Why Should Delaware Care?
After State Senator Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) announced last month that he would not seek re-election later this fall, two first-time candidates have tossed their hats in the ring to succeed the long-serving Kent County Republican. The upcoming matchup will be the first contested election for the seat since Lawson first won in 2010.
The brewing political battle to replace a long-serving senator from Kent County could become a political barometer that shows where voters in rural Delaware stand today.
State Sen. Dave Lawson’s (R-Marydel) announcement last month that he will not seek re-election later this fall opened up Delaware’s 15th Senate District to new representation in the General Assembly for the first time in more than 15 years.
In a video announcing his retirement, the 80-year-old lawmaker threw his support behind Republican newcomer Emily Thompson, calling her an “awesome lady,” and a “true servant.”
Lawson’s endorsement will likely carry Thompson, a program administrator for the state’s Division of Public Health, far in the western Kent County district – long a Republican stronghold. Since unseating a Democratic incumbent in 2010, Lawson ran unopposed in each of his two re-election campaigns.
But a Democratic challenger with institutional connections – Nisha Lodhavia – has already tossed her hat in the ring, setting up a contested election in the district for the first time in more than 15 years.
Lodhavia, a member of the University of Delaware’s Board of Trustees, announced her candidacy on the steps of Legislative Hall in January. She was joined by a slew of Kent County Democrats.
Senate District 15, which spans the length of western Kent County, covers towns including Felton, Marydel and Harrington. With both a Democrat and a Republican now in the race, this year’s election could be the first real litmus test of the district’s political leaning since boundaries were redrawn following the 2020 census.
As of this month, the district is home to nearly 40,000 registered voters. Of those voters, just less than 29% are registered Democrats. Nearly 36% are registered Republicans, and the rest are not affiliated with a political party.
Lodhavia starts with strong financials, eye on affordability
Lodhavia, a retired Delaware Technical Community College professor, has already raked in more than $16,000 in donations, according to her most recent campaign finance report.
The report includes campaign contributions from Nov. 10, 2025, through the end of last year. Although Lodhavia did not formally file to run for office until January, she was required to submit a report because she created a candidate committee last November in anticipation of her run, said a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Elections.
In comparison, Lawson raised nearly $25,500 between April and October of 2010 when he first ran for the SD 15 seat – or more than $38,000 when accounting for inflation.
Unless she faces a primary race, Thompson’s finances will likely not be publicly available until mid-October, when candidates across the state are required to submit their 30-day general election reports.
In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, Lodhavia said her vision for the future of the 15th District includes investments in education, health care, small business, and making agriculture a “top priority.”
“And woven throughout all of that,” Lodhavia said, “is affordability.”
Though she has not sought elected office before, Lodhavia said she realized recently that her resume – from board service to volunteer work – has prepared her for it.
A self-described moderate Democrat, Lodhavia said her party affiliation was not a deterrent from choosing to run for State Senate. The issues at the heart of her campaign, she said, are not partisan. And making them so, she added, would only act as a roadblock to finding solutions.
“I feel like the time is now because my district needs change,” she said. “And I’m here for it.”
Lodhavia said she plans to embark on a listening tour across the district in the coming weeks to ensure she gets face time with as many voters as possible across all pockets of the district.
Thompson looks to support education, agriculture
When Lawson announced his plans to retire at the end of this year’s legislative session, he said it was important to “step out of the way” for the next generation of political leaders.
One of those people, Lawson said in his announcement video, is Thompson.
“I think she will carry on, or work even harder, and be more successful in the 15th senatorial district than I,” Lawson said.
The praise was not lost on Thompson. In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, she said Lawson has been “an incredible mentor.”
She explained that she had met the senator about six months before she officially filed to run in January. She expressed her interest in being his successor, and the pair began attending community events together so she could better “understand the political landscape.”
Through that work, Thompson said she has homed in on improving education and preserving the district’s agricultural community as two of her top priorities.
Thompson previously worked in child welfare, and now she oversees Delaware’s home visiting programs for young families through the state’s Division of Public Health. That work, she said, showed her just how few resources are available to children and their families.
If elected, Thompson said she wants to ensure families in Delaware schools understand what resources are available to them, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used effectively and transparently to do so.
Along with education, Thompson, who grew up on her family’s horse farm, said she is passionate about preserving the agricultural footprint of the 15th district. If farmers are not supported, she said, more farmland will inevitably become housing developments or solar farms.
“If we don’t have policies and legislation in place, that financially supports farmers and makes it advantageous for them to continue farming … they obviously have to look at other avenues,” she said.
While Thompson and Lodhavia are currently the only two candidates running to succeed Lawson, the possibility of either woman facing a primary election challenge is still on the table. The deadline for all prospective candidates to officially file to run for office is July 14.
