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For Sussex County candidates · Delaware ballot access

How to run for office in Sussex County, Delaware.

A plain-language walk-through of getting on the ballot in Sussex County: the notice of candidacy, the party filing fee or the unaffiliated petition, how Delaware's closed September primary works, and how to reach your county Department of Elections.

Running this cycle, or getting ready for the next one? The first step comes before any filing deadline: know your voters. Motion51 puts the Sussex voter file on a map, free, so you can start finding your supporters now.

Start free in Sussex

The short version.

Delaware runs elections through the Delaware Department of Elections, with a county office in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. If you're running with a party, you file a notice of candidacy and pay a filing fee set by your party; if more than one candidate files for the same party and office, you meet in a closed primary in September, and the winner advances to the November general election. If you're running unaffiliated, you skip the primary and reach the general ballot by petition instead of a fee. Delaware's primaries are closed: only voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary.

This page covers how that works for Sussex County. It is not legal advice. Your county Department of Elections and the Delaware Department of Elections' get-on-the-ballot page are the sources of truth.

Sussex County at the ballot box.

  • In 2024, Sussex County cast 147,639 votes for president: 54.9% Republican, 43.9% Democratic.
  • Turnout has moved from 129,352 votes in 2020 to 147,639 in 2024.

Public presidential-election returns for Sussex County. In a closed primary, the nomination is often decided by a few hundred reliable party voters, which is where a real field operation pays off.

How to get on the ballot in Delaware.

The first step in any campaign is to know your voter.

The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load the Sussex County voter file the moment you're set up, so you can start finding your people now.

Start free in Sussex

Which route you take depends on how you're running: with a party, or unaffiliated.

Path 1: Run with a party.

File a notice of candidacy with the Department of Elections by noon on the second Tuesday in July of the election year, and pay the filing fee set by your party, typically a percentage of the office's salary, paid to your party committee rather than to the state. If you're the only candidate from your party for that office, you go straight to the November ballot; if others file too, you run in the closed September primary and the winner becomes the party's nominee.

Path 2: Run unaffiliated (or with a minor party).

Unaffiliated candidates skip the primary and the party fee. Instead you file a declaration and a petition signed by at least one percent of the registered voters in the state or your district by September 1, which secures a spot on the November general ballot. Minor-party candidates are nominated at their party's convention and certified to the Department of Elections.

Where you file: Major-party and unaffiliated candidates file their paperwork with the Delaware Department of Elections — the county office listed on this page serves your county, and you can also file at the State Election Commissioner's office in Dover. Major-party filing fees are paid to your party committee, not the state.

How the filing calendar works.

Delaware's calendar repeats every cycle even though the exact dates shift year to year:

  • The notice of candidacy for major-party candidates is due by noon on the second Tuesday in July of the election year, a firm deadline. For 2026 that deadline (July 14) has passed, but unaffiliated candidates can still petition until September 1, 2026.
  • Unaffiliated candidates file their petition by September 1; write-in candidates file a separate declaration closer to the election.
  • The primary election is held in September (only where a party's race is contested), and the general election is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Key Delaware dates.

Delaware holds a school board election every single year, including 2027

That is unusual and it is the nearest thing on the calendar. County offices are even-year.

  • Fri Mar 5, 2027, 4:30 p.m. COMPUTED notice of candidacy for a board of education, due the first Friday in March (14 Del. C. sec. 1075(a)(1)a).
  • Tue May 11, 2027 COMPUTED school board election, the second Tuesday in May, held every year (14 Del. C. sec. 1072(c)).
  • Tue Jul 11, 2028, 12:00 noon COMPUTED county filing deadline, the second Tuesday in July (15 Del. C. sec. 3101(1)). Filed with the Department of Elections office for the county in which you reside.
  • Fri Jul 14, 2028, 4:30 p.m. COMPUTED withdrawal deadline, the first Friday after (sec. 3101(2)).
  • Tue Sep 12, 2028 COMPUTED primary, the second Tuesday after the first Monday in September (sec. 3101(3)).
  • Tue Nov 7, 2028 COMPUTED general election.

Delaware's incorporated towns run their own charter elections on their own dates throughout the year, including odd years. Those are not on any state calendar -- ask the town.

Status as of November 4, 2026: dates that have passed are greyed out and marked CLOSED.

The 2026 dates come from the Delaware Department of Elections' published 2026 State Election Calendar and title 15 of the Delaware Code, read on 2026-08-20. No 2028 calendar exists yet, so those dates are arithmetic from statute. Confirm with your county Department of Elections office.

The 2027 ballot in Sussex County.

These 2027 dates are confirmed against the state's own published calendar or statute. Anything our research could not confirm is left off this page rather than estimated.

  • January 2, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • January 16, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Candidate filing: closes Dec 11, 2026.
    Source
  • February 6, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • February 20, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • March 6, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • March 25, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Laurel: Mayor, Councilmen, Councilmen-at-Large (biennial, odd years).
    Candidate filing: closes Feb 18, 2027.
    Source
  • April 5, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • April 10, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Candidate filing: closes Feb 26, 2027.
    Source
  • April 17, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • April 24, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Candidate filing: closes Feb 23, 2027 (Milford) / Mar 26, 2027 (Elsmere, Hartly).
    Source
  • May 8, 2027 Municipal General — Mixed. City of Lewes (Mayor/Council); Lewes Board of Public Works (Directors — separate ballot); Georgetown (the non-Mayor council slate); South Bethany (Town Council/Mayor).
    Source
  • June 12, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • July 3, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • August 7, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Candidate filing: closes Jun 25, 2027.
    Source
  • August 14, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • August 28, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • September 11, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Bethany Beach: Town Council — three of the seven seats (two-year terms). Charter Sec. 5.3.2: 'three members of the Town Council shall be elected in odd years, and four members shall be elected in even years.
    Candidate filing: closes Jul 28, 2027.
    Source
  • September 18, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source
  • December 4, 2027 Municipal General — Municipal. Which local offices are on this ballot varies by jurisdiction; the Sussex County Department of Elections can tell you which of yours is.
    Source

2027 dates can move, and a municipality can change its own election date by ordinance. Which seats are on a given ballot depends on when each was last filled. Confirm anything you are relying on with the Sussex County Department of Elections before you act on it.

Sussex County at a glance.

Sussex County had an estimated 271,134 residents in July 2024, the second most populous of Delaware's 3 counties, up 14.2% since the 2020 census. Of those, 223,338 are 18 or older, the voting-age population, and 31.8% are 65 or older. It covers 936 square miles of land (290 people per square mile), and 75.0% of residents live outside any incorporated city or town.

The largest cities and towns are Seaford (8,952), Georgetown (8,098), Milford (part) (8,045), Millsboro (7,864) and Laurel (4,395). The American Community Survey (2020-2024) puts it at a median age of 52.5, a median household income of $85,258, 33.5% of adults 25 and older holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 82.2% of occupied homes owned by the people living in them. In 2024, 147,639 votes were cast for president, about 66.1% of the voting-age population; the Democratic ticket took 43.9% and the Republican ticket 54.9%.

The two-party margin moved from R+8.6 in 2008 to R+11.0 in 2024.

Population (2024 estimate)
271,134
Population (2020 census base)
237,390
Voting-age population (18+)
223,338
Residents 65 and older
31.8%
People per square mile
290
Living outside incorporated places
75.0%
Land area
936 sq mi
Median age
52.5
Median household income
$85,258
Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree
33.5%
Owner-occupied homes
82.2%

Largest cities and towns

  1. Seaford 8,952
  2. Georgetown 8,098
  3. Milford (part) 8,045
  4. Millsboro 7,864
  5. Laurel 4,395

Presidential vote, 2008–2024

YearDemocraticRepublicanMarginVotes cast
202443.9%54.9%R+11.0147,639
202043.8%55.1%R+11.3129,352
201637.2%59.2%R+22.0105,814
201242.9%55.9%R+13.093,215
200845.2%53.8%R+8.689,070

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates and 2024 Gazetteer; American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates; certified county presidential returns. Growth, density and turnout are simple arithmetic on those figures.

Counties next to Sussex.

Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.

Kent County

See all Delaware counties →

Offices on the ballot.

Delaware voters elect federal offices (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices such as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, State Auditor, and Insurance Commissioner; the General Assembly (State Senate and House); county offices such as county executive, county council, sheriff, register of wills, recorder of deeds, and clerk of the peace; and municipal seats.

For the official list of Sussex County seats up in a given cycle, check with your Department of Elections office below.

Your county Department of Elections.

Delaware runs elections through the Department of Elections and its three county offices. The Sussex County office is where county candidates file and the source of truth for local dates, districts, and forms.

Sussex County Department of Elections
Department of Elections · Sussex County, Delaware
Office
119 N Race St, PO Box 457, Georgetown, DE 19947
Phone
(302) 856-5367
Find your county elections office on elections.delaware.gov →

Contact details verified 2026-07-23. If a field is wrong or out of date, the official Delaware Department of Elections office directory is the canonical source.

After you qualify: building a field operation.

The paperwork ends the day you file. What starts then is the actual campaign: knocking on doors, recruiting volunteers, and identifying the voters who'll show up for you in the primary and in November.

That's what Motion51 is built for: scoping a district, recruiting volunteers, cutting turf, and knocking doors from one app that works offline for areas with bad cell coverage and logs every door with a timestamp. Sign up for the free tier to see how a real field operation comes together.

If qualifying is settled and you're thinking about the field operation, our For Candidates page walks through the next steps.

It's never too early to start building support.

Qualifying is administrative. Winning is about who's on your side long before election day, and that list gets built one volunteer, one supporter, one knock at a time, long before qualifying opens. Motion51 is modern canvassing built for down-ballot races, ready to help the moment you're set up, so you can start identifying supporters and recruiting volunteers today.

Try the free tier