2014 United States Senate election in Delaware

Summary

The 2014 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2014 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Delaware, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. This election was the fifth consecutive even-number year in which a senate election was held in Delaware after elections in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012.

2014 United States Senate election in Delaware

← 2010 (special) November 4, 2014 2020 →
 
Nominee Chris Coons Kevin Wade
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 130,655 98,823
Percentage 55.83% 42.23%

County results

Coons:      60–70%

Wade:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Chris Coons
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Chris Coons
Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Coons ran for re-election to a first full term in office. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican businessman Kevin Wade in the general election.

Background edit

Democratic senator Joe Biden was re-elected to a seventh term in 2008, defeating Republican political commentator Christine O'Donnell by 65% to 35%. At the same time, he was elected Vice President of the United States and resigned his Senate seat to be sworn-in as vice president in January 2009. Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed Biden's longtime aide Ted Kaufman to the seat until a special election was held in November 2010. In the election, Christine O'Donnell ran again and upset U.S. Representative and former governor Mike Castle in the Republican primary to face Democrat Chris Coons, who had run unopposed for his party's nomination. In the general election, Coons defeated O'Donnell by 57% to 40% and was sworn in later that month.

Democratic primary edit

Candidates edit

Declared edit

Declined edit

Republican primary edit

Candidates edit

Declared edit

  • Carl Smink, retired engineer and businessman[3]
  • Kevin Wade, businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012[4]

Declined edit

Primary results edit

Republican primary results[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kevin Wade 18,181 75.66
Republican Carl Smink 5,848 24.34
Total votes 24,029 100

Other candidates edit

Green Party edit

Nominee edit

  • Andrew Groff, computer science professor and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012[11]

General election edit

Fundraising edit

Candidate Raised Spent Cash on Hand
Chris Coons (D) $7,684,608 $4,831,183 $2,853,426

Debates edit

  • This is a video of the sole debate held on October 15, 2014

Predictions edit

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[12] Solid D November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13] Safe D November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[14] Safe D November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[15] Safe D November 3, 2014

Polling edit

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Chris
Coons (D)
Kevin
Wade (R)
Other Undecided
CBS News/NYT/YouGov October 16–23, 2014 461 ± 7% 54% 36% 0% 10%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov September 20 – October 1, 2014 471 ± 5% 51% 35% 0% 14%
University of Delaware September 10–22, 2014 902 ± 3.9% 50% 25% 6%[16] 21%
Rasmussen Reports September 10–12, 2014 750 ± 4% 49% 34% 4% 12%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov August 18 – September 2, 2014 697 ± 5% 48% 35% 1% 16%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov July 5–24, 2014 840 ± 3.5% 60% 15% 25%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Chris
Coons (D)
Christine
O'Donnell (R)
Other Undecided
Princeton Survey Research September 3–16, 2013 902 ± 3.9% 51% 28% 22%

Results edit

Coons easily won the election to a full term, with 56% of the vote. Coons was projected the winner right when the polls closed in Delaware. Wade conceded defeat at 8:32 P.M. EST.

United States Senate election in Delaware, 2014[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Chris Coons (incumbent) 130,655 55.83% -0.78%
Republican Kevin Wade 98,823 42.23% +2.20%
Green Andrew Groff 4,560 1.95% N/A
Total votes 234,038 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Charles Mahtesian (November 27, 2012). "Coons: Not taking any chances in 2014". Politico. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  2. ^ "Beau Biden says he plans to run for governor in Delaware". CNN. April 17, 2014. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Byrne, Tom (July 7, 2014). "Filing deadline for First State's 2014 election cycle looms". WDDE. Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  4. ^ Byrne, Tom (July 8, 2014). "Late filings make two 2014 statewide races more competitive". WDDE. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  5. ^ Bob Yearick (November 14, 2012). "Former Delaware Congressman Mike Castle: Life Out of Office". Delaware Today. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Amanda Terkel (September 16, 2012). "Christine O'Donnell Considers 2014 Senate Rematch". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  7. ^ Doug Denison (July 22, 2013). "Republicans wait as O'Donnell weighs another campaign". Delaware Online. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  8. ^ Starkey, Jonathan (May 22, 2014). "Christine O'Donnell backs off Delaware Senate run". Delaware Online. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  9. ^ Mark Eichmann (June 4, 2014). "Christine O'Donnell not running for Senate". News Works. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  10. ^ "State of Delaware Primary Election (Official Results)". elections.delaware.gov. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  11. ^ "STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS GENERAL ELECTION 11/04/2014 FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE". elections.delaware.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  12. ^ "2014 Senate Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  14. ^ "2014 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "2014 Elections Map - Battle for the Senate 2014". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  16. ^ Andrew Groff (G)
  17. ^ "State of Delaware General Election (Official Results)". State of Delaware Election Commissioner. Retrieved November 27, 2014.

External links edit

  • U.S. Senate elections in Delaware, 2014 at Ballotpedia
  • Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets
  • Chris Coons for U.S. Senate
  • Carl Smink for U.S. Senate
  • Kevin Wade for U.S. Senate