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United States Senate election in Delaware, 2026 (September 15 Republican primary)

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U.S. Senate, Delaware
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: July 14, 2026
Primary: September 15, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Delaware

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
U.S. Senate, Delaware
U.S. Senate • At-large
Delaware elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Republican Party primary takes place on September 15, 2026, in Delaware to determine which Republican candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
July 14, 2026
September 15, 2026
November 3, 2026


Heading into the election, the incumbent is Chris Coons (Democrat), who was first elected in 2010.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Delaware utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for election, and another two seats are up for special election. Democrats hold 13 of the seats up for election, and Republicans hold 22. As of January 2026, nine members of the U.S. Senate announced they are not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. Senate elections taking place this year, click here.

This page focuses on Delaware's United States Senate Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Delaware

Michael Katz and John Shulli are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Delaware on September 15, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Michael Katz
Michael Katz
Image of John Shulli
John Shulli Candidate Connection

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

John Shulli

Image of John Shulli

WebsiteFacebookXYouTube

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "A native of Delaware, Colonel John Shulli has dedicated over 28 years to defending American interests abroad and leading soldiers at home. Commissioned in 1997, his career has spanned the globe—from the tank ranges of South Korea to high-level diplomatic talks in Geneva—culminating in his current role shaping the future of national defense as a Faculty Instructor at the U.S. Army War College. John began his service as a Tank Platoon Leader and Executive Officer in South Korea. Following 9/11, he answered the call to duty, deploying to Germany and later serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom as a battle staff planner. His operational experience is matched by his strategic acumen; during a pivotal joint assignment at the U.S. European Command, he served as a Country Desk Officer for the UK, Ireland, Greece, and Malta. His expertise in the region led to his role as Chief of Operations for the Russia Strategy Initiative (RSI), where he supported efforts including the 2016 U.S.-Russia Syrian Cessation of Hostilities talks in Geneva. John’s career is defined by his ability to bridge military command with complex civilian policy. He commanded the 2-349th Battalion, and later the 649th Brigade in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In his civilian capacity, John established himself as a leader in defense technology and policy. He retired from Federal Civil Service in Sept 2025, having served at the Pentgon's AI office as Policy Analyst."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Protect our sovereignty and security by finish Making America Great Again and launching an American Renaissance to dominate artificial intelligence to bring about unparalleled prosperity and discovery and a rebirth of American pride and identity... and I want Delaware, the First State, to lead it

Build an economy worthy of a superpower and power it with cheap reliable energy and sound money. Do this by building Renaissance Engines - composed of small modular nuclear reactors, powering world-class AI research centers, supported by Delaware’s unmatched corporate law and guided by our great universities. These engines will create tens of thousands of great-paying Delaware jobs, delivering breakthroughs in energy, medicine, and materials, and turn our state into the knowledge factory of the 21st century.

Educate our youth to master the arts and understand the physics of the universe, to ensure they command the machines—not the other way around. The old industrial model of schools, training kids to memorize facts that machines now do better, is a recipe for obsolescence. It’s like training kids to beat a calculator. Instead, we return to a classical foundation—grammar, logic, rhetoric, great books, and deep study of the physical world—so our kids learn how to ask the big questions AI can’t answer.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Delaware

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Michael Katz Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
John Shulli Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Delaware in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Delaware, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Delaware U.S. Senate Ballot-qualified party N/A $10,440 7/14/2026 Source
Delaware U.S. Senate Unaffiliated 1% of all eligible voters N/A 9/1/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Del. Code Online, "§ 3110. Qualifications of voters," accessed October 28, 2025


Delaware's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)
Chris Coons (D)
Representatives
Democratic Party (3)


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