2016 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

The 2016 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the U.S. Representative from the state of Delaware from Delaware's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on September 13.

2016 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, At-large district

November 8, 2016
 
Nominee Lisa Blunt Rochester Hans Reigle
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 233,554 172,301
Percentage 55.5% 41.0%

County results
Rochester:      60–70%
Reigle:      40-50%      50-60%

U.S. Representative before election

John Carney
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Lisa Blunt Rochester
Democratic

Democrat John Carney, the incumbent representative, did not run for reelection, instead successfully running for Governor of Delaware.[1] Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester won the open seat on November 8th.

Democratic primary

Democrats Bryon Short, a member of the Delaware House of Representatives from Highland Woods, and Bryan Townsend, a member of the Delaware Senate from Newark, Delaware, had previously said they would run for the seat if Carney ran for governor.[1][2] Following Carney's announcement that he would run for governor, both Short and Townsend declared their candidacies in the race to succeed him.[3][4] Lisa Blunt Rochester, the former State Labor Secretary, also joined the race.[5] Short later withdrew from the race, citing difficulties fundraising.[6] Rochester won the primary with 43.8% of the vote.[7]

Nominee

  • Lisa Blunt Rochester, former State Labor Secretary, former State Personnel Director, and former CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League[5]

Eliminated in primary

  • Bryan Townsend, state senator[4]
  • Sean Barney, former policy director for Governor Jack Markell and nominee for state treasurer in 2014[8][5]
  • Mike Miller, businessman and perennial candidate[9]

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Sean Barney
Lisa Blunt Rochester
Bryan Townsend
  • Coby Owens, social justice activist, CEO of Youth Caucus of America, and 2016 delegate for Bernie Sanders
  • Donald Morton, civil rights leader[15]
  • Karen E. Peterson, state senator[15]
Bryon Short (withdrawn)

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Sean
Barney
Lisa
Blunt Rochester
Mike
Miller
Bryan
Townsend
Scott
Walker
Elias
Weir
Other Undecided
Fairleigh Dickinson University July 20–24, 2016 344 ± 5.3% 4% 11% 9% 11% 6% 0% 1% 52%
Gravis Marketing April 17–18, 2016 1,026 ± 3.1% 12% 8% 19% 61%

Results

Democratic primary results[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Lisa Blunt Rochester 27,920 43.8
Democratic Bryan Townsend 15,847 24.8
Democratic Sean Barney 12,891 20.2
Democratic Micheal Miller 3,500 5.5
Democratic Scott Walker 3,156 4.9
Democratic Elias Weir 480 0.8
Total votes 63,794 100.0

Republican primary

Hans Reigle, a former mayor of Wyoming, Delaware, and the former chairman of the Kent County Republican Party, ran unopposed on the ballot for the Republican nomination.[18]

Nominee

Failed to file

  • Rose Izzo, conservative activist, candidate for the seat in 2010 and 2012 and nominee in 2014[5] (never filed for primary)[19]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Hans
Reigle
Other Undecided
Fairleigh Dickinson University July 20–24, 2016 224 ± 6.6% 26% 14% 55%

General election

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Lisa
Blunt
Rochester (D)
Hans
Reigle (R)
Other Undecided
University of Delaware September 16–28, 2016 900 ± 3.8% 46% 26% 11% 18%

Results

Delaware's at-large congressional district, 2016[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lisa Blunt Rochester 233,554 55.52% -3.74%
Republican Hans Reigle 172,301 40.96% +4.20%
Green Mark J. Perri 8,326 1.97% -0.10%
Libertarian Scott Gesty 6,436 1.55% -0.36%
Total votes '420,617' '100.0%' N/A
Democratic hold

References

  1. Starkey, Jonathan (September 16, 2015). "Rep. John Carney enters 2016 governor race". The News Journal. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  2. Starkey, Jonathan (September 3, 2015). "Townsend hiring for congressional campaign". The News Journal. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  3. Offredo, Jon (September 25, 2015). "Delaware Rep. Bryon Short declares for Congress". The News Journal. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  4. Offredo, Jon (September 17, 2015). "State Sen. Bryan Townsend announces congressional bid". The News Journal. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  5. Offredo, Jon; Jonathan, Starkey (October 26, 2015). "Former state labor secretary enters congressional race". The News Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  6. Albright, Matthew; Duvernay, Adam (April 4, 2016). "Short drops out of congressional race, cites money". The News Journal. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. Delaware Primary results
  8. Railey, Kimberly (September 17, 2015). "Joe Biden's Home-State Politics Get a Rare Shake-Up". National Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  9. Fowser, Mark (October 20, 2015). "Mike Miller of Lewes announces candidacy for Congress". WXDE. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  10. Wilson, Xerxes (September 2, 2015). "Bullock to run for New Castle County Council president". The News Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  11. Lessig, Lawrence. "the few who could make a difference". Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  12. "Delaware Women Legislators Endorse Lisa Blunt Rochester for Congress". Lisa Blunt Rochester for Congress.
  13. "EMILY's List Endorses Lisa Blunt Rochester for Congress in Delaware's At-Large District". EMILY's List. January 29, 2016.
  14. "National Women's Political Caucus Endorses Lisa Blunt Rochester for U.S. House in Delaware". Lisa Blunt Rochester for Congress.
  15. Offredo, Jon (September 29, 2015). "Bryon Short secures endorsements in Congressional race". The News Journal. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  16. Delaware Primary results
  17. "Primary Election Official Results". delaware.gov. September 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  18. Starkey, Jonathan (April 8, 2015). "Republican, former mayor files for Congress". The News Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  19. "Primary Election (Official Results)". STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS.
  20. "State of Delaware General Election (Official Results)". State of Delaware Election Commissioner. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
Official campaign websites (Archived)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.