2020 Delaware gubernatorial election explained

The 2020 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of Delaware, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic governor John Carney was re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican Julianne Murray in a landslide.^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Carney, incumbent governor of Delaware^{[2] [1]}

Eliminated in the primary

• David Lamar Williams Jr., accountant and community activist^{[2] [3]}

Results

Results by county

County[4]	John Carney	%	David Lamar Williams Jr.	%	Total
	Kent	13,396	81.95%	2,950	18.05%	16,346
	New Castle	67,063	84.17%	12,615	15.83%	79,678
	Sussex	20,683	88.82%	2,604	11.18%	23,287
Total	101,142	84.77%	18,169	15.23%	119,311

Republican primary

The Republican primary was hotly contested between Julianne Murray, an attorney from Georgetown, and Colin Bonini, a Delaware state senator from the 16th district and the Republican nominee for the governor of Delaware in 2016. Murray ended up winning the nomination. Although Bonini won Kent and New Castle counties, the latter of which is home to Wilmington and is the most populous county in the state, Murray won Sussex County, which is the most Republican county in the state and overall had the most votes, allowing her to carry the nomination.

Candidates

Nominee

• Julianne Murray, attorney^[2]

Eliminated in the primary

• Colin Bonini, state senator, nominee for Delaware State Treasurer in 2010, and nominee for Governor of Delaware in 2016^[5]
• David Bosco, small business owner^[2]
• David Graham^[2]
• Bryant Richardson, state senator^[6]
• Scott Walker, 2018 Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Delaware

Withdrawn

• Kevin Baron, veteran^{[7] [8]}
• Neil Shea, brewer, U.S. Marine Corps veteran^[2]

Results

Results by county

County	Julianne Murray	%	Colin Bonini	%	Bryant L. Richardson	%	R.E. Scott Walker	%	David Bosco	%	Dave Graham	%	Total
Kent	3,876	35.75%	4,910	45.29%	556	5.13%	506	4.67%	690	6.36%	304	2.80%	10,842
New Castle	7,204	34.55%	8,529	40.90%	1,006	4.82%	1,959	9.39%	1,398	6.70%	756	3.63%	20,852
Sussex	11,739	49.42%	5,722	24.09%	2,700	11.37%	1,533	6.45%	1,572	6.62%	487	2.05%	23,753
Total	22,819	41.15%	19,161	34.56%	4,262	7.69%	3,998	7.21%	3,660	6.60%	1,547	2.79%	55,447

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

• John Machurek^[2]

Independent Party of Delaware

Nominee

• Kathy DeMatteis^[2]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[9]		October 23, 2020
Inside Elections[10]		October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[11]		November 2, 2020
Politico[12]		November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[13]		October 28, 2020
RCP[14]		November 2, 2020
270towin[15]		November 2, 2020

Results

By county

County	John Carney Democratic		Julianne Murray Republican		Kathy DeMatteis IPoD		John Machurek Libertarian		Margin		Total votes
	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"			data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%
	Kent		44,352		51.93		39,332		46.05		1,115		1.30		616		0.72		5,020		5.88		85,415
	New Castle		191,678		68.45		82,545		29.48		3,785		1.35		2,031		0.72		109,133		38.97		280,039
	Sussex		56,873		44.72		68,435		53.81		1,250		0.98		623		0.49		-11,562		-9.09		127,181
Totals	292,903	59.46	190,312	38.63	6,150	1.25	3,270	0.66	102,591	20.83	492,635

External links

Official campaign websites

• John Carney (D) for Governor
• Kathy DeMatteis (IPoD) for Governor
• Julianne Murray (R) for Governor

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020-07-20. Del. Governor John Carney announces re-election campaign. 2020-07-20. 47abc. en-US.
2. Web site: State of Delaware - Department of Elections · Office of the State Election Commissioner - Election Information. elections.delaware.gov. May 29, 2020. October 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221001144112/https://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/candidate_list.shtml. dead.
3. Web site: David Lamar Williams Jr. for Governor of Delaware on Facebook . . 1 October 2019.
4. Web site: Elections. 2020 State Primary Election Report. 2020-10-01. Delaware Department of Elections. en.
5. Web site: State Sen. Bonini running for governor again. June 26, 2020.
6. News: Senator Richardson to run for governor. 26 May 2020 . Delaware State News . 25 May 2020.
7. Web site: Kevin Baron. Ballotpedia. July 17, 2020.
8. News: State GOP contesting all Democratic-held statewide offices this year. Ciolino. Nick. Delaware Public Media. February 29, 2020.
9. Web site: 2020 Governor Race Ratings for October 23, 2020. The Cook Political Report. en. March 11, 2021.
10. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial Ratings. insideelections.com. March 11, 2021.
11. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial race ratings . November 2, 2020 . Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball . March 13, 2021.
12. Web site: We rated every gubernatorial race in 2020. Here's who we think will win.. Politico. November 19, 2019.
13. Web site: 2020 Governor Race Ratings . . June 1, 2020 . June 5, 2020.
14. Web site: June 13, 2020 . 2020 Governor Races. June 14, 2020 . RealClearPolitics.
15. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial Elections Map . 270towin.
16. https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2020/october/poll--democrats-lead-by-big-margins-in-delaware/ University of Delaware