Centrist Independent Voter endorses Senator Chris Coons in Delaware’s September 15 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.
Coons has represented Delaware in the Senate since 2010. He is the kind of experienced, institutionally minded and bipartisan senator that Centrist Independent Voter would like to see remain in Congress.
His record is particularly strong on foreign policy. Coons has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression and argues that a lasting peace must preserve Ukrainian sovereignty rather than simply give Russia time to rearm. He supports continued American military, intelligence and financial assistance while also pressing European allies to carry a substantial share of the burden.
Coons has also maintained strong support for Israel without treating support for Israel as requiring support for every decision made by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. In 2026 he opposed efforts to block American weapons sales to Israel while making clear that his vote was not an endorsement of the Israeli government’s conduct.
Willing to Confront Difficult Arithmetic
Fiscal responsibility is another reason for our endorsement.
Coons recently joined Republicans and Democrats in sponsoring the PROMISE Act, which would force Congress to begin addressing Social Security’s approaching insolvency. Any proposal emerging from the process would have to keep the program solvent for at least another 50 years.
The legislation does not dictate whether the eventual solution should involve revenues, benefits or some combination. That is a virtue. The first requirement for serious fiscal policy is acknowledging that the arithmetic cannot simply be wished away.
Coons also understands the economic cost of tariffs. He has introduced bipartisan legislation exempting homebuilding materials from tariffs because imposing taxes on imported construction materials raises the cost of building homes at precisely the time the country suffers from significantly higher housing costs.
On immigration, Coons has long supported comprehensive reform combining stronger border security with an earned path to legal status or citizenship. He voted against the final Laken Riley Act after unsuccessfully trying to amend provisions he believed would divert immigration-enforcement resources from dangerous offenders toward people accused of less serious crimes. That combination of enforcement, legal immigration and due process is broadly consistent with our own immigration policy.
The Democratic Primary
Coons faces three challengers.
Jeff Appelhans presents some thoughtful arguments about constitutional government but supports Medicare for All and breaking up large healthcare organizations, moving considerably farther left than we would on healthcare policy.
E. No-Trump Hansen offers voters an explicitly anti-Trump candidacy, but opposition to one president is not by itself a governing program sufficient to displace an experienced senator with Coons’s record.
Mary Louve has provided too little substantive public information about her positions or qualifications to make a persuasive case for replacing an experienced incumbent.
All three are entitled to make their case. None provides a persuasive reason for Democratic voters to remove one of the Senate’s more serious bipartisan legislators.
The Choice
Chris Coons will not agree with Centrist Independent Voter on every issue. But he supports American alliances and Ukraine, recognizes the importance of Israel’s security, understands that tariffs impose costs on Americans, takes the Social Security financing problem seriously and has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to work with Republicans.
At a time when Congress has too few members willing to combine principle with practical governing, that record deserves support.
Centrist Independent Voter endorses Chris Coons in Delaware’s September 15 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.