Dennis E. Williams (born April 7, 1959) is a Democratic politician who represented the Talleyville-based 10th district in 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 ...

from 2009 until 2015, when he was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Sean Matthews Sean Matthews is an American politician. He is a Democratic member of the Delaware House of Representatives, representing District 10. He has been in office since 2014, when he challenged and defeated incumbent Democrat Dennis E. Williams, who h ...

. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for

Delaware State Auditor The Auditor of Accounts of Delaware is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Delaware. The incumbent is Lydia York, Lydia E. York, a Delaware Democratic Party, Democrat, who was elected to the position in the 2022 ...

in 2018.

Early life and education

Williams grew up in Cardiff, Delaware, and attended Concord High School. He graduated 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 ma ...

after majoring in accounting and financial management. He enrolled at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and received an MS in engineering in 2008.

Political career

Williams first ran to represent the 10th district in 1994 after defeating Cliff Werline in the Democratic primary by 965 to 627 votes. In the general election, he lost to

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an 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 seeking re-ele ...

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 ...

Jane Maroney by 29% to 71%. In 1996, Williams ran in the Democratic primary for the election for Delaware's congressional district, defeating Ernest Ercole. He was defeated by two-term incumbent Republican

Mike Castle Michael Newbold Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and politician who was governor of Delaware (1985–92) and the U.S. representative for (1993–2011). He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes the entire ...

in the November general election by 70% to 27%. He lost to Castle a second time in the 1998 general election. In 2004, Williams ran for 10th district representative, but lost to incumbent Republican Robert Valihura, who received 57% of the vote. He rematched Valihura in the 2008 general election and narrowly won (51% to 49%) in a major upset, aided by an increased number of registered Democrats and a higher Democratic turnout owing to the concurrent U.S. presidential election. Williams ran for reelection in 2010, beating challengers in both the Democratic primary and general election. Williams won reelection in 2012 but was defeated in the Democratic primary in 2014 and again in 2016. Williams unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Delaware State Auditor in 2018, losing the Democratic primary after earning 23% of the vote.

References

1959 births Living people People from New Castle County, Delaware University of Delaware alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives Candidates in the 1996 United States elections Candidates in the 1998 United States elections {{Delaware-politician-stub