Why Should Delaware Care?
Campaign donations, particularly from corporations or advocate organizations, are increasingly becoming a litmus test for voters in the 2026 midterm elections. In Delaware, the campaign fundraising for Sen. Chris Coons has become a topic of conversation among some Democratic voters.
As Congressional Democratic incumbents are scrutinized nationwide amid primary election challenges from progressives, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons has pledged to stop accepting donations from controversial data company Palantir after previously bringing in thousands from it.
Palantir has come under fire from advocates in recent years over its work with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, U.S. military and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The donations, totaling $27,500, come from a company decried by some Democrats for its work on issues Coons has publicly spoken out against.
Palantir’s recent donations to Republican lawmakers far outpace its contributions to Democrats, according to advocacy organization called Purge Palantir, but Coons is near the top of the list of Democrats who have received contributions from the company.
The list ranges from Palantir’s top-funded official President Donald Trump, who has received more than $2 million, to U.S. Sen Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who received $250 in contributions.
Some Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), have publicly announced they would either donate or return similar campaign contributions from Palantir.
After privately receiving criticisms from the Wilmington-area advocacy group Indivisible Highlands and Beyond about the Palantir donations, Coons, who is set to face three opponents in next month’s primary election, pledged in a letter to the organization to no longer accept or seek contributions from Palantir.
“The re-election campaign … shall not accept or solicit campaign contributions from Palantir Technologies, its [political action committee], or C-Suite Palantir employees,” Coons wrote in the letter sent to the group last month.
But when reached for comment by Spotlight Delaware, a representative from Coons’ office declined to say whether the senator would return or donate the $27,500.
“IHB wanted his statement because we felt it important that none of our [members of Congress] were accepting donations from companies hurting our immigrant neighbors,” said Deb Travers, a leader of Indivisible Highlands and Beyond.
Travers said the progressive activist group was surprised to see Coons’ name on the Palantir Payroll list back in April.
The list, created by an advocacy organization called Purge Palantir, tracks the software giant’s political contributions and seeks to work against a company it says enables “mass surveillance and militarization at home and abroad.”
What is Palantir?
Palantir is an immensely successful data mining company that has developed artificial intelligence-powered software that can crunch and analyze enormous data sets.
But the company has increasingly become known for a willingness to court controversy, particularly through contracts with the Trump administration. Among other initiatives, its software tracks the movement of migrants and responds to a tip line for ICE, bombing target acquisition for the military and even grant screening for diversity, equity and inclusion language.
In the last two years alone, the company has received more than $2.5 billion in government contracts, principally from the military and ICE.
Coons is involved in overseeing the government’s spending on defense programs, currently serving as the ranking Democratic member for the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He is one of 11 Democratic lawmakers who serve on defense and technology-related committees that have ties with Palantir.
A representative from Coons’ office declined to comment on the senator’s relationship with Palantir and its employees.
The technology company, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and current CEO Alex Karp, is on the list of top 50 most valuable U.S. companies, holding a market capitalization of more than $422 billion.
Thiel himself also is no stranger to controversy. He wrote an essay in 2009 where he claimed to “no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” In that same essay, the tech investor said women’s suffrage “rendered the notion of ‘capitalist democracy’ an oxymoron.”
Earlier this year, Karp drew criticism online for a 22-point manifesto posted on the company’s X account, in which the executive wrote that “the postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone.”
Donation details
Palantir executives donated $27,500 to either Coons’ campaign committee, Chis Coons for Delaware, or a separate political action committee led by the senator, the Blue Hen Federal PAC, over the last two years. Those funds were pegged to both the 2026 primary and general election, as necessary.
In June, a month before Coons vowed to reject money from Palantir, the senator officially launched his re-election bid. He has served in the Senate since 2010, securing reelection twice by double-digit margins.
Karp was Coons’ top Palantir-related contributor, donating $7,000. Other employee donations totaled $10,500.
Karp also donated $10,000 in total to the Blue Hen Federal PAC. Coons established the committee to raise funds in support of other candidates and Democratic political groups.
Despite the donations, Coons has publicly opposed ICE enforcement, co-authoring the ICE Accountability Act in an effort to stop abuse within detention centers.
He also spoke out against ICE enforcement efforts in Minneapolis earlier this year after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“Like so many Americans, I’ve watched in horror as masked agents terrorize Minnesota and communities across the country and kill peaceful protestors,” Coons said in a press release earlier this year. “Delawareans rightly want reforms, and so do I, but reforms are meaningless without oversight and enforcement.”
Coons also has recently proposed legislation to enable safeguards when artificial intelligence is used within the U.S. Department of Defense.
Other organizations react
While Travers, the Indivisible Highlands and Beyond leader, said she was surprised to see Coons taking money from Palantir, representatives from other advocacy groups said they were not as shocked.
Karl Stromberg, the political director of Delaware’s Working Families Party, which has been backing progressive challengers to many incumbent Democrats, noted that Coons, a centrist Democrat, has historically raised campaign funds from corporate America.
“Contributions, whether corporate or otherwise, often can determine essentially who gets access to our senators, who gets in the room, whose opinion is taken more seriously,” he said.
The Delaware Democratic Party did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s request for comment.
Mariah Schnee, with Delawareans for Palestinian Human Rights, also said she was not surprised by the donations, since Palantir donates to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The company and its top officials have donated to central funds and candidates from both parties, but its spending has disproportionately favored Republicans by a 3-1 margin.
“Delaware voters deserve to know whether their senator’s position on Gaza and immigration enforcement reflect their values or the interests of his donors,” she said.
Coons is set to face off against political newcomers Jeff Appelhans and Mary Louve, along with former Republican candidate Eric Hansen who has switched parties, in the Sept. 15 Democratic primary election.
