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international Airport]] (PHL), Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) for domestic and international transit. Residents of Sussex County will also use Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY), as it is located less than 10 miles (16 km) from the Delaware border. Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) are also within a 100-mile (160 km) radius of New Castle County.

Other general aviation airports in Delaware include Summit Airport near Middletown, Delaware Airpark near Cheswold, and Delaware Coastal Airport near Georgetown.

Dover Air Force Base, one of the largest in the country, is home to the 436th Airlift Wing and the 512th Airlift Wing. In addition to its other responsibilities in the Air Mobility Command, it serves as the entry point and mortuary for U.S. military personnel (and some civilians) who die overseas.

Law and government

Delaware's fourth and current constitution, adopted in 1897, provides for executive, judicial and legislative branches.

Legislative branch

The Delaware General Assembly consists of a House of Representatives with 41 members and a Senate with 21 members. It sits in Dover, the state capital. Representatives are elected to two-year terms, while senators are elected to four-year terms. The Senate confirms judicial and other nominees appointed by the governor.

Delaware's U.S. Senators are Tom Carper (Democrat) and Chris Coons (Democrat). Delaware's single U.S. Representative is Lisa Blunt Rochester (Democrat).

Judicial branch

The Delaware Constitution establishes a number of courts:

• The Delaware Supreme Court is the state's highest court.
• The Delaware Superior Court is the state's trial court of general jurisdiction.
• The Delaware Court of Chancery deals primarily in corporate disputes.
• The Family Court handles domestic and custody matters.
• The Delaware Court of Common Pleas has jurisdiction over a limited class of civil and criminal matters.

Minor non-constitutional courts include the Justice of the Peace Courts and Aldermen's Courts.

Significantly, Delaware has one of the few remaining Courts of Chancery in the nation, which has jurisdiction over equity cases, the vast majority of which are corporate disputes, many relating to mergers and acquisitions. The Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court have developed a worldwide reputation for rendering concise opinions concerning corporate law which generally (but not always) grant broad discretion to corporate boards of directors and officers. In addition, the Delaware General Corporation Law, which forms the basis of the Courts' opinions, is widely regarded as giving great flexibility to corporations to manage their affairs. For these reasons, Delaware is considered to have the most business-friendly legal system in the United States; therefore a great number of companies are incorporated in Delaware, including 60% of the companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Delaware was the last U.S. state to use judicial corporal punishment, in 1952.

Executive branch

The executive branch is headed by the Governor of Delaware. The present governor is John Carney (Democrat), who took office January 17, 2017. The lieutenant governor is Bethany Hall-Long. The governor presents a "State of the State" speech to a joint session of the Delaware legislature annually.

Counties

Delaware is subdivided into three counties; from north to south they are New Castle, Kent and Sussex. This is the fewest among all states. Each county elects its own legislative body (known in New Castle and Sussex counties as County Council, and in Kent County as Levy Court), which deal primarily in zoning and development issues. Most functions which are handled on a county-by-county basis in other states—such as court and law enforcement—have been centralized in Delaware, leading to a significant concentration of power in the Delaware state government. The counties were historically divided into hundreds, which were used as tax reporting and voting districts until the 1960s, but now serve no administrative role, their only current official legal use being in real estate title descriptions.

Politics

The Democratic Party holds a plurality of registrations in Delaware. Until the 2000 presidential election, the state tended to be a Presidential bellwether, sending its three electoral votes to the winning candidate since 1952. This trend ended in 2000 when Delaware's electoral votes went to Al Gore by 13 percentage points. In 2004, John Kerry won Delaware by eight percentage points. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in Delaware by 25 percentage points. Obama's running mate was Joe Biden, who had represented Delaware in the United States Senate since 1973 and was later inaugurated President of the United States in 2021. Obama carried Delaware by 19 percentage points in 2012. In 2016, Delaware's electoral votes went to Hillary Clinton by 11 percentage points. In 2020, Democratic nominee, former vice president and Delaware resident Joe Biden beat incumbent President Donald Trump in the state by over 19 percentage points. Currently, Democrats hold all positions of authority in Delaware including Senate and House.

Delaware's swing to the Democrats is in part due to a strong Democratic trend in New Castle County, home to 55 percent of Delaware's population (the two smaller counties have only 359,000 people between them to New Castle County's 535,000). New Castle County has not voted Republican in a presidential election since 1988. In 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2016, the Republican presidential candidate carried both Kent and Sussex but lost by double digits each time in New Castle County, which was a large enough margin to swing the state to the Democrats. New Castle County also elects a substantial majority of the legislature; 27 of the 41 state house districts and 14 of the 21 state senate districts are based in New Castle County.

The Democrats have held the governorship since 1993, having won the last seven gubernatorial elections in a row. Democrats presently hold all the nine statewide elected offices, while the Republicans last won two statewide offices in 2014, State Auditor and State Treasurer.

Freedom of information

Each of the 50 states of the United States has passed some form of freedom of information legislation, which provides a mechanism for the general public to request information of the government. In 2011 Delaware passed legislation placing a 15 business day time limit on addressing freedom-of-information requests, to either produce information or an explanation of why such information would take longer than this time to produce.

Taxation

Tax is collected by the Delaware Division of Revenue.

Delaware has six different income tax brackets, ranging from 2.2% to 5.95%. The state does not assess sales tax on consumers. The state does, however, impose a tax on the gross receipts of most businesses. Business and occupational license tax rates range from 0.096% to 1.92%, depending on the category of business activity.

Delaware does not assess a state-level tax on real or personal property. Real estate is subject to county property taxes, school district property taxes, vocational school district taxes, and, if located within an incorporated area, municipal property taxes.

Gambling provides significant revenue to the state. For instance, the casino at Delaware Park Racetrack provided more than $100 million to the state in 2010.

In June 2018, Delaware became the first U.S. state to legalize sports betting following the Supreme Court ruling to repeal The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).

Voter registration

Municipalities

Wilmington is the state's most populous city (70,635) and its economic hub. It is located within commuting distance of both Philadelphia and Baltimore. Dover is the state capital and the second most populous city (38,079).

Counties Kent New Castle Sussex Cities Delaware City Dover Harrington Lewes Middletown Milford New Castle Newark Rehoboth Beach Seaford Wilmington Towns Bellefonte Bethany Beach Bethel Blades Bowers Bridgeville Camden Cheswold Clayton Dagsboro Delmar Dewey Beach Ellendale Elsmere

Towns (cont.) Farmington Felton Fenwick Island Frankford Frederica Georgetown Greenwood Hartly Henlopen Acres Houston Kenton Laurel Leipsic Little Creek Magnolia Millsboro Millville Milton Newport Ocean View Odessa Selbyville Slaughter Beach Smyrna South Bethany Townsend Viola Woodside Wyoming Villages Arden Ardencroft Ardentown Woodland

Unincorporated places Bear Brookside Christiana Clarksville Claymont Dover Base Housing Edgemoor Glasgow Greenville Gumboro Harbeson Highland Acres Hockessin Kent Acres Lincoln City Long Neck Marshallton Mount Pleasant North Star Oak Orchard Omar Pennyhill Pike Creek Rising Sun-Lebanon Riverview Rodney Village Roxana Saint Georges Sandtown Stanton Wilmington Manor Woodside East Yorklyn

The table below lists the ten largest municipalities in the state based on the 2018 United States Census Estimate.

v t e Largest cities or towns in Delaware 2018 United States Census Bureau Estimate
Rank Name County Pop. Dover 1 Wilmington New Castle 70,635 Newark Middletown 2 Dover Kent 38,079 3 Newark New Castle 33,673 4 Middletown New Castle 22,582 5 Smyrna New Castle/Kent 11,580 6 Milford Sussex 11,353 7 Seaford Sussex 7,861 8 Georgetown Sussex 7,427 9 Elsmere New Castle 5,981 10 New Castle New Castle 5,529

Education

In the early 1920s, Pierre S. du Pont served as president of the state board of education. At the time, state law prohibited money raised from white taxpayers from being used to support the state's schools for black children. Appalled by the condition of the black schools, du Pont donated four million dollars to construct 86 new school buildings.

Delaware was the origin of Belton v. Gebhart (1952), one of the four cases which were combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court of the United States decision that led to the end of officially segregated public schools. Significantly, Belton was the only case in which the state court found for the plaintiffs, thereby ruling that segregation is unconstitutional.

Unlike many states, Delaware's educational system is centralized in a state Superintendent of Education, with local school boards retaining control over taxation and some curriculum decisions. This centralized system, combined with the small size of the state, likely contributed to Delaware becoming the first state, after completion of a three-year, $30 million program ending in 1999, to wire every K-12 classroom in the state to the Internet.

As of 2011, the Delaware Department of Education had authorized the founding of 25 charter schools in the state, one of them being all-girls.

All teachers in the State's public school districts are unionized. As of January 2012, none of the State's charter schools are members of a teachers union. One of the State's teachers' unions is Delaware State Education Association (DSEA), whose President as of January 2012 is Frederika Jenner.

Colleges and universities

• Delaware College of Art and Design
• Delaware State University
• Delaware Technical & Community College
• Drexel University at Wilmington
• Goldey-Beacom College
• University of Delaware—Ranked 63rd in the U.S. and in top 201–250 in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018)
• Wesley College
• Widener University School of Law
• Wilmington University

Sister state

Delaware's sister state in Japan is Miyagi Prefecture.

Media

Newspapers

Two daily newspapers are based in Delaware, the Delaware State News, based in Dover and covering the two southern counties, and The News Journal covering Wilmington and northern Delaware. The state is also served by several weekly, monthly and online publications.

Television

No standalone television stations are based solely in Delaware. The northern part of the state is served by network stations in Philadelphia and the southern part by network stations in Salisbury, Maryland. Philadelphia's ABC affiliate, WPVI-TV, maintains a news bureau in downtown Wilmington. Salisbury's CBS affiliate, WBOC-TV, maintains bureaus in Dover and Milton. Three Philadelphia-market stations—PBS member WHYY-TV, Ion affiliate WPPX, and MeTV affiliate WDPN-TV—all have Wilmington as their city of license, but maintain transmitters at the market antenna farm in Roxborough and do not produce any Delaware-centric programming.

Radio

Main Article: List of radio stations in Delaware

There are a numerous radio stations licensed in Delaware. WDEL 1150AM, WHGE-LP 95.3 FM, WILM 1450 AM, WJBR-FM 99.5, WMPH 91.7 FM, WSTW 93.7 FM, WTMC 1380 AM and WWTX 1290AM are licensed from Wilmington. WRDX 92.9 FM is licensed from Smyrna. WDOV 1410AM, WDSD 94.7 FM and WRTX 91.7 FM are licensed from Dover.

Tourism

Delaware is home to First State National Historical Park, a National Park Service unit composed of historic sites across the state including the New Castle Court House, Green, and Sheriff's House, Dover Green, Beaver Valley, Fort Christina, Old Swedes' Church, John Dickinson Plantation, and the Ryves Holt House. Delaware has several museums, wildlife refuges, parks, houses, lighthouses, and other historic places.

Rehoboth Beach, together with the towns of Lewes, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, South Bethany, and Fenwick Island, comprise Delaware's beach resorts. Rehoboth Beach often bills itself as "The Nation's Summer Capital" because it is a frequent summer vacation destination for Washington, D.C., residents as well as visitors from Maryland, Virginia, and in lesser numbers, Pennsylvania. Vacationers are drawn for many reasons, including the town's charm, artistic appeal, nightlife, and tax-free shopping. According to SeaGrant Delaware, the Delaware beaches generate $6.9 billion annually and over $711 million in tax revenue.

Delaware is home to several festivals, fairs, and events. Some of the more notable festivals are the Riverfest held in Seaford, the World Championship Punkin Chunkin formerly held at various locations throughout the state since 1986, the Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival, the Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral to mark the end of summer, the Apple Scrapple Festival held in Bridgeville, the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington, the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, the Sea Witch Halloween Festival and Parade in Rehoboth Beach, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, the Nanticoke Indian Pow Wow in Oak Orchard, Firefly Music Festival, and the Return Day Parade held after every election in Georgetown.

In 2015, tourism in Delaware generated $3.1 billion, which makes up five percent of the state's GDP. Delaware saw 8.5 million visitors in 2015, with the tourism industry employing 41,730 people, making it the 4th largest private employer in the state. Major origin markets for Delaware tourists include Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg, with 97% of tourists arriving to the state by car and 75% of tourists coming from a distance of 200 miles (320 km) or less.

Delaware is also home to two large sporting venues. Dover International Speedway is a race track in Dover, and Frawley Stadium in Wilmington is the home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, a Minor League Baseball team.

Culture and entertainment

Festivals

Sports

Professional teams

As Delaware has no franchises in the major American professional sports leagues, many Delawareans follow either Philadelphia or Baltimore teams. In the WNBA, the Washington Mystics enjoy a major following due to the presence of Wilmington native and University of Delaware product Elena Delle Donne. The University of Delaware's football team has a large following throughout the state, with the Delaware State University and Wesley College teams also enjoying a smaller degree of support.

Delaware is home to Dover International Speedway and Dover Downs. DIS, also known as the Monster Mile, is one of only 10 tracks in the nation to have hosted 100 or more NASCAR Cup Series races. Dover Downs is a popular harness racing facility. It is the only co-located horse- and car-racing facility in the nation, with the Dover Downs track located inside the DIS track.

Delaware is represented in rugby by the Delaware Black Foxes, a 2015 expansion club.

Delaware has been home to professional wrestling outfit Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). CZW has been affiliated with the annual Tournament of Death and ECWA with its annual Super 8 Tournament.

Delaware's official state sport is bicycling.

Delaware Native Americans

Delaware is also the name of a Native American group (called in their own language Lenni Lenape) which was influential in the colonial period of the United States and is today headquartered in Cheswold, Kent County, Delaware. A band of the Nanticoke tribe of American Indians today resides in Sussex County and is headquartered in Millsboro, Sussex County, Delaware.

Namesakes

Several ships have been named USS Delaware in honor of this state.

Delawareans

Prominent Delawareans include the du Pont family of politicians and businesspersons and the Biden family among whom Joe Biden is notable as the 46th President of the United States.

See also

• Index of Delaware-related articles
• Outline of Delaware

Notes

References

1. "The Delaware Constitution of 1897 as amended". State of Delaware. Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
2. "About Agency". Delaware Division of Corporations. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
3. Pleck, Elizabeth Hefkin (2004). Domestic tyranny: the making of American social policy against family. University of Illinois Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-252-07175-1. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
4. "Delaware House of Representatives Minority Caucus". 2010. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2001.
5. "The Hundreds of Delaware". Department of State: Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. Delaware State Archives. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
6. "Delaware Election Results". November 3, 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
7. "State Public Record Laws". FOIAdvocates.
8. Bennett, Rep.; Peterson, Sen.; Katz, Sen. (January 6, 2011), "An Act to Amend Title 29 of the Delaware Code Relating to the Freedom of Information Act", Delaware Code, vol. 78 (online ed.) (published April 15, 2011), 10, House Bill # 5, archived from the original on October 2, 2011, retrieved April 22, 2011
9. "Division of Revenue—Department of Finance—State of Delaware". Division of Revenue—State of Delaware.
10. Barrish, Chris (April 23, 2011). "Delaware crime: Wave of brazen attacks sounds alarm at casino". Delaware Online. Wilmington, DE. 1st page of online article archived via link provided. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
11. "Delaware becomes the first state to legalise sports betting". June 2, 2018. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "US Quick Facts". census.gov. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
14. Okrent, Daniel (2010). Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Scribner. loc 5645(Kindle). ISBN 978-0743277020.
15. Millard, Sandra K. (October 29, 1999). University of Delaware Library / Statewide K–12 Partnership Providing Online Resources and Training: UDLib/SEARCH. EDUCAUSE '99. Long Beach, CA – via Internet Archive.
16. Dobo, Nichole (June 12, 2011). "Delaware schools: Checkered past goes unchecked". The News Journal. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
17. ^ Dobo, Nichole (2012). "Charter votes to join union". The News Journal (published Jan 19, 2012). delawareonline. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
18. McDowell; Sen. McBride; Rep. George (March 22, 2011). "Mourning Those Lost in the Recent Earthquake and Related Disasters that have Befallen Japan, and Expressing the Thoughts and Prayers of All Delawareans for the Citizens of Our Sister State of Miyagi Prefecture During These Difficult Times" (published March 23, 2011). Senate Joint Resolution # 3. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
19. "First State National Historical Park-Frequently Asked Questions". National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
20. "The Contribution of The Coastal Economy to the State of Delaware". SeaGrant Delaware. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
21. "The Value of Tourism 2015" (PDF). Visit Delaware. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
22. "An Act to Amend Title 29 of the Delaware Code Relating to the Designation of a State Sport". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.

Bibliography

• Kolchin, Peter (1994), American Slavery: 1619–1877, New York: Hill & Wang

External links

History

• Delaware State Guide, Library of Congress

General

• State of Delaware (official website)
• [REDACTED] Geographic data related to Delaware at OpenStreetMap
• Delaware Tourism homepage
• Delaware Map Data
• Energy & Environmental Data for Delaware
• USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Delaware
• U.S. Census Bureau
• Delaware State Facts from USDA
• 2000 Census of Population and Housing for Delaware, U.S. Census Bureau
• Delaware at Ballotpedia
• Template:Curlie
• Delaware State Databases—Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Delaware state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association

v t e State of Delaware
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