Delaware State News
Kaitlyn Cupelli
September 10, 2026
Ahead of the Tuesday, Sept. 15, primary vote, the nonprofit Open Primaries and local advocates joined together on Zoom on Thursday to call for opening those elections in the First State.
Delaware is one of 14 states that has entirely closed primaries, meaning only Democrats can vote in Democratic primaries and only Republicans can vote in Republican ones. Those registered as independents, who vote third party or who are otherwise unaffiliated with a party cannot vote in them.
Over the last five years, Alaska, Colorado, Maine and New Mexico have at least partially opened some of their primary elections.
On Thursday, Jeremy Gruber, Open Primaries’ senior vice president, said the organization predicted in 2020 that the number of unaffiliated voters in Delaware would be 27% of the voter population in 2035.
“We were dead wrong,” he continued. “There are already 270,000 registered unaffiliated voters in Delaware today. That makes up over a third of all registered voters in the state.”
Gruber said that’s a higher number than in Pennsylvania or Maryland, who also have closed primaries. The group also makes up the second-largest faction of voters in Delaware — only 60,000 people short of overtaking those registered with the Democratic Party.
“Think about that: 60,000 voters shy of unaffiliated voters becoming the largest group of registered voters in the state of Delaware. And yet, these voters are barred by law from voting in primary elections,” Gruber stated.
Hoping to change that law, Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek, introduced House Bill 188 in June 2025, advocating for semiopen primaries. If it had passed, voters affiliated with one party would still only have been able to vote in their own party’s primary, but independent/unaffiliated individuals would have been able to participate in primaries, as well.
That’s opposed to a fully open process, which would allow affiliated voters to vote in any primary, along with those unaffiliated.
HB 188 was released from committee March 11 and passed the House of Representatives with a 22-17 vote June 30 — one more vote than required. Since it was forwarded by the House on the last day of the legislative session, it did not have a chance to be considered by the Senate.
Smith was unable to attend Thursday’s meeting but spoke to the Daily State News later that day. He said it was “absolutely intentional” that HB 188 didn’t get a House vote until the General Assembly’s last day.
“I think there’s a big group that would like this to pass, but I think they’re too afraid to be on record wanting to support it because it kind of hurts a super-left and super-right base. And that’s the people that don’t like it,” he said. “Everyone else in between looks at it from an access perspective.”
This is the second time Smith has proposed a bill like this, and he plans on bringing forth a similar one next year if reelected in November. In the Senate, one Democrat signed onto the bill — Sen. Dan Cruce of Wilmington. Its Senate sponsor was Camden Republican Sen. Eric Buckson.
“I still think it would have (had) a chance to pass (in the Senate). I think it would have been very slim, even like an 11-10-type split,” Smith added. “I plan on trying to work with Sen. (Bryan) Townsend and some of the other leaders to see if we can come up with some sort of an agreement versus arguing it on the floor.”
Smith also said he is fighting for semiopen primaries because “we’re all voters, we’re all taxpayers.”
“Every election is a taxpayer election. So, if that’s going to be the case, everyone should have access. Or, if not, why aren’t parties paying for it themselves?” he asked.
Rich Clair, an unaffiliated voter from Bethany Beach, also spoke during the Zoom session Thursday. He shared that, prior to moving to Delaware in 2014, he had voted in nearly every election since 1972, in Virginia and Ohio. The first has open primaries, while Ohio allows individuals to change their parties on primary days, Clair said.
He also noted that most election decisions are determined in the primaries, and sometimes, by the time the general election comes around, “it can be a done deal.”
“I want to have my say,” Clair added. “I should have the same ability as anybody else that has an R or a D or a G or an L next to their name to participate in our democracy.”