United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, 2020

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Delaware's At-Large Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: July 14, 2020
Primary: September 15, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
Pre-election incumbent:
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Delaware
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Delaware's At-Large Congressional District
U.S. Senate • At-large
Delaware elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

The 2020 U.S. House of Representatives election in Delaware took place on November 3, 2020. Voters elected one candidate to serve in the U.S. House from the state's one at-large congressional district.

Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester won election in the general election for U.S. House Delaware At-large District.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
July 14, 2020
September 15, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester, who was first elected in 2016.

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Delaware's At-Large Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 58.8 57.6
Republican candidate Republican Party 39.8 40.2
Difference 19 17.4

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Delaware modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Vote-by-mail applications were sent to all registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Partisan breakdown

Heading into the November 3 election, the Democratic Party held the At-Large Congressional District seat from Delaware.

Members of the U.S. House from Delaware -- Partisan Breakdown
Party As of November 2020 After the 2020 Election
     Democratic Party 1 1
     Republican Party 0 0
Total 1 1

Incumbents

Heading into the 2020 election, the incumbent for the one at-large congressional district was:

Name Party District
Lisa Blunt Rochester Electiondot.png Democratic 1


Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Delaware At-large District

Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester defeated Lee Murphy, Catherine Purcell, and David Rogers in the general election for U.S. House Delaware At-large District on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lisa Blunt Rochester
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)
 
57.6
 
281,382
Image of Lee Murphy
Lee Murphy (R) Candidate Connection
 
40.2
 
196,392
Image of Catherine Purcell
Catherine Purcell (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
1.4
 
6,682
Image of David Rogers
David Rogers (L)
 
0.8
 
3,814

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 488,270
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District

Lee Murphy defeated Matthew Morris in the Republican primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District on September 15, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lee Murphy
Lee Murphy Candidate Connection
 
73.8
 
39,179
Image of Matthew Morris
Matthew Morris Candidate Connection
 
26.2
 
13,901

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 53,080
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

One of three Delaware counties—33.33 percent—is a Pivot County. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Kent County, Delaware 4.87% 4.94% 9.81%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Delaware with 53.4 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 41.9 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Delaware voted Republican 53.33 percent of the time and Democratic 46.67 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Delaware voted Democratic all five times.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Delaware. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[1][2]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 28 out of 41 state House districts in Delaware with an average margin of victory of 35.2 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 27 out of 41 state House districts in Delaware with an average margin of victory of 31.7 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 13 out of 41 state House districts in Delaware with an average margin of victory of 12.8 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 14 out of 41 state House districts in Delaware with an average margin of victory of 22.3 points. Trump won one district controlled by a Democrat heading into the 2018 elections.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+6, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 6 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Delaware's At-Large Congressional District the 154th most Democratic nationally.[3]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.93. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.93 points toward that party.[4]

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Lisa Blunt Rochester Democratic Party $2,046,187 $1,327,604 $963,766 As of December 31, 2020
Lee Murphy Republican Party $131,394 $131,862 $247 As of December 3, 2020
David Rogers Libertarian Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Catherine Purcell Independent $5,344 $5,103 $0 As of November 25, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[5]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[6][7][8]

Race ratings: Delaware's At-large Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

District election history

2018

See also: United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Delaware At-large District

Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester defeated Scott Walker in the general election for U.S. House Delaware At-large District on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Lisa Blunt Rochester
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)
 
64.5
 
227,353
Image of Scott Walker
Scott Walker (R)
 
35.5
 
125,384

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 352,737
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District

Incumbent Lisa Blunt Rochester advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District on September 6, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Lisa Blunt Rochester
Lisa Blunt Rochester

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District

Scott Walker defeated Lee Murphy in the Republican primary for U.S. House Delaware At-large District on September 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Scott Walker
Scott Walker
 
53.0
 
19,573
Image of Lee Murphy
Lee Murphy
 
47.0
 
17,359

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 36,932
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Delaware's At-Large Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent John Carney Jr. (D) did not seek re-election, leaving the seat open. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) defeated Hans Reigle (R), Scott Gesty (L), and Mark Joseph Perri (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Rochester defeated Bryan Townsend, Sean Barney, Michael Miller, Scott Walker, and Elias Weir in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2016.[9][10][11]

U.S. House, Delaware's At-Large District General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLisa Blunt Rochester 55.5% 233,554
     Republican Hans Reigle 41% 172,301
     Green Mark Joseph Perri 2% 8,326
     Libertarian Scott Gesty 1.5% 6,436
Total Votes 420,617
Source: Delaware Secretary of State


U.S. House, Delaware At-Large District Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLisa Blunt Rochester 43.9% 26,613
Bryan Townsend 24.7% 14,950
Sean Barney 20.2% 12,274
Michael Miller 5.5% 3,319
Scott Walker 5% 3,008
Elias Weir 0.7% 449
Total Votes 60,613
Source: Delaware Department of Elections

2014

See also: Delaware's At-Large Congressional District elections, 2014

The At-Large Congressional District of Delaware held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent John C. Carney Jr. (D) defeated Rose Izzo (R), Scott Gesty (L) and Bernard August (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, Delaware's At-Large District General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn C. Carney Jr. Incumbent 59.3% 137,251
     Republican Rose Izzo 36.8% 85,146
     Green Bernard August 2.1% 4,801
     Libertarian Scott Gesty 1.9% 4,419
Total Votes 231,617
Source: Delaware Department of Elections

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  2. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  3. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  4. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  5. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  6. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  7. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  8. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  9. ↑ Delaware Secretary of State, "Primary election candidates," accessed July 13, 2016
  10. ↑ Delaware Secretary of State, "General election candidates," accessed July 13, 2016
  11. ↑ Politico, "Delaware House Primary Results," September 13, 2016
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Delaware's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)
Chris Coons (D)
Representatives
Democratic Party (3)

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