2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the U.S. representative from Delaware's at-large congressional district, who will represent the state of Delaware in the 116th United States Congress. The election coincided with the election of a U.S. Senator from Delaware and other federal and state offices. Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, the incumbent, won re-election.

2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, At-large district

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
Turnout	50.84%
Candidate Lisa Blunt Rochester Scott Walker Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 227,353 125,384 Percentage 64.26% 35.44%
County results Precinct results Rochester:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Walker:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      No data
U.S. Representative before election Lisa Blunt Rochester Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester Democratic

Democratic primary

Lisa Blunt Rochester ran unopposed in the primary and automatically became the Democratic nominee.

Candidates

Nominee

• Lisa Blunt Rochester, incumbent U.S. Representative^[1]

Withdrew

• Rose Izzo, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016, 2014, and 2012 (ran for State House in District 7)

Declined

• Kerri Evelyn Harris, Dover activist and U.S. Air Force veteran (ran for U.S. Senate)

Endorsements

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Organizations

• Congressional Black Caucus PAC
• Delaware Women Legislators
• Democratic Party
• Human Rights Campaign^[2]
• Planned Parenthood
• Stonewall Democrats

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott Walker, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016^[3]

Eliminated in primary

• Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (refused to concede)^[3][4]

Write-in

• Marvin Davis, far-rightist
• Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (not filed)
• Andrew Webb, community activist and student^[5]

Endorsements

Lee Murphy

Political candidates

• Gene Truono, Republican candidate for United States Senate

Primary results

Results by county:

  Walker—50–60%

  Murphy—50–60%

Republican primary results, Delaware 2018^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Walker	19,573	53.00%
	Republican	Lee Murphy	17,359	47.00%
Total votes			36,932	100%

Controversy

Shortly after the final results for the Republican primary, controversy almost immediately emerged about Scott Walker’s victory, as Lee Murphy had been seen by many as the favorite to win. Murphy refused to concede and took to Facebook, saying, “Friends, thanks for all your support- something stinks here and I will not be conceding anytime soon. Need to investigate big time. A Dem wins a Republican primary?”^[4] Murphy also called for an investigation into the results.^[7] Walker responded by saying that God had led his campaign to victory.^[8] Student and community activist Andrew Webb declared his Republican write-in candidacy on September 17, 2018, hoping to gain support from dissatisfied Republicans. He announced a platform of more moderate/traditional conservative ideas.^[5]

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Endorsed by Sussex County Chapter

• Andrew Webb, community activist and student (write-in)

Independent Party of Delaware

Candidates

Write-in

• Andrew Webb, community activist and student^[9]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

• Paul Johnston, veteran (write-in)

Withdrew

• Christopher Mockerman, activist (running for State House in District 17)^[10][11]

General election

Endorsements

Lisa Blunt Rochester

U.S. Senators

• Tom Carper, U.S. Senator from Delaware
• Chris Coons, U.S. Senator from Delaware

Governors

• John Carney, 74th Governor of Delaware^[12]

Lt. Governors

• Bethany Hall-Long, 26th Lt. Governor of Delaware

Political candidates

• Don Allan, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 36th Representative district
• Colleen Davis, Democratic nominee for State Treasurer
• Dee Durham, Democratic nominee for New Castle County's 2nd council district
• Krista Griffith, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 12th Representative district
• Kathy Jennings, Democratic nominee for Delaware state Attorney General
• Elizabeth "Tizzy" Lockman, Delaware State Senator-elect for 3rd district
• Laura Sturgeon, Democratic nominee for Delaware's 4th Senate district

Individuals

• Coby Owens, social justice activist, CEO of Youth Caucus of America, and 2016 delegate for Bernie Sanders

Organizations

• Congressional Black Caucus PAC
• Delaware Division of Public Health
• Delaware Women Legislators
• Democratic Party
• Human Rights Campaign^[2]
• Mary Ann’s List
• Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
• Planned Parenthood
• Sierra Club^[13]
• Stonewall Democrats

Scott Walker

Individuals

• Lil B, rapper

Andrew Webb (write-in)

County Councilpersons

• Rob Arlett, Sussex County Councilman and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware^[14]

Individuals

• James Brittingham, Libertarian Party of Delaware Sussex County chairman

Organizations

• Independent Party of Delaware
• Libertarian Party of Delaware Sussex County Chapter

Declined to endorse

Declined to endorse Scott Walker

• Rob Arlett, Sussex County Councilman and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware (endorsed Andrew Webb) ^[14]
• Peter Kopf, former New Castle County Republican chairman
• Lee Murphy, former candidate
• Republican Party
• Andrew Webb, community activist and student (running as write-in)

Debates

• Full video of debate, University of Delaware October 17, 2018
• Full audio of debate, Delaware Public Media October 17, 2018

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
FiveThirtyEight[15]	Solid D	September 2018
270towin[16]	Safe D	October 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	Scott Walker (R)	Undecided
University of Delaware[17]	September 11–17, 2018	728 LV	–	58%	28%	15%
		908 RV	± 3.7%	54%	26%	20%
Gravis Marketing[18]	July 24–29, 2018	884	± 3.3%	46%	38%	16%

Hypothetical polling

with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Lee Murphy

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	Lee Murphy (R)	Undecided
Gravis Marketing[18]	July 24–29, 2018	884	± 3.3%	46%	39%	16%

Results

Delaware's at-large congressional district, 2018^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Lisa Blunt Rochester (incumbent)	227,353	64.26%	+8.74%
	Republican	Scott Walker	125,384	35.44%	−5.30%
	Write-in		1,077	0.3%
Total votes			353,814	100%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Kent (largest city: Dover)