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2016 Candidate Conversations: U.S. House

The 2016 election cycle is now moving into full swing.

As part of our election coverage, Delaware Public Media is offering a series a Candidate Conversations.

We’ve reached out to all candidates that have filed to run in the races for Governor and U.S. House and invited them to sit down with us. Candidates in each race are being asked the same set of questions to allow you to get to know then and compare them.

In the race for Delaware's lone seat in the U.S. House, eight candidates are running to fill the seat currently head by John Carney, who is leaving to run for governor.

Democrats Sean Barney, Mike Miller, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Bryan Townsend, Scott Walker and Elias Weir will face off in a September primary to decide who will join Republican Hans Reigle and Libertarian Scott Gesty on the November General Election ballot.

Mike Miller and Elias Weir did not respond to our interview invitations.

Candidate Conversations, produced with support from AARP, are part of Delaware Debates 2016, a collaboration between Delaware Public Media and the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication.

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Democrat Sean Barney, a former aide to an aide to Sen. Tom Carper and Gov. Jack Markell, is making his second statewide run for elected office.  ran for State Treasurer two years ago and lost to Republican Ken Simpler by a 54-44 percent margin.

Sean Barney's official campaign website.

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Scott Gesty is running for U.S. House for a third time as under the Libertarian Party banner.  He lost to Democrat John Carney in both 2012 and 2014, each time receiving less than 2 percent of the vote.

Scott Gesty's official campaign website.

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Republican Hans Reigle is running statewide for the first time.  He previously served as both a councilman and mayor of the Town of Wyoming.

Hans Reigle's official campaign website.

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Lisa Blunt Rochester is making her first run for elected office.  She was previously state labor Secretary and  CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League. 

Lisa Blunt Rochester's official campaign website.

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Democrat Bryan Townsend is running statewide for the first time.  He is current a state senator representing the Newark area.  he won that seat in 2012.

Bryan Townsend's official campaign website.

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Democrat and Milford businessman Scott Walker is making his first run for elected office.

Scott Walker does not have an official campaign website.

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Mike Miller's official campaign website.

Elias Weir does not have an official campaign website.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.