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By Lilith Foster-Collins
News Reporter
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State Senator Sarah McBride could make history as the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress, with Delaware's Democratic primary to take place on Tuesday.
McBride is competing for the state's sole U.S. House seat, recently vacated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat left open by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper.
Voters in Delaware are set to decide the nominees for several political contests, including a closely watched campaign for governor and a potentially historic race for U.S. House.
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If McBride wins the primary and the seat, which has been held by Democrats since 2010. she will be the first openly transgender person elected to congress.
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McBride's path to victory appears relatively clear, facing only nominal opposition from businessmen Earl Cooper and Elias Weir.
Newcomers Cooper and Weir, who garnered less than 1% of the vote in a 2016 congressional primary, have not reported significant campaign fundraising.
McBride has amassed nearly $3 million in contributions from supporters across the country.
McBride first garnered national attention at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where she made history as the first openly transgender individual to address a major party convention in the U.S.
The Democratic primary winner will face off against one of two candidates in the Republican primary.
Donyale Hall is a Dover businesswoman and Gulf War-era U.S. Air Force veteran.
James Whalen III is a retired state police officer and construction company owner from Millsboro.
Meanwhile Blunt Rochester's potential Senate win in November could elevate her to one of only two Black women serving in the Senate next year, joining Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland if she also secures a victory in her campaign.
Also in the state, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long is hoping to overcome a campaign finance scandal and succeed Democratic Gov. John Carney, who can't run for governor again due to term limits.
Hall-Long has held public office since winning a state House seat in 2002 and has been endorsed by Carney and Delaware's Democrat Party establishment.
She is challenged by New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, who has raised substantially more money and has repeatedly drawn attention to Hall-Long's campaign finance violations.
Hall-Long's campaign finance scandal surfaced last September, when she abruptly postponed a campaign event with Carney, saying she needed to attend to "a personal, private matter."
Major discrepancies had been found in her campaign finances, leading to a series of resignations and prompting election officials to commission a forensic audit.
The audit found that Hall-Long and her husband had received payments totaling $33,000 more than what she purportedly loaned to her campaign over several years.
The audit also found that Hall-Long's husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana Long, wrote 112 checks to himself or to cash, totaling just under $300,000.
109 were never reported in initial finance reports, and the others were reported as being made to someone else.
Despite the violations, Delaware's attorney general and elections commissioner, both fellow Democrats, declined to seek criminal charges against Hall-Long.
Current governor Carney is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor of Wilmington, Delaware's largest city.
His opponent is Velda Jones-Potter, a former Wilmington city treasurer who lost a bid for mayor four years ago.
The winner of Tuesday's primary will face no opposition in November.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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