New Castle County state representative primary results: Speaker of the House upset

First-time candidate Kamela T. Smith upset Speaker of the House Valerie Longhurst on Tuesday in a Democratic primary race for House District 15 in Bear.

It was one of five Democratic primary races for state House seats that New Castle County voters were asked to decide Tuesday. Two of the races had incumbents, like Longhurst, defending their seats and three were open seats.

The races were for seats representing areas in Wilmington, Brandywine Hundred, Pike Creek, Glasgow and Bear. There were no contested Republican House races in New Castle County.

"It feels really good," Smith said. "I want to take some time to feel it."

Voter turnout was consistently slow. Signs and workers representing state house representative candidates were not as common or visible as candidates for Wilmington, New Castle County and governor races. Voters trickled in and out of polling places in Wilmington and Glasgow, and numbers began to taper off as the sun went down around 7 p.m.

The race to represent House District 3, serving parts of downtown Wilmington, was settled last week by a technicality.

The withdrawal of Branden Fletcher Dominguez because of a Delaware Department of Justice investigation into the validity of his listed address to the state Department of Elections on Sept. 5 led to Josue O. Ortega winning by forfeit.

Votes for Ortega or Dominguez will not be tallied or reported, according to a sign displayed at the check-in counter of the polling place in Woodlawn Library. Ortega has no listed opponent in November's general election. The seat was held by Sherry Dorsey Walker before she decided to run for lieutenant governor.

Why Dominguez withdrew: State representative candidate drops campaign amid documentation issues, DOJ investigation

Voter turnout was more than 22%, which is an increase from 2022, when it was 16%.

Here are the final, unofficial results:

House District 2 - downtown Wilmington

Stephanie Bolden fended off challenger James Taylor with 65% of the vote to earn the Democratic nomination for the downtown Wilmington House district.

It was a rematch from 2022, where Bolden won with around 25% more votes than Taylor.

Results:

Stephanie T. Bolden: 1,376, 64.60%

James Taylor: 754, 35.40%

House District 10 - Brandywine Hundred

This district, representing Brandywine Hundred, had three candidates looking to replace Sean Matthews, who has served in the state House since 2014.

Melanie Ross Levin blew out both Stephen Jankovic and Dennis Williams by receiving 68% of the vote in a three-way race.

Levin will face off against Republican Brett Burdge in November's general election.

Results:

Melanie Ross Levin: 1,839, 68.47%

Dennis E. Williams: 650, 24.20%

Stephen Jankovic: 197, 7.33%

House District 15 - Bear

Kamela T. Smith upset the Speaker of the House Valerie Longhurst, who has served in that office for nearly two decades. This is Smith's first political campaign.

Smith was a mental health professional for 20 years in Delaware and is an advocate for increased mental health care in Delaware. The reason she got into politics was simple: she was tired of complaining about the things she encountered as a mental health professional.

"Today proves that something new is possible," Smith said.

Smith is endorsed by the Working Families Party, a grassroots progressive political party. In a release, Delaware political director for the Working Families Party Karl Stomberg said Smith ran an "incredible race."

"Taking on a candidate who has served for decades and is synonymous with the Democratic establishment isn’t easy," he said. "But Kam has spent her entire career working for the people of the 15th district and ran an incredible race. We look forward to continuing to work with her."

Results:

Kamela T. Smith: 1,453 votes, 53.3%

Valerie Longhurst: 1,273 votes, 46.7%

House District 21 - Pike Creek

In a tight Democratic race, Frank Burns received 50.58% of the vote to edge out Michael A. Smith.

Burns will now face Republican Brenda Manella in the Nov. 5 general election to fill the seat vacated by Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Ramone, who won his own primary to be the Republican candidate for governor in November.

In 2022, Burns was on the wrong side of a tight election. He said it was good to be on the winning side of one.

He said the upcoming campaign for November will be "easier" because he and Manella share much different views.

"She is sincere in the view she holds, but I don't think the view she holds fit the district as well. So that's going to be, I think, a pretty easy one to run, just because we'll be talking issues," Burns said.

Results:

Frank Burns: 1,142 votes, 50.67%

Michael Alexander Smith: 1,112 votes, 49.33%

House District 27 - Glasgow

Eric Morrison has been one of the more progressive Democrats in Dover since he was elected in 2020. He kept his seat with nearly 20% more votes than Margie Lopez Waite, a well-known figure in Delaware education in her first campaign for public office.

Republican Kristina Griffing will be the next matchup for the Glasgow district in November for Morrison to keep his seat.

Results:

Eric Morrison: 1,570, 59.72%

Margie Lopez Waite: 1,059, 40.28%

More: Delaware elections 2024: Check live for the latest primary election results

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Upsets, forfeits, thin margins in New Castle County state House primaries