2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware
The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the U.S. Representative from Delaware's at-large congressional district, who will represent the state of Delaware in the 116th United States Congress. The election coincided with the election of a U.S. Senator from Delaware and other federal and state offices. Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, the incumbent, won re-election.
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Turnout | 50.84% | |||||||||||||||
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County results Rochester: 50–60% 70–80% Walker: 50-60% | ||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Delaware |
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Democratic primary
Lisa Blunt Rochester ran unopposed in the primary and automatically became the Democratic nominee.
Nominee
- Lisa Blunt Rochester, incumbent U.S. Representative[1]
Withdrew
- Rose Izzo, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016, 2014, and 2012 (ran for State House in district 7)
Declined
- Kerri Evelyn Harris, Dover activist and U.S. Air Force veteran (ran for U.S. Senate)
Endorsements
- Organizations
- Congressional Black Caucus PAC
- Democratic Party
- Delaware Women Legislators
- Human Rights Campaign[2]
- Planned Parenthood
- Stonewall Democrats
Republican Party
Nominee
- Scott Walker, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016[3]
Write-in
- Marvin Davis, far-rightist
- Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (not filed)
- Andrew Webb, community activist and student[5]
Endorsements
- Political candidates
- Gene Truono, Republican candidate for United States Senate
Primary results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Scott Walker | 19,573 | 53.00% | |
Republican | Lee Murphy | 17,359 | 47.00% | |
Total votes | 36,932 | 100% |
Controversy
Shortly after the final results for the Republican primary, controversy almost immediately emerged about Scott Walker’s victory, as Lee Murphy had been seen as many as the favorite to win. Murphy refused to concede and took to Facebook in saying, “Friends, thanks for all your support- something stinks here and I will not be conceding anytime soon. Need to investigate big time. A Dem wins a Republican primary?”[4] Murphy also called for an investigation into the results.[7] Walker responded in saying that God led his campaign to victory.[8] Student and community activist Andrew Webb declared his Republican write-in candidacy on September 17, 2018, hoping to gain support from dissatisfied Republicans. He announced a platform of more moderate/traditional conservative ideas.[5]
Libertarian Party
Endorsed by Sussex County Chapter
- Andrew Webb, community activist and student (write-in)
Independent Party of Delaware
Write-in
- Andrew Webb, community activist and student[9]
Independents
Declared
- Paul Johnston, veteran (write-in)
Withdrew
- Christopher Mockerman, activist (running for State House in District 17)[10][11]
General election
Endorsements
- U.S. Senators
- Tom Carper, U.S. Senator from Delaware
- Chris Coons, U.S. Senator from Delaware
- Governors
- John Carney, 74th Governor of Delaware[12]
- Lt. Governors
- Political candidates
- Don Allan, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 36th Representative district
- Colleen Davis, Democratic nominee for State Treasurer
- Dee Durham, Democratic nominee for New Castle County's 2nd council district
- Krista Griffith, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 12th Representative district
- Kathy Jennings, Democratic nominee for Delaware state Attorney General
- Elizabeth "Tizzy" Lockman, Delaware State Senator-elect for 3rd district
- Laura Sturgeon, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 4th Senate district
- Individuals
- Coby Owens, social justice activist, CEO of Youth Caucus of America, and 2016 delegate for Bernie Sanders
- Organizations
- Congressional Black Caucus PAC
- Democratic Party
- Delaware Division of Public Health
- Delaware Women Legislators
- Human Rights Campaign[2]
- Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
- Mary Ann’s List
- Planned Parenthood
- Sierra Club[13]
- Stonewall Democrats
- Individuals
- Lil B, rapper
- County Councilpersons
- Rob Arlett, Sussex County Councilman and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware[14]
- Individuals
- James Brittingham, Libertarian Party of Delaware Sussex County chairman
- Organizations
- Independent Party of Delaware
- Libertarian Party of Delaware Sussex County Chapter
- Declined to endorse Scott Walker
- Rob Arlett, Sussex County Councilman and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware (endorsed Andrew Webb) [14]
- Peter Kopf, former New Castle County Republican chairman
- Lee Murphy, former candidate
- Republican Party
- Andrew Webb, community activist and student (running as write-in)
Debates
- Full video of debate, University of Delaware October 17, 2018
- Full audio of debate, Delaware Public Media October 17, 2018
Predictions
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
FiveThirtyEight[15] | Solid D | September 2018 |
270towin[16] | Safe D | October 2018 |
Polling
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) |
Scott Walker (R) |
Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of Delaware | September 11–17, 2018 | 728 LV | – | 58% | 28% | 15% |
908 RV | ± 3.7% | 54% | 26% | 20% | ||
Gravis Marketing | July 24–29, 2018 | 884 | ± 3.3% | 46% | 38% | 16% |
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lisa Blunt Rochester (incumbent) | 227,353 | 64.26% | +8.74% | |
Republican | Scott Walker | 125,384 | 35.44% | -5.30% | |
Write-in | 1,077 | 0.3% | |||
Total votes | 353,814 | 100% | N/A | ||
Democratic hold |
References
- "FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE". Delaware Department of Elections.
- Campaign, Human Rights. "HRC Endorses Sen. Carper & Rep. Blunt Rochester for Re-Election". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- Lee, Jim (July 11, 2018). "Deadline passes, primary contenders are set". Dover Post.
- "Matthew Bittle on Twitter".
- Baumgart, Wolf von (September 18, 2018). "Andrew Webb Launches 2018 Campaign". delawarepolitics.net. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- "2018 Delaware primary election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- "Lee Murphy for Congress on Facebook".
- "Scott Walker for Congress on Facebook".
- "Independent Party of Delaware". WEBB 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
- "Source Voting - Delaware".
- "Declared Write-In Candidates - Delaware Department of Elections" (PDF).
- "John Carney on Instagram: "Thank you to everyone who came out to the Sussex County Jamboree this weekend! We have a great slate of candidates this year, and I'm..."". Instagram. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- Rochester, Lisa Blunt (September 24, 2018). "I am honored to receive the @SierraClub endorsement, and will continue to stand with them and friends of Delaware's environment in advocating for clean air, clean water, and wildlife protections. Together, we can protect and preserve our environment for generations to come.pic.twitter.com/rBwKAELnxg". twitter.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- "Andrew Webb for Congress on Facebook".
- "Delaware at large - 2018 House Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- "2018 House Election Interactive Map". 270towin. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- Johnson, Cheryl L. (February 28, 2019). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 2018". Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
External links
- Candidates at Vote Smart
- Candidates at Ballotpedia
- Campaign finance at FEC
- Campaign finance at Center for Responsive Politics
- Official campaign websites