Debra Heffernan

Democratic Party

Delaware House of Representatives District 6

Tenure

2010 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

15

Compensation

Base salary

$50,678/year

Per diem

No per diem is paid.

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Delaware

Graduate

Environmental Toxicology, Duke University

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

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Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Personal Facebook

Debra Heffernan (Democratic Party) is a member of theDelaware House of Representatives, representingDistrict 6. She assumed office on November 3, 2010. Her current term ends on November 3, 2026.

Heffernan (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to theDelaware House of Representatives to representDistrict 6. She won in the general election onNovember 5, 2024.

Biography

Heffernan earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Delaware and an M.S. in environmental toxicology from Duke University. Heffernan is an environmental toxicologist who has worked in private industry and as a consultant for Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Heffernan was assigned to the following committees:

• House Agriculture Committee
• Joint Committee on Capital Improvement,Debra Heffernan
• Capital Infrastructure Committee
• Health & Human Development Committee
• Natural Resources and Energy Committee,Chair
• Transportation Committee
• House Veterans Affairs Committee

2023-2024

Heffernan was assigned to the following committees:

• House Agriculture Committee
• Capital Infrastructure Committee,Chair
• Health & Human Development Committee
• Natural Resources and Energy Committee,Chair
• House Veterans Affairs Committee
• Joint Committee on Capital Improvement,Vice Chair

2021-2022

Heffernan was assigned to the following committees:

• House Veterans Affairs Committee
• Joint Committee on Capital Improvement,Vice-Chair
• Capital Infrastructure Committee,Chair
• House Education Committee
• House Energy Committee
• Health & Human Development Committee
• Natural Resources and Energy Committee,Chair

2019-2020

Heffernan was assigned to the following committees:

• Joint Committee on Capital Improvement,Co-Chair
• Capital Infrastructure Committee,Chair
• House Education Committee
• House Energy Committee
• Natural Resources and Energy Committee,Chair
• House Veterans Affairs Committee
• Health & Social Services Committee

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Heffernan served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Heffernan served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Heffernan served on these committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan defeatedMichael Krawczuk in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Heffernan (D)	65.7	8,766
	Submit photo	Michael Krawczuk (R)	34.3	4,586

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,352
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. IncumbentDebra Heffernan advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled.Michael Krawczuk advanced from the Republican primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6.

Endorsements

2022

See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan defeatedMichael Krawczuk in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Heffernan (D)	67.9	6,352
	Submit photo	Michael Krawczuk (R)	32.1	3,008

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,360
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan defeatedBecca Cotto in the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Heffernan	55.5	1,567
	Submit photo	Becca Cotto	44.5	1,256

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,823
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled.Michael Krawczuk advanced from the Republican primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6.

2020

See also: Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan won election in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Heffernan (D)	100.0	10,097

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,097
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. IncumbentDebra Heffernan advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6.

2018

See also:Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan defeatedJeffrey Olmstead in the general election for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Heffernan (D)	65.3	7,073
		Jeffrey Olmstead (R)	34.7	3,754

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,827 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

IncumbentDebra Heffernan advanced from the Democratic primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on September 6, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Debra Heffernan

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6

Jeffrey Olmstead advanced from the Republican primary for Delaware House of Representatives District 6 on September 6, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Jeffrey Olmstead

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2016

See also:Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for theDelaware House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was July 12, 2016.

IncumbentDebra Heffernan ran unopposed in the Delaware House of Representatives District 6 general election.^[1][2]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Debra HeffernanIncumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	9,545
Total Votes				9,545
Source:Delaware Department of Elections

IncumbentDebra Heffernan ran unopposed in the Delaware House of Representatives District 6 Democratic primary.^[3][4][1]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Debra HeffernanIncumbent (unopposed)

Lee Murphy ran unopposed in the Delaware House of Representatives District 6 Republican primary.^[3][4][1]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Lee Murphy (unopposed)

2014

See also:Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for theDelaware House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 8, 2014. IncumbentDebra Heffernan was unopposed in the Democratic primary, whileKyle K. Buzzard was unopposed in the Republican primary. Heffernan defeated Buzzard in the general election.Lee Murphy (R) was removed from the ballot before the primary.^[5][6][7]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Debra HeffernanIncumbent	63.4%	4,620
	Republican	Kyle K. Buzzard	36.6%	2,662
Total Votes				7,282

2012

See also:Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2012

Heffernan ran in the2012 election forDelaware House of Representatives District 6. Heffernan ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 11, 2012 and was challenged byEric Taylor in the general election on November 6, 2012.^[8]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Debra HeffernanIncumbent	62.4%	7,502
	Republican	Eric Taylor	37.6%	4,529
Total Votes				12,031

2010

See also:Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2010

Heffernan defeated incumbent RepublicanThomas Kovach and Libertarian Matthew John Flebbe in the November 2 general election.^[9]

Delaware House of Representatives, District 6 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Debra Heffernan (D)		4,263	51.9%
Thomas Kovach (R)		3,856	46.9%
Matthew John Flebbe (L)		97	1.2%

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Debra Heffernan did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Debra Heffernan did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Debra Heffernan did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Delaware

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Delaware scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Heffernan and her husband, Patrick, have three children.

She has been president of the Brandywine School Board since 2008, having been originally elected to the board in 2005.^[10]

See also

2024 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

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