Elections

2012

Elections for the office of Delaware State Senate were held in Delaware on November 6, 2012. A total of 21 seats were up for election. Although Delaware senators typically serve four-year terms, they are elected to a two-year term during the first election of the decade. Thus, rather than only half of all senators being up for election, all sitting members will be on the ballot in November.

The signature filing deadline was February 6, 2012 and the primary date was February 7 2012.

The following table details the 10 districts with the smallest margin of victory in the November 6 general election.

2010

See also: Delaware State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Delaware State Senator were held in Delaware on November 2, 2010. Senate seats in ten of Delaware's 21 districts were up for election in 2010. These districts were: 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20.

The primary nomination process for candidates wishing to run in these elections was to gain the party's nomination at state conventions held by the state's two major political parties in May. Candidates wishing to run as independents could submit nominating signatures up through July 30. The primary election day was September 14, 2010.

The partisan breakdown of the Senate before and after the election was as follows:

Delaware State Senate
Party As of November 1, 2010 After the 2010 Election
     Democratic Party 15 14
     Republican Party 6 7
Total 21 21


In 2010, the total amount of contributions raised in senate campaigns was $643,813. The top 10 overall contributors were: [7]

Qualifications

Article II, Section 3 of the Delaware Constitution states: No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-seven years and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding the day of his election and the last year of that term an inhabitant of the Senatorial District in which he shall be chosen, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures
How Vacancies are filled in State Legislatures
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If there is a vacancy in the Senate, the Senate President must call for a special election. The election must be called for no later than 30 days after the vacancy happened. The Governor may make the declaration if the Senate is not in session. The date of the election must be set no later than 10 days after a declaration was made[8].

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Delaware

The Delaware General Assembly is responsible for redistricting.

2010 census

Delaware received its 2010 census data on March 1, 2011. The state population increased by over 115,000 (nearly 15%), topping 900,000 residents.[9] Significant population shifts threatened to radically alter state House and Senate districts. According to the Delaware Population Consortium, there was a large shift to the southern part of the state, with Sussex County growing by 25% while New Castle County only saw 7% growth.[10]

With a comfortable majority in the Senate, Democrats controlled the redistricting process, although Republicans did construct a counter-proposal to Democratic maps. The Senate map was approved on June 30, 2011 by a 15-6 vote. Two districts were merged in the northern part of the state in order to make room for a new southern district.[11][12]

Senators

Partisan composition

See also: Partisan composition of state senates

Senate Composition for the 146th General Assembly :

Party As of May 2013
     Democratic Party 14
     Republican Party 7
Total 21


The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Delaware State Senate from 1992-2013.
Partisan composition of the Delaware State Senate.PNG

Leadership

Current leadership

Current Leadership, Delaware State Senate
Office Representative Party
President of the Senate Matthew Denn Electiondot.png Democratic
President Pro Tempore of the Senate Patricia Blevins Electiondot.png Democratic
State Senate Majority Leader David McBride Electiondot.png Democratic
State Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry Electiondot.png Democratic
State Senate Minority Leader F. Gary Simpson Ends.png Republican
State Senate Minority Whip Gregory Lavelle Ends.png Republican

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

As of 2013, members of the Delaware legislature are paid $42,750 per year. Legislators are allowed a maximum of $7,334 in expenses annually.[13]

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Delaware legislators assume office the day after their election.

List of current members

Senators must be citizens of the United States, have lived in Delaware for three years and been a resident of their respective district for at least one year preceding their election and must be at least 27 years old by the time of their election.

District Representative Party
1 Harris McDowell Electiondot.png Democratic
2 Margaret Rose Henry Electiondot.png Democratic
3 Robert Marshall Electiondot.png Democratic
4 Gregory Lavelle Ends.png Republican
5 Catherine Cloutier Ends.png Republican
6 Ernesto B. Lopez Ends.png Republican
7 Patricia Blevins Electiondot.png Democratic
8 David Sokola Electiondot.png Democratic
9 Karen Peterson Electiondot.png Democratic
10 Bethany Hall-Long Electiondot.png Democratic
11 Bryan Townsend Electiondot.png Democratic
12 Nicole Poore Electiondot.png Democratic
13 David McBride Electiondot.png Democratic
14 Bruce Ennis Electiondot.png Democratic
15 David G. Lawson Ends.png Republican
16 Colin Bonini Ends.png Republican
17 Brian Bushweller Electiondot.png Democratic
18 F. Gary Simpson Ends.png Republican
19 Brian Pettyjohn Ends.png Republican
20 Gerald Hocker Ends.png Republican
21 Robert Venables Electiondot.png Democratic

Standing Senate Committees

See also: Joint committees, Delaware General Assembly

The Delaware Senate has 24 standing committees.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

Who Runs the States Project
See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Delaware
Partisan breakdown of the Delaware legislature from 1992-2013

In May 2013 Ballotpedia conducted a study of the partisan control of state government from 1992-2013. During all 22 years, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Delaware State Senate. The Delaware State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. During the final five years of the study, Delaware was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 544 Democratic and 517 Republican State Senates from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Delaware, the Delaware State Senate and the Delaware House of Representatives from 1992-2013. Partisan composition of Delaware state government(1992-2013).PNG

External links

References

  1. ↑ Term limits
  2. ↑ Population in 2010 of the American states
  3. ↑ Population in 2000 of the American states
  4. ↑ Beaumont Enterprise, "Budget, guns among issues facing Del. lawmakers," January 8, 2013
  5. ↑ Delaware First Media, "Legislators begin to form 2012 agenda," January 8, 2012
  6. ↑ 2010 session dates for Delaware legislature
  7. ↑ Follow the Money: "Delaware Senate 2010 Campaign Contributions"
  8. ↑ Delaware Legislature "Delaware Election Code"(Referenced Statutes § 7101 and § 7104, Delaware Code)
  9. ↑ Delaware Online, "Delaware grows 15 percent, tops 900,000," December 22, 2010
  10. ↑ Sussex Countian, "Redistricting looms in 2011 General Assembly session," January 12, 2011
  11. ↑ The Republic "Delaware lawmakers approve legislative redistricting plan for state House, Senate," June 30, 2011
  12. ↑ Delaware Online "General Assembly's pace picks up in late-night flurry," July 1, 2011
  13. ↑ NCSL.org, "2012 State Legislator Compensation and Per Diem Table," accessed March 18, 2013
v • d • e
Democrat majority Current members of the Delaware State Senate
Senate President: Matthew Denn (D) • Majority Leader: Patricia Blevins (D) • Minority Leader: Gary Simpson (R)
Democratic (13) • Republican (8) • Delaware State Senate • Delaware House of Representatives
v • d • e
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