United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, 2018

General election

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

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	64.5	227,353
		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 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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Christopher Mockerman (Independent)

2020 → ← 2016
Delaware's At-Large Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: July 10, 2018
Primary: September 6, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Lisa Blunt Rochester (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Delaware
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
Delaware's At-Large Congressional District U.S. Senate • At-large Delaware elections, 2018 U.S. Congress elections, 2018 U.S. Senate elections, 2018 U.S. House elections, 2018 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

The 2018 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Delaware took place on November 6, 2018. Voters elected one candidate to serve in the U.S. House from the state's At-Large Congressional District.

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

Delaware has a single at-large congressional district, which makes up the entire state.

Candidates and election results

See also: Statistics on U.S. Congress candidates, 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
✔		Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	64.5	227,353
		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 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

• Christopher Mockerman (Independent)

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
✔		Lisa Blunt Rochester

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= 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
✔		Scott Walker	53.0	19,573
		Lee Murphy	47.0	17,359

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,932
= 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.

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 was 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 district the 153rd-most Democratic district nationally.^[1]

FiveThirtyEight's elasticity score for states and congressional districts measures "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." Heading into the election, this district's elasticity score was 0.93. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moves toward a party, the district is expected to move 0.93 points toward that party.^[2]

2016 Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties and Congressional districts intersecting with Pivot Counties

Delaware's single congressional district intersects with one or more Pivot Counties. These 206 Pivot Counties voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012.

The 206 Pivot Counties are located in 34 states. Iowa, with 31, had the most such counties. The partisan makeup of the 108 congressional districts intersecting with Pivot Counties is more Republican than the partisan breakdown of the U.S. House. Of the 108 congressional districts that have at least one Pivot County, 63 percent are held by a Republican incumbent, while 55.4 percent of U.S. House seats were won by a Republican in the 2016 elections.^[3]

Campaign finance

The table below contains data from FEC Quarterly October 2017 reports. It includes only candidates who reported at least $10,000 in campaign contributions as of September 30, 2017.^[4]
Democrats

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to U.S. House elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 48 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 U.S. House waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

District history

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.^[8][9][10]

U.S. House, Delaware's At-Large District General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lisa 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
Lisa 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	John 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

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.

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.^[11][12]

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Delaware heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in Delaware.
• Democrats held the only U.S. House seat in Delaware.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Democrats held 5 of 12 state executive positions, Republicans held two, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Delaware was Democrat John Carney Jr. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 3, 2020.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of the Delaware General Assembly. They had a 25-16 majority in the state House and a 11-10 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Delaware was a Democratic trifecta, meaning that the Democratic Party controlled the office of the governor, the state House, and the state Senate.

2018 elections

See also: Delaware elections, 2018

Delaware held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• One U.S. Senate seat
• One U.S. House seat
• Three lower state executive positions
• Ten of 21 state Senate seats
• 41 state House seats

Demographics

As of July 2016, Delaware's three largest cities were Wilmington (pop. est. 71,106), Dover (pop. est. 37,538), and Newark (pop. est. 33,858).^[13][14]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Delaware from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Delaware State Department of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Delaware every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Delaware 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	53.4%	Donald Trump	41.9%	11.5%
2012	Barack Obama	58.6%	Mitt Romney	40.0%	18.6%
2008	Barack Obama	61.9%	John McCain	36.9%	25.0%
2004	John Kerry	53.4%	George W. Bush	45.7%	7.7%
2000	Al Gore	54.9%	George W. Bush	41.9%	13.0%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Delaware from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Delaware 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Chris Coons	55.8%	Kevin Wade	42.2%	13.6%
2012	Thomas Carper	66.4%	Kevin Wade	29.0%	37.4%
2010	Chris Coons	56.6%	Christine O'Donnell	40.0%	16.6%
2008	Joe Biden	64.7%	Christine O'Donnell	35.3%	29.4%
2006	Tom Carper	67.1%	Jan Ting	27.4%	39.7%
2002	Joe Biden	58.2%	Raymond Clatworthy	40.8%	17.4%
2000	Tom Carper	55.5%	William Roth	43.7%	11.8%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Delaware.

Election results (Governor), Delaware 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	John Carney	58.3%	Colin Bonini	39.2%	19.9%
2012	Jack Markell	69.3%	Jeff Cragg	28.6%	40.7%
2008	Jack Markell	67.5%	William Swain Lee	32.0%	35.5%
2004	Ruth Ann Minner	50.9%	William Swain Lee	45.8%	5.1%
2000	Ruth Ann Minner	59.2%	John Burris	39.7%	19.5%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Delaware in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Delaware 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	1	100%	0	0%	D+1
2014	1	100%	0	0%	D+1
2012	1	100%	0	0%	D+1
2010	1	100%	0	0%	D+1
2008	1	100%	0	0%	R+1
2006	1	100%	0	0%	R+1
2004	1	100%	0	0%	R+1
2002	1	100%	0	0%	R+1
2000	1	100%	0	0%	R+1

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

See also

• United States House election in Delaware (September 6, 2018 Democratic primary)
• United States House election in Delaware (September 6, 2018 Republican primary)
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018
• U.S. House battlegrounds, 2018
• U.S. House primaries, 2018

Footnotes

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