REP. CLAIRE SNYDER-HALL is proud to be the FIRST WOMAN elected to represent the people of RD 14 — Rehoboth Beach, Dewey, and the southern part of Lewes — in the DELAWARE STATE HOUSE. She was elected in 2024, after defeating two opponents in the Democratic primary and winning the General Election by ten points. With the support of dozens of volunteers, Claire knocked on over 6000 doors during the campaign, and she views those grassroots efforts as the key to success. She was proud to be endorsed by the Delaware State Education Associate, the Delaware Public Employees Council 81, the Victory Fund, LPAC, and Delaware Stonewall PAC, among others.
While running for office, Claire repeatedly noted that the 2024 election would be the most monumental in our history, saying “Choice is on the ballot, democracy is on the ballot, and our quality of life in Coastal Sussex is on the ballot, as we face a series of challenges around education, healthcare, and the environment, due largely to climate change and out-of-control development.” And she pledged to work with others to get the Sussex County Council to better respect the wishes of the community.
Since arriving in Dover in January 2025, Claire has worked hard to address the issues she ran on, by co-sponsoring a large number of bills: protecting reproductive freedom (SB 5) and the right to privacy (HB 14), expanding the freedom to vote (SB 2, SB 3, HB 88), establishing the Office of the Inspector General (SB 4) and a fair redistricting process (SB 14), raising teacher salaries (SB 81) and supporting play-based learning for young students (HB 15), supporting healthcare professionals (in process) and Medicare recipients (SB 71), and advocating for clean energy (SB 159) and environmental protection (HB 111). She also supported a couple of bills that would prevent County Council from obstructing state law (SB 75, SB 159). In addition to that, she also helped kill a number of bills that would have had a negative impact on her agenda.
Claire has also consistently co-sponsored bills to protect the rights and freedoms of Delawareans, including Death with Dignity (HB 140); marriage equality (SB 100); non-discrimination (HB 36, SB 78, SB 83); supports for low-income Delawareans (HB 50, HB 133), manufactured home owners (HB 39, SB 40, SB 56), the unhoused (HB 135), and people with disabilities (HB 48, HB 53); blocking book bans (HB 119); protecting vulnerable adults (SB 85), and slowing down attempts to abduct and deport our immigrant neighbors (HB 60, 93, 94, 95, 96, 182), among others.
Claire also supports veterans (HB 1) and our first responders (SB 86).
When Claire ran for office, she already had a proven track record of success in Dover. For five years, she led the Delaware office of Common Cause, a non-partisan organization that works to safeguard the freedom to vote, fights to strengthen campaign finance laws, opposes cronyism and corruption, and advocates for ethical and transparent government. Through her work with Common Cause Delaware, Claire built coalitions with ally organizations and lobbied state legislators to support or block various bills, and through that work she developed good, strong working relationships with lawmakers and the leaders of governmental and non-governmental organizations all over the state.
Prior to joining the CCDE team in 2015, Claire was very active in Delaware politics. She ran for the Delaware State Senate in 2014 against an anti-choice incumbent; co-led the weekly phone banks at CAMP Rehoboth during the marriage equality campaign; organized canvassing efforts to protect manufactured homeowners from arbitrary rent increases; and did prison ministry in Sussex Correctional with Father Max Wolf, among other things.
Before moving to Rehoboth full-time in 2011, Claire was a tenured faculty member at George Mason University, where she taught political science and also administered a range of academic programs. Her twenty years of classroom teaching experience also include courses taught at Princeton University, Rutgers University, Hunter College, Illinois State University, & New College of Florida (before Gov. DeSantis destroyed it).
Claire holds a PhD in political science from Rutgers University, with a major in political philosophy and minors in political economy and women & politics, and a BA cum laude in psychology from Smith College. She resides in the Villages of Old Landing in Rehoboth with her wife Mikki Snyder-Hall and their four cats.