David Sokola is a member of the Delaware State Senate, representing District 8. He assumed office on November 7, 1990. His current term ends on November 3, 2026. The Delaware State Senate elected Sokola the president pro tempore, effective January 2021. The president pro tempore presides over the Senate body in the absence of the Senate president, which in the case of Delaware is the lieutenant governor. Sokola was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1955. He received a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Delaware in 1973. Sokola worked as a steelworker, teacher, and lab technician, retiring from the last of the three in 2015. Sokola was elected to the state Senate in 1990. From 2006 to 2022, he was re-elected by an average of 31 percentage points. The closest election was in 2016, when he defeated Meredith Chapman 50.82%-46.53%. As of April 2025, Sokola chaired the Senate Executive Committee and the Senate Legislative Council Committee. In 2021, Delaware Online's Sarah Gamard wrote that Sokola had been "friendly to progressive policies in recent years." Gamard also wrote that Sokola's election as president pro tempore followed "[s]everal incoming progressive Democrats [usurping] longtime, moderate incumbents in the September primary election."
