Federal Level Elected Officials

Delaware constitutes one congressional district, which is 19.2 percent black. The current U. S. Representative is Michael Castle. The current United States Senators are Thomas Carper and Joseph Biden, Jr.
 

State Level Elected Officials

Delaware’s General Assembly is comprised of a House of Representatives, which has 41 members that are elected every two years. The State Senate has 21 members that serve a four-year term, and half of the Senators are up for reelection every two years. The current Governor is Ruth Ann Minner. The Governor of Delaware also serves a four-year term. In addition to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, Insurance Commissioner, and Treasurer are also elected at large. Currently, there are no African-Americans serving as a statewide elected official. In 1996, Sherman Miller (an African-American) run for the office of Lieutenant Governor, however the Democratic incumbent soundly defeated him.
 

County Level Elected Officials

There are three counties in Delaware: Kent, New Castle, and Sussex. Of the 37 county elected officials in the state, only two (or 5 percent) are African-American.
 

Municipal Level Elected Officials

There are 56 incorporated cities and towns in Delaware. There are 334 members of governing boards. Of the 334 members of governing boards only 16 (or 5 percent) are African-American. Of the 16 African-Americans on a municipal governing broad in the state, seven serve on Wilmington's City Council.  The mayor of Wilmington  is also African-American.
 

Judicial Level Appointments

The are 91 judgeships in Delaware.

• State's Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices (none are African-Americans)

• The Chancery Court consists five judges (none are African-Americans)

• Court of Common Pleas have 8 sitting judges: 5 in New Castle County, 1 in Kent County, and 2 in Sussex County. There is one African-American on the Court of Common Pleas, he is in New Castle County.

• There are 19 Superior Court judges. Thirteen Superior Court judges are in New Castle County, 3 in Kent County, and 3 in Sussex County. There are two Superior Court judges that are African-American, both in New Castle County.

• There are 12 Family Court judges: 8 in New Castle County, 2 in Kent County, 2 in Sussex County. There is one African-American Family Court Judge in New Castle County, he is located in New Castle County.

• 20 Justice-of-the-Peace Courts: 8 in New Castle County, 6 in Kent County, and 6 in Sussex County

School Districts

There are 22 local school districts, governed by 118 school board members elected for a five year period. Three of the school districts are vocational/technical, and the board members that are appointed by the Governor.  Eight of the 22 school districts have no African-Americans on the school board.

African-American SchoolBoard Members by District
 

Appoquinimick	1
Brandywine	1
Ceasar Rodney	1
Cape Henlopen	1
Capitol	3
Christina	2
Colonial	1
Delmar	0
Indian River	0
Lake Forest	0
Laurel	1
Milford	2
New Castle County Vocation Tech (appointed)	1
Polytech (appointed)	3
Red Clay Consolidated	0
Seaford	0
Smyrna	0
Sussex County Vocational Tech (appointed)	1
Woodbridge	0

All of the information above is based on telephone calls and other sources as of 10/2001. Not all of the "public units" contacted were willing to cooperate and thus some of this information may not be accurate.