2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, At-large district
Turnout	50.84%
	Rochester: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Walker: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; No data
U.S. Representative before election; Lisa Blunt Rochester; Democratic	Elected U.S. Representative ; Lisa Blunt Rochester; Democratic

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.

Democratic primary

Lisa Blunt Rochester ran unopposed in the primary and automatically became the Democratic nominee.

Candidates

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

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Organizations

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Scott Walker, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016^[3]

Eliminated in primary

Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (refused to concede)^[3]^[4]

Write-in

Marvin Davis, far-rightist
Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (not filed)
Andrew Webb, community activist and student^[5]

Endorsements

Lee Murphy

Political candidates

Gene Truono, Republican candidate for United States Senate

Primary results

Results by county:

Walker—50–60%

Murphy—50–60%

Republican primary results, Delaware 2018^[6]
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 by many as the favorite to win. Murphy refused to concede and took to Facebook, 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 by saying that God had 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

Candidates

Endorsed by Sussex County Chapter

Andrew Webb, community activist and student (write-in)

Independent Party of Delaware

Candidates

Write-in

Andrew Webb, community activist and student^[9]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

Paul Johnston, veteran (write-in)

Withdrew

Christopher Mockerman, activist (running for State House in District 17)^[10]^[11]

General election

Endorsements

Lisa Blunt Rochester

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

Bethany Hall-Long, 26th Lt. Governor of Delaware

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
Delaware Division of Public Health
Delaware Women Legislators
Democratic Party
Human Rights Campaign^[2]
Mary Ann’s List
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Planned Parenthood
Sierra Club^[13]
Stonewall Democrats

Scott Walker

Individuals

Lil B, rapper

Andrew Webb (write-in)

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

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^[17]	September 11–17, 2018	728 LV	–	58%	28%	15%
University of Delaware^[17]	September 11–17, 2018	908 RV	± 3.7%	54%	26%	20%
Gravis Marketing^[18]	July 24–29, 2018	884	± 3.3%	46%	38%	16%

Hypothetical polling

with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Lee Murphy

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	Lee Murphy (R)	Undecided
Gravis Marketing^[18]	July 24–29, 2018	884	± 3.3%	46%	39%	16%

Results

Delaware's at-large congressional district, 2018^[19]
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

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Kent (largest city: Dover)

References

^ "FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE". Delaware Department of Elections.
^ ^a ^b Campaign, Human Rights. "HRC Endorses Sen. Carper & Rep. Blunt Rochester for Re-Election". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Lee, Jim (July 11, 2018). "Deadline passes, primary contenders are set". Dover Post.
^ ^a ^b "Matthew Bittle on Twitter".
^ ^a ^b 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 June 8, 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. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. 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.
^ ^a ^b "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.
^ University of Delaware
^ ^a ^b Gravis Marketing
^ 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

Official campaign websites

[1] "FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE". Delaware Department of Elections.

[hrc.org-2] Campaign, Human Rights. "HRC Endorses Sen. Carper & Rep. Blunt Rochester for Re-Election". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2019.

[prmry-3] Lee, Jim (July 11, 2018). "Deadline passes, primary contenders are set". Dover Post.

[Matthew_Bittle_on_Twitter-4] "Matthew Bittle on Twitter".

[delawarepolitics.net-5] 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.

[6] "2018 Delaware primary election results" (PDF). Retrieved June 29, 2019.

[7] "Lee Murphy for Congress on Facebook".

[8] "Scott Walker for Congress on Facebook".

[9] "Independent Party of Delaware". WEBB 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2019.

[10] "Source Voting - Delaware".

[11] "Declared Write-In Candidates - Delaware Department of Elections" (PDF).

[12] "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. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2019.

[13] 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.

[facebook.com-14] "Andrew Webb for Congress on Facebook".

[15] "Delaware at large - 2018 House Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 25, 2018.

[16] "2018 House Election Interactive Map". 270towin. Retrieved October 20, 2018.

[17] University of Delaware

[Gravis_Marketing-18] Gravis Marketing

[clerk2018-19] 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.

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