Delaware Senate Candidate Sues Election Commissioner

DOVER, Del. — August 19, 2026 — William McVay, the founder and authorized representative of the Conservative Party of Delaware, has filed suit in Delaware Superior Court against State Election Commissioner Anthony Albence, seeking to affirm his authority to represent the party and submit candidate nominations on its behalf.

The lawsuit challenges the Department of Elections' decision to refuse nomination certificates submitted by McVay as the authorized representative of the Conservative Party of Delaware political committee and revoke his access to the state filing system.

McVay says the decision was made without his knowledge or authorization. The Department later briefly restored his access to the committee's state filing system, but subsequently refused to accept nomination certificates first submitted in January by McVay for the 2026 election.

In July, McVay attempted again to file certificates nominating himself for the United States Senate and Jon Roe for Attorney General on the Conservative ballot line. The Department refused to accept the filings, citing requirements concerning party affiliation and convention procedures.

The dispute has now reached the courts.

"This is not about my own ballot access," McVay said. "The question is whether a political organization in Delaware actually has the right to determine who represents it, or whether the State can decide that someone else controls it without telling the organization, without identifying a lawful mechanism for transferring that authority, and without giving the existing representative an opportunity to contest it."

McVay established the Conservative Party of Delaware political committee in 2022 as an independent organization intended to provide an alternative ballot line for candidates who wanted to identify as conservative without being part of the Republican Party. The Department subsequently recognized McVay as the party's representative and accepted Conservative Party nominations under his authority, including nominations for the 2024 election.

The party's governing structure did not create automatic membership based on voter registration, an organizing convention, or a mechanism allowing outside members to replace its governing authority. This structure was deliberately created to ensure neutrality and fiduciary representation for the nearly 900 registered conservatives and the candidates seeking ballot access in the state while they remain ineligible for the filing fee-gated, taxpayer-funded, and state-operated primaries hosted on behalf of the major parties.

"Other minor parties in Delaware have frequently been subject to the whims of a small cadre with an overabundance of time on their hands," McVay said. "It's all too easy to manipulate arcane party rules with ballot access and thousands of dollars of party funds at stake."

McVay therefore disputes the Department's conclusion that a purported party gathering could transfer control of the organization to someone who had never been authorized to govern it.

The Department's position has also prevented McVay from using the separate Non-Partisan Delaware ballot line to nominate candidates. In correspondence following his July filings, Commissioner Albence stated that McVay was not affiliated with the Non-Partisan Party and therefore could not submit party-related materials on its behalf.

The lawsuit asks the Superior Court to declare the rights of minor party governing authorities and the limits of the Commissioner's discretion and require the Commissioner to perform his statutory duties with respect to McVay's nomination filings and the political committees he represents.

McVay said the case has implications beyond the 2026 election.

"Minor parties should not have to guess whether the ballot access they built yesterday will still belong to them tomorrow," McVay said. "If there is a lawful way to transfer control of a political party, the State should be able to explain what that process is. If there isn't, a person shouldn't be able to acquire control simply by claiming that a convention happened."

McVay is proceeding without counsel.  Filing fees and service of process were covered by contributions from the Attorney General nominee Jon Roe and the Libertarian Defense Fund PAC.

About the Case

William McVay v. Anthony Albence,
in his official capacity as
State Election Commissioner of Delaware
(K26M-08-018 JJC)

Delaware Superior Court
Complaint for Declaratory and Mandamus Relief

The complaint seeks judicial clarification of the authority governing minor-party organizations, the State's treatment of their authorized representatives, and McVay's ability to submit nominations on behalf of the Conservative Party of Delaware and other ballot-qualified organizations.  A full conforming copy of what was filed with the Superior Court is attached.

Media Contact:
Will McVay
302.670.1971
mcvay.will@gmail.com
info@conservativede.org