2020 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

2020 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, at-large district

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →
 
Candidate Lisa Blunt Rochester Lee Murphy
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 281,382 196,392
Percentage 57.6% 40.2%

Rochester:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Murphy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
     No data

U.S. Representative before election

Lisa Blunt Rochester
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Lisa Blunt Rochester
Democratic

The 2020 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the U.S. representative from Delaware's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The Democratic and Republican primaries was held on September 15, 2020.

Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester ran for re-election to a third term. She was re-elected with 64.5% of the vote in 2018.[1]

The Republican nominee was Lee Murphy, a private citizen who worked for most of his life at Amtrak as a conductor and manager.[2] Murphy had also worked as an actor and had appeared in Netflix's House of Cards.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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Declined

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  • Scott Walker, Republican nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2018[4][5] (ran for Governor as a Republican)

Endorsements

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Lisa Blunt Rochester

Organizations

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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  • Lee Murphy, actor and candidate for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2018[7]

Eliminated in primary

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  • Matthew Morris, sales consultant[8]

Results

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Republican primary results[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lee Murphy 39,179 73.81%
Republican Matthew Morris 13,901 26.19%
Total votes 53,080 100.0%

Libertarian primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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Independent Party of Delaware

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Declared

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General election

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Debate

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2020 Delaware U.S. House of Representatives debate
No. Date Host Moderator Link Democratic Republican Libertarian Independent Party of Delaware
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
Lisa Blunt Rochester Lee Murphy David Rogers Catherine Purcell
1 Oct. 14, 2020 University of Delaware Ralph Begleiter [11] P P N N

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[12] Safe D November 2, 2020
Inside Elections[13] Safe D October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] Safe D November 2, 2020
Politico[15] Safe D November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[16] Safe D November 2, 2020
RCP[17] Safe D November 2, 2020

Endorsements

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Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)

Organizations

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[a]
Margin
of error
Lisa Blunt
Rochester (D)
Lee
Murphy (R)
Catherine
Purcell (DI)
David
Rogers (L)
Other/
Undecided
University of Delaware[18] September 21–27, 2020 847 (LV) 51% 29% 5% 3% 13%[b]

Results

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Delaware's at-large congressional district, 2020[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lisa Blunt Rochester (incumbent) 281,382 57.63% −6.63%
Republican Lee Murphy 196,392 40.22% +4.78%
Independent Party Catherine S. Purcell 6,682 1.37% N/A
Libertarian David L. Rogers 3,814 0.78% N/A
Total votes 488,270 100.0% N/A
Democratic hold
By county
County Lisa Blunt Rochester
Democratic
Lee Murphy
Republican
Catherine Purcell
Delaware Independent
David Rogers
Libertarian
Margin Total votes
# % # % # % # % # %
New Castle 184,337 66.31 87,581 31.50 3,831 1.38 2,255 0.81 96,796 34.82 278,004
Kent 42,984 50.79 39,586 46.78 1,284 1.52 768 0.91 3,398 4.01 84,622
Sussex 54,061 43.03 69,225 55.10 1,567 1.25 791 0.63 -15,164 -12.07 125,644
Totals 281,382 57.63 196,392 40.22 6,682 1.37 3,814 0.78 84,990 17.41 488,270

Notes

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  1. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ "None/other/undecided" with 13%

References

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  1. ^ Wasserman, David; Flinn, Ally (November 7, 2018). "2018 House Popular Vote Tracker". Cook Political Report. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  2. ^ Cherry, Amy (July 3, 2018). "'House of Cards' actor to run for US Congress in Delaware". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  3. ^ @CATargetBot (April 13, 2019). "NEW FEC F2 Lisa Blunt Rochester (DEM) #DE00 (D-Blunt Rochester) http://classic.fec.gov/fecviewer/CommitteeDetailFilings.do?tabIndex=3&candidateCommitteeId=H6DE00206 …" (Tweet). Retrieved June 8, 2019 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Fmr. House Candidate Scott Walker suspends longshot Democratic presidential campaign, says he's writing book". Delaware 105.9 FM. June 13, 2019. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Auen, Austin (September 6, 2019). "Scott Walker just announced a primary to John Carney..." Facebook. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Sierra Club #ClimateVoter Guide: Endorsements". Sierra Club.
  7. ^ McAneny, DJ (August 19, 2020). "'I stand for the working man', GOP-endorsed Murphy hopes to challenge Blunt Rochester for Delaware's US House seat". WDEL. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  8. ^ Matthew Morris: Republican Candidate for US House of Representatives (Delaware) (Podcast). Getting 2 Know U Pod. Vol. 65. August 8, 2020. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "2020 State Primary Election Report". Delaware.gov. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "State of Delaware - Department of Elections". Office of the State Election Commissioner. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Center for Political Communication, University of Delaware (October 19, 2020) [occurred October 14, 2020]. Delaware Debates 2020—U.S. House of Representatives (Video). We Are The People: National Agenda 2020. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "2020 House Race Ratings for November 2, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "2020 House Ratings". House Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "2020 House race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. April 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "2020 House Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  17. ^ "Battle for House 2020". RCP. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  18. ^ UD Center for Political Communication (October 5, 2020). "Poll: Democrats lead by big margins in Delaware : Biden, Carney, Blunt Rochester and Coons bolstered by support among women voters heading into the 2020 election". UDaily. Newark, DE: Office of Communications & Marketing, University of Delaware. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024.
  19. ^ "2020 General Election Report". Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
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Official campaign websites