Delaware Attorney General

The attorney general of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice. On January 1, 2019, Kathy Jennings was sworn in as the 46th attorney general of Delaware.

Description of the office The attorney general is elected to a four-year term in the "off-year" state election along with the state treasurer and state auditor, two years before/after the election of the governor. The attorney general, the state treasurer, state auditor, and state insurance commissioner offices are intended to serve as restraints to the governor's exclusive executive authority. The attorney general office existed in various forms prior to the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1776, which continued the existing colonial tradition of granting the governor the power to appoint the attorney general for a five-year tenure. With the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1897, the post was converted to its present four-year elected form, also establishing the attorney general as third in line of succession to the office of governor, after the lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

Officeholders Gunning Bedford Jr. was the first holder of the office after American independence. The office was held from 2007 to 2015 by Beau Biden, who was elected in 2006 and took office on January 2, 2007. He was a Democrat and the eldest son of 46th U.S. President and longest-serving U.S. Senator from Delaware Joe Biden. # Image Name Term of office Political party 1 Gunning Bedford Jr. 1778–1790 2 Nicholas Ridgely 1790–1801 3 Nicholas Van Dyke 1801–1806 Federalist 4 Outerbridge Horsey 1806–1810 Federalist 5 Thomas Clayton 1810–1815 Federalist 6 James Rogers 1815–1830 7 Robert Frame 1830–1835 8 James Rogers 1835–1840 9 Edward W. Gilpin 1840–1850 10 Willard Saulsbury Sr. 1850–1855 Democratic 11 George P. Fisher 1855–1860 Unionist 12 Alfred Wooten 1860–1864 13 Jacob Moore 1864–1869 Republican 14 Charles B. Lore 1869–1874 Democratic 15 John B. Penington 1874–1879 Democratic 16 George Gray 1879–1885 Democratic 17 John Henry Paynter 1885–1887 18 John Biggs 1887–1892 19 John R. Nicholson 1892–1895 20 Robert C. White 1895–1901 21 Herbert H. Ward 1901–1905 22 Robert H. Richards 1905–1909 23 Andrew C. Gray 1909–1913 24 Josiah O. Wolcott 1913–1917 Democratic 25 David J. Reinhardt 1917–1921 26 Sylvester D. Townsend Jr. 1921–1925 27 Clarence A. Southerland 1925–1929 Republican 28 Reuben Satterthwaite Jr. 1929–1933 29 Daniel J. Layton 1933 Republican 30 P. Warren Green 1933–1939 31 James R. Morford 1939–1943 32 Clair J. Killoran 1943–1947 33 Albert W. James 1947–1951 34 H. Albert Young 1951–1955 35 Joseph D. Craven 1955–1959 Democratic 36 Januar D. Bove Jr. 1959–1963 Republican 37 David P. Buckson 1963–1971 Republican 38 W. Laird Stabler Jr. 1971–1975 Republican 39 Richard R. Wier Jr. 1975–1979 Democratic 40 Richard S. Gebelein 1979–1983 Republican 41 Charles Oberly 1983–1995 Democratic 42 M. Jane Brady 1995–2005 Republican 43 Carl C. Danberg 2005–2007 Democratic 44 Beau Biden 2007–2015 Democratic 45 Matthew Denn 2015–2019 Democratic 46 Kathy Jennings 2019–present Democratic

Delaware Attorney General

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