1998 Delaware Senate election

1998 Delaware Senate election

← 1996 November 3, 1998 2000  →
10 out of 21 seats in the Delaware Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Thomas Sharp Steven Amick Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 7, 1997 Leader's seat 9th - Wilmington 10th - Newark Last election 12 9 Seats before 13 [a] 8 Seats after 13 8 Seat change Popular vote 34,557 38,597 Percentage 46.50% 51.93%
President pro tempore before election Thomas Sharp Democratic Elected President pro tempore Thomas Sharp Democratic

The 1998 Delaware Senate election was held on November 3, 1998, to determine which party would control the Delaware Senate for the following two years in the 140th Delaware General Assembly. Ten out of the 21 seats in the Delaware Senate were up for election and the primary was held on September 12, 1998. Prior to the election, 12 seats were held by Democrats and 9 seats were held by Republicans. The general election saw Democrats hold their majority in the State Senate. ^[1]

Results Summary

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
2	Margaret Rose Henry		Dem	Margaret Rose Henry		Dem
3	Robert Marshall		Dem	Robert Marshall		Dem
4	Richard Hauge		Rep	Dallas Winslow		Rep
6	Liane Sorenson		Rep	Liane Sorenson		Rep
10	Steven Amick		Rep	Steven Amick		Rep
11	Donna Reed		Rep	Tony DeLuca		Dem
16	Colin Bonini		Rep	Colin Bonini		Rep
17	John Still III		Rep	John Still III		Rep
18	Robert Voshell		Dem	Gary Simpson		Rep
21	Robert Venables Sr.		Dem	Robert Venables Sr.		Dem

Party		Candi- dates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Democratic	8	34,557	46.49%	13		61.90%
	Republican	8	38,597	51.93%	8		38.10%
	Constitution	1	1,171	1.58%	0		0.00%
Total		17	74,325	100%	21		100%

Popular vote

Republican			51.93%
Democratic			46.49%
Constitution			1.58%

Senate seats

Democratic			61.90%
Republican			38.10%

Retirements

1. Richard Hauge (R-District 4) retired, seat won by Dallas Winslow (R).
2. Robert Voshell (D-District 18) retired, seat won by Gary Simpson (R).

Defeated incumbents

1. Donna Reed (R-District 11) lost re-election to Tony DeLuca (D).

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 11, 3.84% (gain)
2. District 16, 5.18%
3. District 18, 6.26% (gain)

Detailed Results

District 2

Incumbent Republican turned Democrat Margaret Rose Henry has represented the 2nd district since 1994.

Delaware Senate 2nd district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Margaret Rose Henry (incumbent)	4,626	100%
Total votes			4,626	100%
	Democratic hold

District 3

Incumbent Democrat Robert Marshall has represented the 3rd district since 1979.

Delaware Senate 3rd district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Marshall (incumbent)	4,135	85.13%
	Republican	Wesley N. Smith	722	14.87%
Total votes			4,857	100%
	Democratic hold

District 4

Incumbent Republican Richard Hauge has represented the 4th district since 1989. Hauge didn't seek re-election and fellow Republican Dallas Winslow won the open seat.

Delaware Senate 4th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dallas Winslow	5,783	58.94%
	Democratic	Kenneth W. Turoczy	4,028	41.06%
Total votes			9,811	100%
	Republican hold

District 6

Incumbent Republican Liane Sorenson has represented the 6th district since 1995.

Delaware Senate 6th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Liane Sorenson (incumbent)	7,885	87.07%
	Constitution	Victoria Santoro	1,171	12.93%
Total votes			9,056	100%
	Republican hold

District 10

Incumbent Republican and Minority Leader Steven Amick has represented the 10th district since 1995.

Delaware Senate 10th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steven Amick (incumbent)	4,932	64.02%
	Democratic	Mark E. Amsler	2,772	35.98%
Total votes			7,704	100%
	Republican hold

District 11

Incumbent Republican Donna Reed has represented the 11th district since 1995. Reed lost re-election to Democrat Tony DeLuca.

Delaware Senate 11th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony DeLuca	3,413	51.92%
	Republican	Donna Reed (incumbent)	3,160	48.08%
Total votes			6,573	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 16

Incumbent Republican Colin Bonini has represented the 16th district since 1995.

Delaware Senate 16th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Colin Bonini (incumbent)	4,155	52.59%
	Democratic	Terry L. Pepper	3,745	47.41%
Total votes			7,900	100%
	Republican hold

District 17

Incumbent Republican John Still III has represented the 17th district since 1989.

Delaware Senate 17th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Still III (incumbent)	5,502	100%
Total votes			5,502	100%
	Republican hold

District 18

Incumbent Democrat Robert Voshell has represented the 18th district since 1993. Voshell didn't seek re-election and Republican Gary Simpson won the open seat.

Delaware Senate 18th district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Simpson	6,458	53.13%
	Democratic	Gary W. Downes	5,696	46.87%
Total votes			12,154	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 21

Incumbent Democrat Robert Venables Sr. has represented the 21st district since 1989.

Delaware Senate 21st district general election, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Venables Sr. (incumbent)	6,142	100%
Total votes			6,142	100%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "State of Delaware Department of Elections 1998 General Election". elections.delaware.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2025.

1. This figure includes Margaret Rose Henry who changed her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 1998.