The 2020 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Delaware, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic senator Chris Coons ran for reelection to a second full term and won against Republican challenger Lauren Witzke with 59.4% of the vote. He outperformed Democratic presidential nominee and former Delaware Senator Joe Biden (whose seat Coons was elected to in a 2010 special election) by 0.7 percentage points, compared to the concurrent presidential election. Coons also won Kent County, a swing county, for the first time in his senatorial career.
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Chris Coons, incumbent U.S. senator
Eliminated in primary Jessica Scarane, technology executive
Withdrawn Scott Walker, Republican nominee for in 2018 (running for governor as a Republican)
Declined Kerri Evelyn Harris, former candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2018 Lisa Blunt Rochester, incumbent U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district (running for re-election)
Endorsements
Polling
with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error LisaBlunt Rochester ChrisCoons UndecidedData for ProgressData for ProgressNovember 15–25, 2019528 (LV)± 6.1%31%35%34% with Chris Coons and more liberal female Democrat Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error ChrisCoons More liberalfemale Democrat UndecidedData for ProgressNovember 15–25, 2019528 (LV)± 6.1%24%45%31%32%36%32%32%36%33%
Results
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Lauren Witzke, far-right activist and proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory
Eliminated in primary James DeMartino, attorney and nominee for the Delaware House of Representatives in 2016 & 2018
Declined Rob Arlett, former Sussex County councilman and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018
Endorsements
Results
Other candidates Libertarian Party Nominee Nadine Frost, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018
Independent Party of Delaware Nominee Mark Turley, small business owner
General election Prior to the election, Chris Coons' re-election was considered to be a near certainty regardless of the Republican challenger. The choice of Lauren Witzke, a controversial extremist and believer of QAnon, as the nominee, only cemented this prediction. Networks declared Coons the winner as soon as voting ended, based on exit polling alone. Coons also outperformed Biden (who also once held this Senate seat) in terms of percentage, but underperformed in terms of raw vote, likely due to the lack of third-party Senate candidates.
Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report October 29, 2020 Inside Elections October 28, 2020 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 2, 2020Daily Kos October 30, 2020PoliticoNovember 2, 2020RCPOctober 23, 2020DDHQNovember 3, 2020538November 2, 2020EconomistNovember 2, 2020
General election endorsements
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error ChrisCoons (D) LaurenWitzke (R) Other/UndecidedUniversity of DelawareUniversity of DelawareSeptember 21–27, 2020847 (LV) –57%27%17%
Results
By county CountyChris CoonsDemocraticLauren WitzkeRepublicanMark TurleyIPoDNadine FrostLibertarianMarginTotalvotes#%#%#%#%#%Kent43,89351.6538,57145.391,5531.839581.135,3226.2684,975New Castle191,77468.6280,08128.654,2771.533,3301.19111,69339.97279,462Sussex56,13744.3867,40253.282,0031.589560.76-11,265-8.90126,498 Totals291,80459.44186,05437.907,8331.605,2441.07105,75021.54490,935
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Kent (largest municipality: Dover)
Notes
References
External links
(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Official campaign websites Chris Coons (D) for Senate Mark Turley (I) for Senate Lauren Witzke (R) for Senate