Michael J. Ramone (born July 11, 1961) is an American politician from the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Ramone 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 ...

from 2008 to 2024, when he resigned to run for governor in the 2024 election. He subsequently lost in the general election to

Matt Meyer Matthew S. Meyer (born September 29, 1971) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the 76th governor of Delaware since 2025. He was previously the New Castle County executive from 2017 to 2025 ...

. He was succeeded in the House by Democratic candidate

Frank Burns Frank Burns may refer to: * Frank Burns (Pennsylvania politician) (born 1975), Pennsylvania politician * Frank Burns (Delaware politician), Delaware state representative * Frank L. Burns (1939–2003), director of the US Army's Delta Force leadersh ...

, who had lost to Ramone in 2022.

Early life

Ramone attended St. Mark's High School in suburban Wilmington, and then the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. At 20 years old, Ramone bought his first flower shop. After the business was hit by lightning and burned down, Ramone began working as a swimming instructor and pool attendant in order to meet payroll.

Political career

Ramone was elected to the

in 2008. During the 2022

lame-duck session A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a ''sine die'' ...

, House Republicans elected Ramone as their minority leader for the next term. In 2024, Ramone announced that he would not run for reelection and instead would run for

governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

in the 2024 election. He won the Republican primary on September 10, 2024, and faced Democratic candidate

in the general election. Ramone lost to Meyer, 56% to 44%.

Personal life

Ramone is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and has three children with his wife, Lisa.

Electoral history

*In 2008, Ramone won the general election against Democratic candidate Patricia Creedon. *In 2010, Ramone won the general election unopposed. *In 2012, Ramone won the general election unopposed. *In 2014, Ramone won the general election against

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

candidate David A. McCorquodale. *In 2016, Ramone won a rematch against McCorquodale in the general election. *In 2018, Ramone won the general election against Democratic candidate Stephanie Barry. *In 2020, Ramone won the general election against Democratic candidate Stephanie Barry. *In the 2022 general election, Ramone defeated Democratic candidate Frank Burns by a total of 35 votes where 8,725 votes were cast. *In the 2024 gubernatorial election, Ramone lost to Democratic candidate Matt Meyer.

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 Legi ...

Campaign site
* 1961 births 21st-century members of the Delaware General Assembly Candidates in the 2024 United States elections Catholic politicians from Delaware Living people Politicians from Wilmington, Delaware Republican Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives University of Delaware alumni {{Delaware-politician-stub