Debra J. Heffernan (born April 8, 1962) is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

, representing District 6. Heffernan earned her BS in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

and her MS in

environmental toxicology Environmental toxicology is a multidisciplinarity, multidisciplinary field of science concerned with the study of the harmful effects of various chemical, biological and physical biological agent, agents on living organisms. Ecotoxicology is a ...

from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. Heffernan is a part of the

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

wing of the

Delaware Democratic Party The Delaware Democratic Party (DelDems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is headquartered in New Castle County and chaired by Erik Raser-Schramm. The party is the dominant political party in Delaware and ...

. She supported centrist US Senator

Tom Carper Thomas Richard Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, having held the seat si ...

in the 2018 US Senate election in Delaware over

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

challenger Kerri Evelyn Harris. In 2022, she defeated progressive challenger Becca Cotto in the Democratic primary.

Electoral history

*In 2010, Heffernan won the three-way general election with 4,363 votes (51.9%) against

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Tom Kovach Thomas H. Kovach (born May 27, 1969) is an American attorney and politician who served in the Delaware House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011 and as the president of the New Castle County Council from 2011 to 2012. A Republican, he ran for th ...

and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

nominee Matthew Flebbe. She was one of only ten candidates to defeat a sitting Republican in a state house race in 2010 according to

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

. *In 2012, Heffernan won the general election with 7,502 votes (62.4%) against Republican nominee Eric Taylor. *In 2014, Heffernan won the general election with 4,496 votes (63.4%) against Republican nominee Kyle Buzzard. *In 2016, Heffernan was unopposed in the general election and won 9,545 votes. *In 2018, Heffernan won the general election with 7,073 (65.3%) against Republican nominee Jeffrey Olmstead.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisla ...

Campaign site
* Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives Women state legislators in Delaware 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians People from New Castle County, Delaware University of Delaware alumni Duke University alumni {{Delaware-politician-stub