Colin Bonini
Colin Rafferty Marie Jude Bonini (born April 14, 1965) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Delaware Senate, where he has represented the 16th District since 1995.
Colin Bonini | |
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Member of the Delaware Senate from the 16th district | |
Assumed office January 10, 1995 | |
Preceded by | William Torbert |
Personal details | |
Born | Colin Rafferty Marie Jude Bonini April 14, 1965 Stanford, California, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Dr. Melissa Harrington
(m. 2001) |
Education | Wesley College (BA) University of Delaware (MPA) |
Bonini received his Bachelor of Arts from Wesley College in 1991. He received a Master of Public Administration from the University of Delaware in 1999.[1][2] While in college, he worked for United States Senator Bill Roth and the United States Department of State in New Delhi, India.
He was elected in 1994 to represent the 16th District in the Delaware Senate.[3] The district covers part of southern and eastern Kent County along with a small portion of adjacent Sussex County. It includes the southern portions of Dover around the Dover Air Force Base and the towns of Frederica and Harrington.

In 2010, Bonini unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer, losing to Democrat Chip Flowers. Flowers received 51 percent of the vote to defeat Bonini by 6,121 votes.[4]
Shortly after the 2014 elections, Bonini announced he would run for governor in the following election.[5] He stated that his campaign would focus on fixing the state's "significant systemic and fundamental problems", although he faced a significant obstacle as a Republican running statewide in the heavily Democratic state.[6] Bonini competed with former state trooper Lacey Lafferty in the Republican primary election, which he won with 70% of the vote.[7] He lost to U.S. Congressman John Carney in the general election, garnering less than 40% of the vote.[8] In 2020, Bonini again tried to run for governor but lost in the Republican primary to Julianne Murray, earning less than 35% of the vote.[9][10]
References
- "Senator Colin Bonini (R) - Delaware General Assembly".
- "The Voter's Self Defense System - Vote Smart".
- "Colin Bonini". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- "State of Delaware General Election Results". Office of the State Election Commissioner. Delaware Department of Elections. November 5, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- Starkey, Jonathan (November 6, 2014). "Colin Bonini: 'I'm running for governor'". The News Journal.
- Starkey, Jonathan (November 23, 2015). "Sen. Colin Bonini recommits to Delaware governor campaign". The News Journal.
- "State of Delaware Primary Election Results". Office of the State Election Commissioner. Delaware Department of Elections. September 14, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- "State of Delaware General Election Results". Office of the State Election Commissioner. Delaware Department of Elections. November 8, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- "Home - Bay to Bay News | Bay to Bay News".
- "Delaware Election Results".
External links
- "Senator Colin R. J. Bonini". Delaware General Assembly.
- "Colin Bonini". Official Campaign Website.
- Project Vote Smart – Senator Colin Bonini (DE) profile