2012 Delaware Senate election

Not to be confused with 2012 United States Senate election in Delaware.

The 2012 Delaware Senate election was held on November 6, 2012 to elect all 21 members of the Delaware Senate. The election coincided with the elections for other offices, including the Presidency, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Governor, and state house. The primary election was held on September 11, 2012.^[1]

2012 Delaware Senate election

← 2010 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2014 →
All 21 seats in the Delaware Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Tony DeLuca (lost re-nomination) Gary Simpson Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 8, 2009 January 8, 2009 Leader's seat 11th – Brookside 18th – Milford Last election 14 7 Seats before 14 7 Seats after 13 8 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 225,241 127,505 Percentage 62.50% 35.38%
Results:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold
President pro tempore before election Tony DeLuca Democratic Elected President pro tempore Patti Blevins Democratic

Overview

Open seats

District 6: Republican incumbent and Minority Whip Liane Sorenson is retiring.^[2]

District 20: Democratic incumbent George Bunting is retiring.^[3]

Results summary

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
1	Harris McDowell III		Dem	Harris McDowell III		Dem
2	Margaret Rose Henry		Dem	Margaret Rose Henry		Dem
3	Robert Marshall		Dem	Robert Marshall		Dem
4	Michael Katz		Dem	Gregory Lavelle		Rep
	Liane Sorenson[a]		Rep
5	Catherine Cloutier		Rep	Catherine Cloutier		Rep
6	New Seat			Ernesto Lopez		Rep
7	Patti Blevins		Dem	Patti Blevins		Dem
8	David Sokola		Dem	David Sokola		Dem
9	Karen Peterson		Dem	Karen Peterson		Dem
10	Bethany Hall-Long		Dem	Bethany Hall-Long		Dem
11	Tony DeLuca		Dem	Bryan Townsend		Dem
12	Dorinda Connor		Rep	Nicole Poore		Dem
13	David McBride		Dem	David McBride		Dem
14	Bruce Ennis		Dem	Bruce Ennis		Dem
15	David Lawson		Rep	David Lawson		Rep
16	Colin Bonini		Rep	Colin Bonini		Rep
17	Brian Bushweller		Dem	Brian Bushweller		Dem
18	Gary Simpson		Rep	Gary Simpson		Rep
19	Joseph Booth		Rep	Brian Pettyjohn		Rep
20	George Bunting		Dem	Gerald Hocker		Rep
21	Robert Venables Sr.		Dem	Robert Venables Sr.		Dem

Party		Candi- dates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Democratic	19	225,241	62.50%	13	1	61.90%
	Republican	13	127,505	35.38%	8	1	38.10%
	Independent	3	4,734	1.31%	0		0.00
	Libertarian	6	2,887	0.80%	0		0.00
Total		41	360,367	100%	21		100

Popular vote Democratic   62.50% Republican   35.38% Independent   1.31% Libertarian   0.80%

Senate seats Democratic   61.90% Republican   38.10%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[4]	Safe D	October 24, 2012

Detailed results

^[5][6]

District 1

Incumbent Democrat Harris McDowell III has represented the 1st district since 1977.

Delaware Senate 1st district Democratic primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harris McDowell III (incumbent)	2,342	52.24%
	Democratic	David D. Brady	1,613	35.98%
	Democratic	James Martin	528	11.78%
Total votes			4,483	100%

Delaware Senate 1st district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Harris McDowell III (incumbent)	15,155	85.31%
	Independent Party	Robert Clark	2,054	11.56%
	Libertarian	Bryan Lintz	555	3.12%
Total votes			17,764	100%
	Democratic hold

District 2

Incumbent Democrat Margaret Rose Henry has represented the 2nd district since 1994.

Delaware Senate 2nd district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Margaret Rose Henry (incumbent)	15,197	100%
Total votes			15,197	100%
	Democratic hold

District 3

Incumbent Democrat Robert Marshall has represented the 3rd district since 1979.

Delaware Senate 3rd district Democratic primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Marshall (incumbent)	2,504	62.21%
	Democratic	Eric M. Anderson	912	22.66%
	Democratic	Timothy J. Meades Sr.	609	15.13%
Total votes			4,025	100%

Delaware Senate 3rd district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Marshall (incumbent)	12,322	100%
Total votes			12,322	100%
	Democratic hold

District 4

The new 4th district includes the homes of incumbent Democrat Michael Katz, who has represented the 4th district since 2009, and Republican Liane Sorenson, who has represented the 6th district since 1995. Sorenson didn't seek re-election. Katz lost re-election here to Republican Gregory Lavelle.

Delaware Senate 4th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gregory Lavelle	11,970	50.79%
	Democratic	Michael Katz (incumbent)	11,188	47.47%
	Libertarian	Marcia Groff	410	1.74%
Total votes			23,568	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 5

Incumbent Republican Catherine Cloutier has represented the 5th district since 2001.

Delaware Senate 5th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Catherine Cloutier (incumbent)	12,912	56.20%
	Democratic	Christopher R. Counihan	10,062	43.80%
Total votes			22,974	100%
	Republican hold

District 6

The new 6th district is based in the Cape Region in costal Sussex County, and includes Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, and Milton. The district has no incumbent. Republican Ernesto Lopez won the open seat.

Delaware Senate 6th district Democratic primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Andrew W. Staton	2,088	58.05%
	Democratic	Robert G. Frederick	814	22.63%
	Democratic	Micheal C. Miller Sr.	695	19.32%
Total votes			3,597	100%

Delaware Senate 6th district Republican primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernesto Lopez	2,163	54.87%
	Republican	Glen Urquhart	1,779	45.13%
Total votes			3,942	100%

Delaware Senate 6th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernesto Lopez	13,603	56.12%
	Democratic	Andrew W. Staton	10,352	42.70%
	Libertarian	Gwendolyn M. Jones	286	1.18%
Total votes			24,241	100%
	Republican win (new seat)

District 7

Incumbent Democrat Patti Blevins has represented the 7th district since 1991.

Delaware Senate 7th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patti Blevins (incumbent)	13,756	92.35%
	Libertarian	James Christina	1,139	7.65%
Total votes			14,895	100%
	Democratic hold

District 8

Incumbent Democrat David Sokola has represented the 8th district since 1991.

Delaware Senate 8th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Sokola (incumbent)	10,099	60.71%
	Republican	William Stritzinger	6,535	39.29%
Total votes			16,634	100%
	Democratic hold

District 9

Incumbent Democrat Karen Peterson has represented the 9th district since 2003.

Delaware Senate 9th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen Peterson (incumbent)	13,941	100%
Total votes			13,941	100%
	Democratic hold

District 10

Incumbent Democrat Bethany Hall-Long has represented the 10th district since 2009.

Delaware Senate 10th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bethany Hall-Long (incumbent)	16,498	100%
Total votes			16,498	100%
	Democratic hold

District 11

Incumbent Democratic President pro tempore Tony DeLuca has represented the 11th district since 1999. DeLuca lost re-nomination to fellow Democrat Bryan Townsend. Townsend won the general election.

Delaware Senate 11th district Democratic primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bryan Townsend	1,441	57.76%
	Democratic	Tony DeLuca (incumbent)	1,054	42.24%
Total votes			2,495	100%

Delaware Senate 11th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bryan Townsend	12,860	78.37%
	Republican	Evan Queitsch	3,550	21.63%
Total votes			16,410	100%
	Democratic hold

District 12

Incumbent Republican Dorinda Connor has represented the 12th district since 1997. Connor lost re-election to Democrat Nicole Poore.

Delaware Senate 12th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nicole Poore	12,875	60.29%
	Republican	Dorinda Connor (incumbent)	8,170	38.26%
	Libertarian	Brad Thomas	310	1.45%
Total votes			21,355	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 13

Incumbent Democratic Majority Leader David McBride has represented the 13th district since 1979.

Delaware Senate 13th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David McBride (incumbent)	14,444	100%
Total votes			14,444	100%
	Democratic hold

District 14

Incumbent Democrat Bruce Ennis has represented the 14th district since 2007.

Delaware Senate 14th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bruce Ennis (incumbent)	12,031	61.12%
	Republican	Scott Unruh	7,652	38.88%
Total votes			19,683	100%
	Democratic hold

District 15

Incumbent Republican David Lawson has represented the 15th district since 2011.

Delaware Senate 15th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Lawson (incumbent)	9,547	50.58%
	Democratic	Kathleen Cooke	9,004	47.70%
	Independent Party	Catherine Samardza	324	1.72%
Total votes			18,875	100%
	Republican hold

District 16

Incumbent Republican Colin Bonini has represented the 16th district since 1995.

Delaware Senate 16th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Colin Bonini (incumbent)	9,372	79.91%
	Independent Party	Michael Tedesco	2,356	20.09%
Total votes			11,728	100%
	Republican hold

District 17

Incumbent Democrat Brian Bushweller has represented the 17th district since 2009.

Delaware Senate 17th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian Bushweller (incumbent)	13,161	100%
Total votes			13,161	100%
	Democratic hold

District 18

Incumbent Republican Minority Leader Gary Simpson has represented the 18th district since 1999.

Delaware Senate 18th district Republican primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Simpson (incumbent)	1,515	68.03%
	Republican	Matthew A. Opaliski	712	31.97%
Total votes			2,227	100%

Delaware Senate 18th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gary Simpson (incumbent)	13,198	100%
Total votes			13,198	100%
	Republican hold

District 19

Incumbent Republican Joseph Booth has represented the 19th district since 2009. Booth lost re-nomination to fellow Republican Eric Bodenweiser. Bodenweiser later withdrew from the general election and was replaced on the ballot by Brian Pettyjohn. Pettyjohn won the general election.

Delaware Senate 19th district Republican primary election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Eric Bodenweiser	1,736	52.75%
	Republican	Joseph Booth (incumbent)	1,555	47.25%
Total votes			3,291	100%

Delaware Senate 19th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brian Pettyjohn[b]	9,817	59.78%
	Democratic	Jane E. Hovington	6,605	40.22%
Total votes			16,422	100%
	Republican hold

District 20

Incumbent Democrat George Bunting has represented the 20th district since 1997. Bunting retired and Republican Gerald Hocker won the open seat.

Delaware Senate 20th district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gerald Hocker	14,290	67.96%
	Democratic	Richard Eakle	6,736	32.04%
Total votes			21,026	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 21

Incumbent Democrat Robert Venables Sr. has represented the 21st district since 1989.

Delaware Senate 21st district general election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Venables Sr. (incumbent)	8,955	55.86%
	Republican	Bryant Richardson	6,889	42.97%
	Libertarian	John F. Potter	187	1.17%
Total votes			16,031	100%
	Democratic hold