2020 United States Senate election in Delaware
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2020 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Delaware, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
 | |||||||||||||||||
November 3, 2020
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
  Coons: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Witzke: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% No data | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Incumbent Democratic senator Chris Coons ran for reelection to a second full term and won against Republican challenger Lauren Witzke with 59.4% of the vote. He outperformed Democratic presidential nominee and former Delaware Senator Joe Biden (whose seat Coons was elected to in a 2010 special election) by 0.7 percentage points, compared to the concurrent presidential election.[1] Coons also won Kent County, a swing county, for the first time in his senatorial career.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Chris Coons, incumbent U.S. senator[2][3][4]
Eliminated in primary
Withdrawn
- Scott Walker, Republican nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2018 (running for governor as a Republican)[7][8][9][10][11]
Declined
- Kerri Evelyn Harris, former candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2018[12][13]
- Lisa Blunt Rochester, incumbent U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district[14] (running for re-election)
Endorsements
U.S. vice presidents
- Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States (2009-2017), United States Senator from Delaware (1973-2009), Democratic nominee for the 2020 election[15]
State executives
- Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware (2009-2017), Treasurer of Delaware (1999-2009)[16]
State legislators
- Margaret Rose Henry, Member of the Delaware Senate from the 2nd District (1994-2019), Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate (2017-2019)[17]
- Sean Lynn, Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 31st district (2014-present)[18]
- Nicole Poore, Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate (2009-present), Member of the Delaware Senate from the district 12 (2013-present)[19]
Individuals
- Sarah McBride, LGBTQ rights activist, National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign and candidate for the Delaware State Senate[20]
Organizations
- 314 Action[21]
- American Bankers Association[22]
- Brady Campaign[23]
- Council for a Livable World[24]
- Delaware AFL-CIO[25]
- Delaware Bankers Association[22]
- Delaware Building and Construction Trades[26]
- Delaware Stonewall PAC[25]
- Democratic Majority for Israel[27]
- End Citizens United[28]
- Everytown for Gun Safety[29]
- Giffords[30]
- Human Rights Campaign[31]
- Humane Society of the United States Legislative Fund[32]
- Jewish Democratic Council of America[33]
- Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs[34]
- League of Conservation Voters[35]
- Moms Demand Action[36]
- NARAL Pro-Choice America[37]
- Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund[38]
- Planned Parenthood[39]
- Pro-Israel America[40]
- Sierra Club[41]
State legislators
- John Kowalko, Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 25th district (2006-present)[42]
Organizations
Political parties
Polling
Hypothetical head-to-head polling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons
with Chris Coons and more liberal female Democrat
|
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chris Coons (incumbent) | 87,332 | 72.85% | |
| Democratic | Jessica Scarane | 32,547 | 27.15% | |
| Total votes | 119,879 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
Eliminated in primary
- James DeMartino, attorney and nominee for the Delaware House of Representatives in 2016 & 2018[51]
Declined
- Rob Arlett, former Sussex County councilman and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018[52]
Endorsements
U.S. representatives
- Paul Gosar, U.S. representative from Arizona (2011–present)[55]
Individuals
- Nick Fuentes, white nationalist activist[56][57]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Lauren Witzke | 30,702 | 56.89% | |
| Republican | James DeMartino | 23,266 | 43.11% | |
| Total votes | 53,968 | 100.00% | ||
Other candidates
General election
Prior to the election, Chris Coons' re-election was considered to be a near certainty regardless of the Republican challenger. The choice of Lauren Witzke, a controversial extremist and believer of QAnon, as the nominee, only cemented this prediction. Networks declared Coons the winner as soon as voting ended, based on exit polling alone. Coons also outperformed Biden (who also once held this Senate seat) in terms of percentage, but underperformed in terms of raw vote, likely due to the lack of third-party Senate candidates.
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[60] | Solid D | October 29, 2020 |
| Inside Elections[61] | Safe D | October 28, 2020 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[62] | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| Daily Kos[63] | Safe D | October 30, 2020 |
| Politico[64] | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| RCP[65] | Safe D | October 23, 2020 |
| DDHQ[66] | Safe D | November 3, 2020 |
| 538[67] | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| Economist[68] | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
General election endorsements
Labor unions
Organizations
- Delaware State Education Association[70]
- National Education Association[71]
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Chris Coons (D) |
Lauren Witzke (R) |
Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Delaware[72] | September 21–27, 2020 | 847 (LV) | – | 57% | 27% | 17%[e] |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chris Coons (incumbent) | 291,804 | 59.44% | +3.61% | |
| Republican | Lauren Witzke | 186,054 | 37.90% | −4.33% | |
| Independent Party | Mark Turley | 7,833 | 1.59% | N/A | |
| Libertarian | Nadine Frost | 5,244 | 1.07% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 490,935 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
By county
| County | Chris Coons Democratic |
Lauren Witzke Republican |
Mark Turley IPoD |
Nadine Frost Libertarian |
Margin | Total votes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Kent | 43,893 | 51.65 | 38,571 | 45.39 | 1,553 | 1.83 | 958 | 1.13 | 5,322 | 6.26 | 84,975 |
| New Castle | 191,774 | 68.62 | 80,081 | 28.65 | 4,277 | 1.53 | 3,330 | 1.19 | 111,693 | 39.97 | 279,462 |
| Sussex | 56,137 | 44.38 | 67,402 | 53.28 | 2,003 | 1.58 | 956 | 0.76 | -11,265 | -8.90 | 126,498 |
| Totals | 291,804 | 59.44 | 186,054 | 37.90 | 7,833 | 1.60 | 5,244 | 1.07 | 105,750 | 21.54 | 490,935 |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[74]
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear - After being presented with a liberal set of arguments regarding Chris Coons
- After being presented with a conservative set of arguments regarding Chris Coons
- Voting intention without being presented with any arguments regarding Chris Coons
- "None/other/undecided" with 11%; Turley (DI) with 4%; Frost (L) with 2%