Frank Burns is a Democratic state representative from Delaware who has represented House District 21 since November 2024 and is seeking re-election in the November 3, 2026 general election.[1] A scientist with a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, he founded a biotechnology company in 2019.[1][2]
Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, and earned a bachelor's degree from Villanova University in 1981 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986.[1] In a Ballotpedia survey, he said he grew up in a working-poor household, was the first generation in his family to attend college, and earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with a pre-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.[2] He said he was a medical school professor for more than a decade, joined the biotechnology company Qualicon in Wilmington in 2003, and in 2019 formed a biotechnology company focused on beneficial microbes.[2] He also said he volunteered with RespondDE during the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers with the Food Bank of Delaware, and serves on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek.[2]
Burns ran for House District 21 in 2022 and lost to Republican incumbent Michael Ramone, 4,346 votes to 4,381.[1] In 2024 he won the Democratic primary over Michael A. Smith and then defeated Republican Brenda Mennella in the general election, taking office on November 6, 2024.[1] For the 2025-2026 session he was assigned to the Health & Human Development, Labor, Natural Resources and Energy, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs committees.[1] In his 2024 Ballotpedia survey, he listed his campaign priorities as education funding, including universal pre-K and free school breakfast and lunch, green energy and biologically based industries, and affordable housing.[2]
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21. Not yet independently fact-checked.
