The2018 United States Senate election in Delaware took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of theUnited States Senate to represent the State ofDelaware , concurrently withother elections to the United States Senate,elections to theUnited States House of Representatives , and variousstate andlocal elections .
The primary for this U.S. Senate election was held on Thursday, September 6, 2018.[ 1] Democratic Party nominated incumbentU.S. Senator Tom Carper and theRepublican Party nominatedSussex County Councilman Rob Arlett.
Incumbent Democratic SenatorTom Carper was re-elected to a fourth, and ultimately final, term. Despite Carper's victory, Arlett managed to flipSussex County , typically a reliably Republican county in Delaware. This subsequently marked the first time Carper lost the county since his first election to the Senate in2000 .
Three-termDemocratic SenatorTom Carper was reelected with 66% of the vote in 2012 againstRepublican Kevin Wade.
Carper, the incumbent U.S. senator, was challenged in the Democratic primary byDover activistKerri Evelyn Harris . Carper previously faced a primary challenge in the2012 election from businessman Keith Spanarelli. However, Carper defeated Spanarelli by around 70 points. Carper went on to defeat Harris by around 30 points. It was the most competitive Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Delaware in two decades.
The main declared candidates in the Republican primary wereSussex County councilman Rob Arlett and businessman Gene Truono, with aperennial candidacy from businessmanRocky De La Fuente , who also ran for Senate in seven other states.[ 2]
Eliminated in primary [ edit ] Tykiem Booker, activist[ 5] Tom Carper
U.S. executive branch officials U.S. senators U.S. representatives State executive branch officials Rita Landgraf, former Secretary of Delaware Health and Social Services State legislators Individuals Organizations Newspapers Kerri Evelyn Harris
State legislators County councilpersons City Councilpersons
Political candidates Individuals Kate Aronoff, journalist Dan Cantor, chairman of theWorking Families Party Garrison Davis, community organizer Joe Dinkin, campaign director of the Working Families Party[ 7] Mike Figueredo, host ofThe Humanist Report [ 26] Glenn Greenwald , journalistRyan Grim , journalistCoby Owens, social justice activist, CEO of Youth Caucus of America, and2016 delegate forBernie Sanders [ 27] Gerald Rocha, retiredU.S. Air Force veteran and youth advocate[ 28] Kendrick Sampson , actorClaire Sandberg, former deputy campaign manager forEl-Sayed gubernatorial campaign and former director of distributed organizing forSanders presidential campaign [ 29] Jea Street, Jr., singer and son ofNew Castle County Councilman Jea Street Cenk Uygur , co-founder and co-host ofThe Young Turks [ 30] [ 31] [ 32] Emma Vigeland, political commentator Winnie Wong, co-founder ofThe People for Bernie Sanders [ 33] Organizations Media Declined to endorse
Declined to endorse either candidate Delaware newspaperThe News Journal Tom Carper and Kerri Evelyn Harris atCab Calloway School of the Arts .[ 29] [ 50] Republican candidate businessman Gene Truono answered questions from panelists before Carper and Harris debated.Sussex County Councilman Rob Arlett was also invited, but declined and claimed he had a scheduling conflict.
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Tom Kerri Evelyn Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 354 ± 5.2% 51% 19% 30%
Results by county Carper—60–70%
Democratic primary results[ 52] Party Candidate Votes % Democratic Tom Carper (incumbent) 53,633 64.59% Democratic Kerri Evelyn Harris 29,406 35.41% Total votes 83,039 100.00%
Eliminated in primary [ edit ] Chuck Boyce, businessman[ 55] [ 56] Ken Simpler , State Treasurer (running for re-election)[ 57] Kevin Wade, businessman and candidate for Senate in2012 and2014 (endorsed Rob Arlett) Rob Arlett
Former 2018 U.S. Senate election, Delaware candidates Political candidates Individuals Gene Truono
State legislators Republican Party officials Political candidates Lee Murphy, actor andRepublican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Delaware Individuals Mitch Denham, Delaware Gun Rights John Foltz, 11th District chairman David Gilefski, Western NCC Region chairman Shawn Michael Greener, radio host[ 66] Dick Heller (District of Columbia v. Heller Mark Keith Robinson, NRA affiliate Maj Toure, Black Guns Matter Organizations Declined to endorse
Declined to endorse either candidate Councilman Rob Arlett and businessman Gene Truono had four debates in total. They were normally live streamed onFacebook and uploaded toYouTube . A fifth debate was planned, but Truono withdrew from the debate because he the organizers refused to give him control over what questions could not be asked. Instead organizers held a forum with all the other candidates for the U.S. Senate and other state offices. Five candidates attended that forum.
First debate, YouTube Second debate, Part 1, YouTube Second debate, Part 2, YouTube Third debate, Part 1, YouTube Third debate, Part 2, YouTube Fourth debate, YouTube Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Rob RockyDe La Fuente Gene Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 288 ± 5.8% 19% 7% 15% 60%
Results by county Arlett—70–80%
Arlett—60–70%
Arlett—50–60%
Demitri Theodoropoulos, small business owner[ 69] Libertarian primary [ edit ] Not to be confused with theIndependent Party of Delaware , which did not run a candidate for the 2018 United States Senate election.
Barry Eveland (write-in)[ 70] Todd Farina, ticket company owner (write-in) Matthew Water Stout, write-in presidential candidate in2016 (write-in)[ 70] [ 71] Bold text indicates endorsement was given before the primary.
Tom Carper
U.S. executive branch officials U.S. senators U.S. representatives Governors Other state executive branch officials State legislators Political candidates Individuals Matthew Albright, moderator of theDemocratic primary debate [ 11] Sandra Hall, 2016 Delaware Teacher of the Year Douglas E. Krantz, rabbi [ 12] Sonia Schorr Sloan, former Delaware president of the board ofPlanned Parenthood Jon Soltz , chairman ofVoteVets [ 13] Laura Thein, former Disabilities Caucus Chair of Young Democrats of America[ 77] Organizations Rob Arlett
Former 2018 U.S. Senate election, Delaware candidates Political candidates Individuals Organizations Demitri Theodoropoulos
Organizations Media Hijacked Radio Podcast The Politics of Courage [ 83] Declined to endorse
Declined to endorse Tom Carper Tykiem Booker, former candidate Kerri Evelyn Harris, former candidate Coby Owens, social justice activist, CEO of Youth Caucus of America, and2016 delegate forBernie Sanders Justice Democrats Declined to endorse Rob Arlett with Kerri Evelyn Harris and Gene Truono Hockessin Memorial Hall betweenDemocratic candidate Kerri Evelyn Harris andRepublican candidate Gene Truono.Tom Carper and Rob Arlett were also invited to the debate, but did not attend. Carper was not present because of theU.S. Senate 's extended session due to session ceasing early the Thursday prior because of the death of former governor and U.S. Senator ofNevada ,Paul Laxalt .[ 84] [ 85]
with Tom Carper and Rob Arlett Tom Carper ’s past controversy of domestic abuse.
with Tom Carper, Rob Arlett, Nadine Frost, and Demitri Theodoropoulos
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Tom Rob Nadine DemitriTheodoropoulos (G) Undecided University of Delaware [ 94] September 11–17, 2018 728 LV – 61% 24% 3% 3% 9% 908 RV ± 3.7% 60% 22% 5% 2% 12% Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 884 ± 3.3% 47% 39% – – 14%
Hypothetical polling
with Tom Carper and Gene Truono
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Tom Gene Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 884 ± 3.3% 47% 38% 15%
with Kerri Evelyn Harris and Rob Arlett
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Kerri Evelyn Rob Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 884 ± 3.3% 42% 35% 23%
with Kerri Evelyn Harris and Gene Truono
Poll source Date(s) Sample Margin Kerri Evelyn Gene Undecided Gravis Marketing [ 51] July 24–29, 2018 884 ± 3.3% 40% 37% 23%
Results by Precinct: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% 90-100% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% By county
County Tom Carper Democratic Robert ArlettRepublican All Others # % # % # % Kent 31,282 52.35 27,210 45.54 1,261 2.11 New Castle 145,428 69.15 59,526 28.3 5,369 2.56 Sussex 40,675 43.96 50,675 54.46 1,464 1.69 Totals 217,385 59.95 137,127 37.82 8,080 1.23
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
^ "United States Senate election in Delaware, 2018 - Ballotpedia" . RetrievedDecember 23, 2017 .^a b "California businessman running for US Senate in Delaware--and 7 other states" .wdel.com .^ @kailanikm (July 24, 2017)."Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) announced in interview w/ @ChrisJansing on #MTPDaily right now that he's running for re-election in 2018" (Tweet ). RetrievedJuly 24, 2017 – viaTwitter . ^ "Dover community activist to challenge Tom Carper" .^ "BOOKER, TYKIEM - Candidate overview - FEC.gov" .FEC.gov .^ "FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE" .Delaware Department of Elections . Archived fromthe original on July 7, 2010.^a b c "Biden wades into Delaware primary on behalf of Carper" .NBC News . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Tom Carper for Delaware" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "RELEASE: Giffords Endorses Tom Carper for Senate in Delaware - Giffords" . August 17, 2018. Archived fromthe original on August 26, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b @debraheffernan (September 6, 2018)."Please join me in voting for Senator @TomCarperforDE ! Tom has the experience & strong passion for Delaware. No one is better equipped to lead the fight against #Trump politics" (Tweet ). RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 – viaTwitter . ^a b @tnj_malbright (August 30, 2018)."This was a tough decision for the editorial board. @KerriHarrisDE has run an excellent campaign and has impressed us greatly with her passion and eloquence. She made an excellent case for herself in Monday's debate. #netDE" (Tweet ). RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 – viaTwitter . ^a b "Tom Carper on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "VoteVets on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b Campaign, Human Rights."HRC Endorses Sen. Carper & Rep. Blunt Rochester for Re-Election - Human Rights Campaign" .Human Rights Campaign . Archived fromthe original on September 11, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 . ^a b "The News Journal's editorial board endorses Tom Carper in the U.S. Senate primary" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "A Democrat from Dover is challenging Senator Tom Carper in the September primary" .^ "Ilhan Omar on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Nina Turner on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Go Vote! Rally for Racial and Economic Justice!" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Kerri Evelyn Harris on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Ayanna Pressley on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Kerri Evelyn Harris" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Adrienne Bell on Twitter" .^ "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter" .^ Bricker, Kristin (August 28, 2018)."Kerri was at last night's Delaware NORML meeting to talk about her candidacy and stance on marijuana (or "cannabis" as the group's members prefer to call it)" .Team Kerri on Facebook . ^ "The Humanist Report🌹 on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Coby Owens on Twitter" .^ "Opposing view: Why you should vote for Kerri Harris for U.S. Senate" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b Grim, Ryan (August 11, 2018)."Tom Carper Agrees to Debate Kerri Harris as Reinforcements Arrive for Insurgent Challenger" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 . ^a b "YouTube:Kerri Evelyn Harris Calls Out Wall St. Democrat " .YouTube ^ "YouTube: Help Kerri Evelyn Harris Win Senate Race!" .YouTube ^ The Young Turks (August 21, 2018)."Cenk Uygur RIPS Into Democratic Senator" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 – via YouTube. ^ "Winifred on Twitter" .^ "Kerri Evelyn Harris on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "CPD Action on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Common Defense #VetsAgainstTrump on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Endorsements - Kerri Evelyn Harris - Democrat for US Senate" .www.kerrievelynharris.com . Archived fromthe original on August 13, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Democratic Socialists of Delaware" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Democracy for America on Twitter" .^ "Kerri Evelyn Harris" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Harris Endorsed by Justice Democrats" . May 22, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Our Revolution on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ The People for Bernie Sanders [@People4Bernie] (July 17, 2018).".@KerriHarrisDE is an activist, a community organizer and a veteran of the United States Air Force. She's an incredible movement leader and we're so proud to endorse her campaign for US Senate. Join the political revolution: http://www.kerrievelynharris.com" (Tweet ). RetrievedJuly 17, 2018 – viaTwitter .^ "ProgActNet on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Progressive Democrats for Delaware on Twitter" .^ "Working Families Party on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Kerri Evelyn Harris" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Tom Carper and the third way" .^ "Delaware Liberal Primary Endorsements : Delaware Liberal" .www.delawareliberal.net . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Watch Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Sen. Tom Carper and Kerri Evelyn Harris debate" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b c d e f Gravis Marketing ^a b "2018 Delaware primary election results" . Archived fromthe original on December 28, 2018. RetrievedJune 12, 2019 .^ "Sussex Councilman Arlett Announces U.S. Senate Bid" . Salisbury, MD: WBOC-TV. April 17, 2018. RetrievedApril 17, 2018 .^ "TRUONO, EUGENE (GENE) J JR - Candidate overview - FEC.gov" .FEC.gov .^ Goss, Scott (March 22, 2017)."Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chuck Boyce dropping out of race" .The News Journal . RetrievedMarch 19, 2018 . ^ Petree, Rob (April 23, 2018)."Former candidate Chuck Boyce endorses Rob Arlett for U.S. Senate" .WXDE the original on April 23, 2018. RetrievedApril 28, 2018 . ^ "State of Delaware - Department of Elections · New Castle County Office - 2016 Filed Candidates" .electionsncc.delaware.gov . Archived fromthe original on March 20, 2018. RetrievedMarch 19, 2018 .^a b "Rob Arlett for US Senate on Twitter" .^a b "Carter Clark (@carterclarkkkk) • Instagram photos and videos" .instagram.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Coach Glanden on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Bobby Halton on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Charlie Kirk on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Rob Arlett Responds To The News That Bobby Knight Will Attend His Rally & Fundraiser" . June 8, 2018. Archived fromthe original on October 1, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Michael F. McMahon on Twitter" .^a b "Frank Ricci on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Shawn Michael Greener on Facebook" .Facebook ^ https://twitter.com/nevercarper/status/1037107549999443969 [dead link ^ "The News Journal editorial board endorses Gene Truono in the Republican Senate primary" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Candidates file for primaries" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^a b "Declared Write-In Candidates, November 6, 2018 General Election" (PDF) . State of Delaware Department of Elections. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on January 28, 2018. RetrievedAugust 24, 2018 .^ "The Green Papers: Delaware 2016 General Election" . The Green Papers. RetrievedSeptember 10, 2018 .^ "Chris Coons on Facebook" .Facebook ^ "Lisa Blunt Rochester on Twitter" .^ "Matthew Bittle on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "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 fromthe original . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "Laura Sturgeon" .www.facebook.com . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ https://twitter.com/tomcarperforde/status/1057634672077811713 [dead link ^ "Candidates We Endorse and Support" .^ Tom Carper for Delaware (October 29, 2018)."The polls open in 8 days! Here are 8 organizations endorsing Tom Carper for U.S. Senate" .Facebook ^ Patriot Majority (October 23, 2018)."Tom Carper will fight to improve the quality of our health care system" .Facebook ^ "ENDORSEMENTS" .Sierra Club ^ "New Castle County GOP chairman resigns, blasts party and U.S. Senate candidate Rob Arlett" .^ "Politics of Courage on Twitter" . RetrievedSeptember 19, 2018 .^ "**Live from GHADA US Senate candidates debate/forum**" .Facebook ^ "Delaware Senate Candidates Debate Set for August 27" .^ "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018" .The Cook Political Report . RetrievedMarch 13, 2021 .^ "2018 Senate Ratings" .The Rothenberg Political Report . RetrievedMarch 13, 2021 .^ "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings" .Sabato's Crystal Ball . RetrievedOctober 11, 2017 .^ "Daily Kos Elections 2018 race ratings" .Daily Kos ^ "2018 Senate Power Rankings" .Fox News . RetrievedJuly 10, 2018 .^ "Key Races: Senate" . RetrievedJuly 15, 2018 .^ "Battle for the Senate 2018" . RetrievedJuly 15, 2018 .^ "Delaware - 2018 Senate Forecast" .FiveThirtyEight . September 11, 2018. Archived fromthe original on September 25, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 25, 2018 .^ University of Delaware ^ "State of Delaware General Election (Official Results)" . State of Delaware Election Commissioner. Archived fromthe original on December 6, 2006. RetrievedNovember 6, 2018 .Official campaign websites
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