Meet Chris
Meet Chris
Chris is focused on working across the aisle to get things done for the people of Delaware. Raised in Hockessin, he spent a decade in county government before he was elected in 2010 to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate.
In Delaware, Chris served as New Castle County Council President for four years and New Castle County Executive for six years, working closely with local and state police, firefighters, and municipal workers. Working in county government, Chris saw that constituents don’t care if there’s a Democratic way or a Republican way to fix a sewer line—they just want it done.
Prior to serving as county executive, Chris worked for one of the largest privately-held manufacturing companies in the country, Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates.
Putting pragmatism ahead of politics, Chris has partnered with Republicans and Democrats alike to address key issues facing Delaware, the country, and the world, from supporting law enforcement to making our foreign aid more effective. He is regularly rated as among the most bipartisan members of the Senate.
As a law student, Chris founded the Delaware chapter of the national “I Have a Dream” Foundation, which helps low-income students make the academic journey from elementary school through college. While working with the organization’s national office, he launched and ran the “I Have a Dream” Foundation’s AmeriCorps program, which helped recruit and train volunteers to mentor students in 15 cities.
He believes our country is stronger and more resilient when we bolster communities and the civic ties that unite all Americans.
Chris grew up attending Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church in Hockessin and was an ordained elder with West Presbyterian Church. He is one of only three senators with a divinity degree, and he has preached at houses of worship across Delaware. Chris regularly participates in the weekly bipartisan Senate Prayer Breakfast.
Chris serves on the Senate Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees. He is the vice chair of the Ethics Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee.
When he first joined the Senate, one of Chris’ mentors taught him, “You don’t have to agree with someone on everything to work with them – just one thing.” That mindset has helped Chris achieve legislative successes across the political spectrum, from establishing a major new public-private partnership to fund global conservation efforts to defending American innovation and inventions.
Chris lives in Wilmington with his wife, Annie, and they have three grown children. Chris graduated from Amherst College with a degree in chemistry and political science. While in college, Chris spent a semester studying at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and he later returned to the continent after college to work with the South African Council of Churches in the anti-apartheid movement.
