Delaware Attorney General election, 2014

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Delaware Attorney General Election

Primary Date: September 9, 2014

General Election Date: November 4, 2014

November 4 Election Winner: Matthew Denn

Incumbent prior to election: Beau Biden

Delaware State Executive Elections Top Ballot Attorney General Down Ballot Treasurer, Controller, Auditor

The Delaware Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Beau Biden (D) was first elected in 2006 and was eligible to run for re-election, though he opted not to seek a third term in 2014 in order to focus on running for governor in 2016.^[1]

The race to replace Biden featured a crowded field headed by Lt. Gov. Matthew Denn (D) and attorney Ted Kittila (R). Denn and Kittila were joined by Green Party candidate Catherine Damavandi, Libertarian Party candidate John Machurek and independent candidate David Graham. Matthew Denn won the general election. Learn more about where the candidates stood on issues facing Delaware by jumping to the debates section.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Delaware utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.^[2][3][4]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Candidates

General election

Matthew Denn - Current Delaware Lieutenant Governor^[5]
Ted Kittila - Attorney^[6]
Catherine Damavandi - Attorney, former deputy attorney general
John Machurek - 2012 Libertarian Party candidate for Delaware House of Representatives
David Graham - Accountant, Delaware Department of Finance

Results

General election

Attorney General of Delaware, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Matthew Denn	52.8%	121,410
	Republican	Ted Kittila	39.2%	90,257
	Green	Catherine Damavandi	4.6%	10,599
	Independent	David Graham	2.1%	4,879
	Libertarian	John Machurek	1.3%	2,984
Total Votes				230,129
Election results via Delaware Office of the State Election Commissioner

Debates

Debate media

October 15 debate

Matthew Denn (D), Ted Kittila (R), Catherine Damavandi (G) and David Graham (I) discussed the state's heroin problem and their proposals for strengthening the office during a debate at Widener University Law School. Kittila and Damavandi agreed that the attorney general's office should target high-level dealers in the state to deal with the drug's growing use. Graham brought up a family member struggling with heroin addiction when bringing up the need for rehabilitation programs. Denn also argued on behalf of treatment programs that could stem the supply side of the problem.^[7]

The candidates were asked to assign themes to their campaigns or potential administrations during the debate. Denn spoke about the need to improve the efficiency of the office while focusing on violent crimes. Kittila suggested that the office needed to reclaim its role atop the state's legal system. Damavandi stated that her administration would be focused on equal justice for every resident and Graham suggested that leadership and management would be necessary to continue the office's work.^[7]

Past elections

2010

2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[8]
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	a Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III	78.9%
	Independent	Doug Campbell	21.1%
Total Votes			258,434

2006

2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election[9]
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	a Beau Biden	52.6%
	Republican Party	Ferris Wharton	47.4%
Total Votes			253,214

Voter turnout

Political scientist Michael McDonald's United States Elections Project studied voter turnout in the 2014 election by looking at the percentage of eligible voters who headed to the polls. McDonald used voting-eligible population (VEP), or the number of eligible voters independent of their current registration status, to calculate turnout rates in each state on November 4. He also incorporated ballots cast for the highest office in each state into his calculation. He estimated that 81,687,059 ballots were cast in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, representing 35.9 percent of the VEP.^[10] By comparison, 61.6 percent of VEP voted in the 2008 presidential election and 58.2 percent of VEP voted in the 2012 presidential election.^[11]

Quick facts

• According to PBS Newshour, voter turnout in the 2014 midterms was the lowest since the 1942 midterms, which took place during the nation's involvement in World War II.^[12]

• Forty-three states and the District of Columbia failed to surpass 50 percent turnout in McDonald's analysis.

• The three states with the lowest turnout according to McDonald's analysis were Texas (28.3 percent), Tennessee (28.6 percent), and Indiana (28.8 percent).

• Maine (58.5 percent), Wisconsin (56.5 percent), and Colorado (54.5 percent) were the three states with the highest turnout.

• There were only 12 states that increased voter turnout in 2014 compared to the 2010 midterm elections.^[13]

Note: Information from the United States Elections Project was last updated on December 16, 2014.

Key deadlines

Campaign finance

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $670,405 during the election. This information was last updated on March 30, 2015.^[14]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate	Office	Result	Contributions
Matthew Denn	Delaware Attorney General		$526,389
Ted Kittila	Delaware Attorney General		$78,079
Catherine Damavandi	Delaware Attorney General		$54,668
David Graham	Delaware Attorney General		$11,269
John Machurek	Delaware Attorney General		$0
Grand Total Raised			$670,405

Recent news

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See also

• Delaware Attorney General
• Delaware state executive official elections, 2014
• State executive official elections, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Attorney General of Delaware

Footnotes

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