Colin R. J. Bonini

Colin Rafferty Marie Jude Bonini (born April 14, 1965) is an American politician and a Republican former member of the Delaware Senate, where he represented the 16th District from 1994 to 2022.

Education

Bonini received his Bachelor of Arts from Wesley College in 1991. He received a Master of Public Administration from the University of Delaware in 1999. While in college, he worked for United States Senator Bill Roth and the United States Department of State in New Delhi, India.

Political career

He was elected in 1994 to represent the 16th District in the Delaware Senate. The district covers part of southern and eastern Kent County along with a small portion of adjacent Sussex County. It includes the southern portions of Dover around the Dover Air Force Base and the towns of Frederica and Harrington.

In 2010, Bonini unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer, losing to Democrat Chip Flowers. Flowers received 51 percent of the vote to defeat Bonini by 6,121 votes.

Shortly after the 2014 elections, Bonini announced he would run for governor in the 2016 election to fix "significant systemic and fundamental problems" in the state. Bonini competed with former state trooper Lacey Lafferty in the Republican primary election, which he won with 70% of the vote. He lost to U.S. Congressman John Carney in the general election, garnering less than 40% of the vote. In 2020, Bonini again tried to run for governor but lost in the Republican primary to Julianne Murray, earning less than 35% of the vote. On September 13, 2022, Bonini was defeated in the Republican primary, finishing last place in a 3-way race.

In 2024, Bonini announced he was running for the Kent County Register of Wills in 2024. He won in the Republican primary elections for Kent County register of wills, defeating Susanne Whitney of Magnolia with 59.26% of the vote, 4,210 to 2,894. He received 3,431 machine votes, 523 early votes and 256 absentee votes.

Electoral history