2020 United States Senate election in Delaware explained

See also: 2020 United States Senate elections.

Election Name:2020 United States Senate election in Delaware
Country:Delaware
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2014 United States Senate election in Delaware
Previous Year:2014
Next Election:2026 United States Senate election in Delaware
Next Year:2026
Election Date:November 3, 2020
Image1:Chris Coons, official portrait, 112th Congress (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Chris Coons
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:291,804
Percentage1:59.44%
Nominee2:Lauren Witzke
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:186,054
Percentage2:37.90%
Map Size:210px
U.S. Senator
Before Election:Chris Coons
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Chris Coons
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

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.

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

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Polling

with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons
with Chris Coons and more liberal female Democrat
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Chris
Coons
More liberal
female Democrat
Undecided
Data for ProgressNovember 15–25, 2019528 (LV)± 6.1%24%45%31%
32%36%32%
32%36%33%

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Results

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

Independent Party of Delaware

Nominee

General election

Prior to the election, Christopher 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

SourceRankingAs of
align=left The Cook Political Report[22] October 29, 2020
align=left Inside Elections[23] October 28, 2020
align=left Sabato's Crystal Ball[24] November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[25] October 30, 2020
Politico[26] November 2, 2020
RCP[27] October 23, 2020
DDHQ[28] November 3, 2020
538[29] November 2, 2020
Economist[30] November 2, 2020

Results

CountyChris Coons
Democratic
Lauren Witzke
Republican
Mark Turley
IPoD
Nadine Frost
Libertarian
MarginTotal
votes
data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %data-sort-type="number" data-sort-type="number" %
Kent43,89351.6538,57145.391,5531.839581.135,3226.2684,975
New Castle191,77468.6280,08128.654,2771.533,3301.19111,69339.97279,462
Sussex56,13744.3867,40253.282,0031.589560.76-11,265-8.90126,498
Totals291,80459.44186,05437.907,8331.605,2441.07105,75021.54490,935
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic[31]

External links

Official campaign websites

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rakich. Nathaniel. December 2, 2020. There Wasn't That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020. December 2, 2020. FiveThirtyEight. en-US.
  2. Web site: Meet the GOP's favorite Democrat. Elana. Schor. Burgess. Everett. Politico. May 8, 2018 .
  3. Web site: Chris Coons, U.S. Senator for Delaware. Chris Coons.
  4. Web site: COONS, CHRISTOPHER A. – Candidate overview. FEC.gov.
  5. Web site: Centrist Senator Chris Coons Faces Primary Challenge in Delaware. David. Dayen. November 17, 2019. The American Prospect.
  6. Web site: Jessica Scarane | Democrat for U.S. Senate. Jessica Scarane | Democrat for U.S. Senate.
  7. Web site: Scott Walker thanks Sussex County, announces 2020 run against Coons. Rob Petree. Nov 8, 2018 . November 8, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191005221705/https://www.delaware1059.com/news/scott-walker-thanks-sussex-county-announces-run-against-coons/article_efe2120e-e34e-11e8-9aad-7b3bcef35036.html . October 5, 2019 . dead .
  8. News: Fmr. House Candidate Scott Walker suspends longshot Democratic presidential campaign, says he's writing book . August 7, 2019 . Delaware 105.9 FM . June 13, 2019 . August 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190807201806/https://www.delaware1059.com/news/fmr-house-candidate-scott-walker-suspends-longshot-democratic-presidential-campaign/article_a8dfb632-8e29-11e9-8ac7-c3f9cb4d4ede.html . dead .
  9. Web site: Austin Auen on Facebook . . September 8, 2019.
  10. News: Scott Walker, Democrat again, to wield his homemade signs against Chris Coons for Senate . October 1, 2019 . Delaware Online . October 1, 2019.
  11. Web site: State of Delaware - Department of Elections · Office of the State Election Commissioner. elections.delaware.gov.
  12. Web site: Team Kerri on Facebook . www.facebook.com.
  13. Web site: Kerri Harris reflects on her U.S. Senate run and its impact. Sophia. Schmidt. delawarepublic.org. December 7, 2018 .
  14. Web site: Data for Progress.
  15. Web site: Political newcomer with QAnon ties, Lauren Witzke, wins GOP U.S. Senate primary in Delaware. CBS News. September 16, 2020 .
  16. Web site: Republican nominee for US Senate in Delaware has repeatedly promoted QAnon conspiracy theory, once called self 'flat earther'. Chicago Tribune. September 17, 2020 .
  17. News: New QAnon-Allied GOP Senate Candidate Also Pushed Anti-Semitism, Flat Earthism, and 9/11 Conspiracies. The Daily Beast. September 16, 2020 . Sommer . Will .
  18. Web site: Shannon . Josh . Candidate slate set for Delaware's fall election . Newark Post Alone . August 29, 2020 . July 23, 2020.
  19. Web site: Arlett For Delaware. Facebook.
  20. Web site: State of Delaware - Department of Elections · Office of the State Election Commissioner. elections.delaware.gov. May 5, 2020. July 28, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190728134819/https://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/genl_fcddt_2020.shtml. dead.
  21. Web site: Independent party candidate challenges Sen. Coons in 2020. Sarah. Mueller. delawarepublic.org. October 23, 2019 .
  22. Web site: 2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020 . The Cook Political Report . March 11, 2021.
  23. Web site: 2020 Senate Ratings . Senate Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . March 11, 2021.
  24. Web site: 2020 Senate race ratings . Sabato's Crystal Ball . March 12, 2021.
  25. Web site: 2020 Senate Race Ratings . Daily Kos Elections. March 13, 2021.
  26. Web site: 2020 Election Forecast. November 19, 2019 . Politico.
  27. Web site: Battle for the Senate 2020. October 23, 2020 . RCP.
  28. Web site: September 2, 2020 . 2020 Senate Elections Model. September 2, 2020 . Decision Desk HQ.
  29. Web site: Silver . Nate . Forecasting the race for the Senate . . September 18, 2020 . September 18, 2020.
  30. Web site: November 2, 2020 . Forecasting the US elections . March 13, 2021 . The Economist.
  31. News: 2020-11-03. Delaware U.S. Senate Election Results. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-10-03. 0362-4331.