Gerald W. Hocker (born January 9, 1948) is an American politician who is a Republican member of the

Delaware Senate The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at wh ...

, where he has represented the 20th district since 2012. Hocker previously served 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 ...

where he represented the 38th District from 2002 to 2012. Hocker has been the Senate Minority Leader since 2019. Hocker was born on January 9, 1948, at Beebe Hospital in

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delawar ...

. He was raised in Millville, Delaware where he graduated from Lord Baltimore High School in 1966. He then attended 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 ...

, ultimately graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in business administration.

Elections

*In 2000, Hocker ran against

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 ...

Democratic Senator George Bunting for the Senate District 20 seat. He won the Republican primary, but lost the general election to Bunting. *In 2002, Hocker ran against incumbent Democratic Representative Shirley Price for the House District 38 seat. He was unopposed in the Republican primary and won the three-way general election by 57 votes with 4,436 votes total (49.8%) against Price 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 en ...

candidate Donna Layfield Sinnamon. *In 2004, Hocker was challenged by Price for a rematch and won the general election with 7,653 votes (61.4%) against Price. *In 2006, Hocker won the general election with 6,849 votes (72.3%) against Democratic nominee Robert Maddex. *In 2008, Hocker won the general election with 9,769 votes (72.1%) against Democratic nominee Mary Ryan. *In 2010, Hocker was unopposed in the general election, winning 9,371 votes. *In 2012, Hocker ran for the Senate District 20 seat left open by the retirement of Democrat George Bunting. Hocker was unopposed for Republican primary and won the general election with 14,290 votes (68.0%) against Democratic nominee Richard Eakle. *In 2016, Hocker won the general election with 17,908 votes (72.4%) against Democratic nominee Perry J. Mitchell. *In 2020, Hocker was unopposed in the general election, winning 24,000 votes.

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 Legisl ...

Campaign site
* 1948 births 21st-century American politicians Republican Party Delaware state senators Living people Republican Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives People from Lewes, Delaware People from Ocean View, Delaware University of Delaware alumni {{Delaware-politician-stub