Colin Rafferty Marie Jude Bonini (born April 14, 1965) is an American politician and a Republican former 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 whi ...

, where he represented the 16th District from 1995 to 2022. Bonini received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Wesley College in 1991. He received a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

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 m ...

in 1999. While in college, he worked for

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...

Bill Roth and the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. He was elected in 1994 to represent the 16th District in the Delaware Senate. 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 Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

around the Dover Air Force Base and the towns of Frederica and

Harrington Harrington (or Harington) may refer to: People as a surname * Harrington (surname) People as a forename * Arthur Raikes (Arthur Edward Harington Raikes, 1867–1915), British army officer *Charles Harrington Elster, American writer *Edward Josep ...

In 2010, Bonini unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer, losing to Democrat

Chip Flowers Chipman "Chip" L. Flowers Jr. (born December 27, 1974, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician, attorney and business owner who served as the treasurer of the state of Delaware from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Fl ...

. Flowers received 51 percent of the vote to defeat Bonini by 6,121 votes. Shortly after the 2014 elections, Bonini announced he would run for governor in the following election. 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. Bonini competed with former

state trooper State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction ...

Lacey Lafferty in the Republican primary election, which he won with 70% of the vote. He lost to U.S. Congressman John Carney in the general election, garnering less than 40% of the vote. 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. On September 13, 2022, Bonini was defeated in the Republican primary, finishing last place in a 3-way race.

Electoral history

References

External links

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Project Vote Smart – Senator Colin Bonini (DE)
profile , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonini, Colin R.J. 1965 births 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2016 United States elections Republican Party Delaware state senators Identical twins Living people People from Dover, Delaware People from Stanford, California American twins Wesley College (Delaware) alumni Candidates in the 2020 United States elections