2018 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware explained

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.

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

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott Walker, Republican candidate for the seat in 2016

Eliminated in primary

• Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (refused to concede)^{[2] [3]}

Write-in

• Marvin Davis, far-rightist
• Lee Murphy, retired railroad worker and actor (not filed)
• Andrew Webb, community activist and student^[4]

Endorsements

Primary results

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?”^[3] Murphy also called for an investigation into the results.^[5] Walker responded by saying that God had led his campaign to victory.^[6] 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.^[4]

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^[7]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

• Paul Johnston, veteran (write-in)

Withdrew

• Christopher Mockerman, activist (running for State House in District 17)^{[8] [9]}

General election

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[10]		September 2018
270towin[11]		October 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)	Scott Walker (R)	Undecided
University of Delaware[12]	September 11–17, 2018	728 LV	–	align=center	58%	28%	15%
	908 RV	± 3.7%	align=center	54%	26%	20%
Gravis Marketing[13]	July 24–29, 2018	884	± 3.3%	align=center	46%	38%	16%

with Lisa Blunt Rochester and Lee Murphy

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Kent (largest city: Dover)

External links

• Candidates at Vote Smart
• Candidates at Ballotpedia
• Campaign finance at FEC
• Campaign finance at OpenSecrets

Official campaign websites

• Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) for Congress
• Webb for Congress

Notes and References

1. Web site: FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE. Delaware Department of Elections.
2. Web site: Deadline passes, primary contenders are set. Dover Post. Lee. Jim. July 11, 2018.
3. Web site: Matthew Bittle on Twitter.
4. Web site: Andrew Webb Launches 2018 Campaign. Wolf von. Baumgart. September 18, 2018. delawarepolitics.net. January 7, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190202164205/http://www.delawarepolitics.net/andrew-webb-launches-2018-campaign/. February 2, 2019. dead.
5. Web site: Lee Murphy for Congress on Facebook.
6. Web site: Scott Walker for Congress on Facebook.
7. Web site: Independent Party of Delaware. WEBB 2018 . 8 June 2019.
8. Web site: Source Voting - Delaware.
9. Web site: Declared Write-In Candidates - Delaware Department of Elections.
10. Web site: Delaware at large - 2018 House Forecast . FiveThirtyEight. September 25, 2018.
11. Web site: 2018 House Election Interactive Map . 270towin. October 20, 2018.
12. https://www.cpc.udel.edu/content-sub-site/Documents/CPC%20poll%209-25-18%20FINAL%20RELEASE.pdf University of Delaware
13. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/Delaware_July_29_2018_v2.pdf Gravis Marketing