Republican upsets party-backed rival to challenge first openly trans member of Congress

Delaware Republicans nominated political scientist Joseph “Dr. Joe” Arminio for the state’s lone U.S. House seat Tuesday, bypassing both the state GOP’s endorsed candidate and its 2024 nominee to send Arminio into a November match-up against Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del.

Arminio defeated Rev. Earl Cooper, the Delaware Republican Party’s endorsed candidate, and John Whalen, the party’s 2024 nominee, for the seat and a chance to defeat McBride in the Nov. 3 general election. 

McBride won Delaware’s at-large House seat in 2024, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress after defeating Whalen by roughly 16 percentage points in the general election.

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McBride is seeking a second term in a seat Republicans have not won since 2008.

Arminio, a Wilmington native, is a political scientist, author and educator who holds a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he focused on national defense policy and international relations, according to WHYY. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University and has taught at American University and Lincoln University.

Tuesday’s race was not Arminio’s first congressional campaign, though it was his first in Delaware. He previously sought the Republican nomination in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District in 2008, receiving about 1.6% of the vote in a four-way primary won by Andy Harris, according to WHYY, a public media organization based in Philadelphia.

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Arminio campaigned on economic issues, arguing that excessive public and private debt has squeezed American families. He identified inflation and the cost of groceries, gasoline and housing among the biggest economic challenges facing Delaware.

“The Republican country for that matter is in dire peril,” he told WHYY in an interview. “The economy’s in very bad shape. We’re suffering from crushing private and public debt. So your typical family is having a hard time making ends meet. The young cannot afford to buy a home. They’re having difficulty in their relationships, getting married. It’s very, very serious.”

Arminio will now try to break Democrats’ long-running hold on Delaware’s lone House seat, which the party has controlled since John Carney took over after former U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del, retired and left office when he did not seek reelection in 2010, instead deciding to run for the U.S. Senate. 

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