2014 United States Senate election in Delaware

* * *

| <- 2010 (special) | November 4, 2014 | 2020 ->

|
|

|  |  |

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Nominee  | Chris Coons | Kevin Wade  |
Party  | Democratic | Republican
Popular vote  | 130,655 | 98,823
Percentage  | 55.83% | 42.23%

* * *

County results

House district results

Coons: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Wade: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

* * *

| U.S. senator before election

Chris Coons
Democratic

| Elected U.S. Senator

Chris Coons
Democratic

|

The 2014 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Delaware, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. This election was the fifth consecutive even-number year in which a senate election was held in Delaware after elections in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Coons ran for re-election to a first full term in office. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican businessman Kevin Wade in the general election.

## Background

[edit]

Democratic senator Joe Biden was re-elected to a seventh term in 2008, defeating Republican political commentator Christine O'Donnell by 65% to 35%. At the same time, he was elected Vice President of the United States and resigned his Senate seat to be sworn in as vice president in January 2009. Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed Biden's longtime aide Ted Kaufman to the seat until a special election was held in November 2010. In the election, Christine O'Donnell ran again and upset U.S. Representative and former governor Mike Castle in the Republican primary to face Democrat Chris Coons, who had run unopposed for his party's nomination. In the general election, Coons defeated O'Donnell by 57% to 40% and was sworn in later that month.

## Democratic primary

[edit]

### Candidates

[edit]

#### Declared

[edit]

* Chris Coons, incumbent U.S. Senator[1]

#### Declined

[edit]

* Beau Biden, Delaware Attorney General and son of then vice president Joe Biden[2]

## Republican primary

[edit]

### Candidates

[edit]

#### Declared

[edit]

* Carl Smink, retired engineer and businessman[3]
* Kevin Wade, businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012[4]

#### Declined

[edit]

* Mike Castle, former U.S. Representative, former Governor of Delaware and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010[5]
* Tom Kovach, New Castle County Council President and nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2012[1]
* Christine O'Donnell, political commentator, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2010[1][6][7][8][9]

### Primary results

[edit]

Republican primary results[10] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Kevin Wade  | 18,181  | 75.66
| Republican | Carl Smink  | 5,848  | 24.34
Total votes | 24,029  | 100

## Other candidates

[edit]

### Green Party

[edit]

#### Nominee

[edit]

* Andrew Groff, computer science professor and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012[11]

## General election

[edit]

### Fundraising

[edit]

Candidate  | Raised  | Spent  | Cash on Hand

|
|
|

Chris Coons (D)  | $7,684,608  | $4,831,183  | $2,853,426

### Debates

[edit]

* This is a video of the sole debate held on October 15, 2014

### Predictions

[edit]

Source  | Ranking  | As of

|
|

The Cook Political Report[12] | Solid D  | November 3, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13] | Safe D  | November 3, 2014
Rothenberg Political Report[14] | Safe D  | November 3, 2014
Real Clear Politics[15] | Safe D  | November 3, 2014

### Polling

[edit]

Poll source  | Date(s)
administered | Sample
size | Margin of
error | Chris
Coons (D)  | Kevin
Wade (R)  | Other  | Undecided

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

CBS News/NYT/YouGov[16] | October 16–23, 2014  | 461  | ± 7%  | 54% | 36%  | 0%  | 10%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[16] | September 20 – October 1, 2014  | 471  | ± 5%  | 51% | 35%  | 0%  | 14%
University of Delaware[17] | September 10–22, 2014  | 902  | ± 3.9%  | 50% | 25%  | 6%[18] | 21%
Rasmussen Reports[19] | September 10–12, 2014  | 750  | ± 4%  | 49% | 34%  | 4%  | 12%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[20] | August 18 – September 2, 2014  | 697  | ± 5%  | 48% | 35%  | 1%  | 16%
CBS News/NYT/YouGov[21] | July 5–24, 2014  | 840  | ± 3.5%  | 60% | —  | 15%  | 25%

Hypothetical polling

Poll source  | Date(s)
administered | Sample
size | Margin of
error | Chris
Coons (D)  | Christine
O'Donnell (R)  | Other  | Undecided

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Princeton Survey Research[22] | September 3–16, 2013  | 902  | ± 3.9%  | 51% | 28%  | —  | 22%

### Results

[edit]

Coons easily won the election to a full term, with 56% of the vote. Coons was projected the winner right when the polls closed in Delaware. Wade conceded defeat at 8:32 P.M. EST.

United States Senate election in Delaware, 2014[23] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Democratic | Chris Coons (incumbent)  | 130,655  | 55.83%  | −0.78%
| Republican | Kevin Wade  | 98,823  | 42.23%  | +2.20%
| Green | Andrew Groff  | 4,560  | 1.95%  | N/A
Total votes  | 234,038  | 100.00%  | N/A
| Democratic hold

#### By county

[edit]

By county

| County  | Chris Coons
Democratic | Kevin Wade
Republican | Andrew Groff
Green

|
|
|

#  | %  | #  | %  | #  | %
Kent | 19,218  | 48.74  | 19,527 | 49.53 | 681  | 1.73
New Castle | 84,985 | 63.82 | 45,229  | 33.97  | 2,948  | 2.21
Sussex | 26,452  | 43.05  | 34,067 | 55.44 | 931  | 1.52
Totals  | 130,655 | 55.83 | 98,823  | 42.23  | 4,560  | 1.95

## See also

[edit]

* 2014 United States Senate elections
* 2014 United States elections
* 2014 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Charles Mahtesian (November 27, 2012). "Coons: Not taking any chances in 2014". Politico. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
2. ^ "Beau Biden says he plans to run for governor in Delaware". CNN. April 17, 2014. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
3. ^ Byrne, Tom (July 7, 2014). "Filing deadline for First State's 2014 election cycle looms". WDDE. Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
4. ^ Byrne, Tom (July 8, 2014). "Late filings make two 2014 statewide races more competitive". WDDE. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
5. ^ Bob Yearick (November 14, 2012). "Former Delaware Congressman Mike Castle: Life Out of Office". Delaware Today. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
6. ^ Amanda Terkel (September 16, 2012). "Christine O'Donnell Considers 2014 Senate Rematch". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
7. ^ Doug Denison (July 22, 2013). "Republicans wait as O'Donnell weighs another campaign". Delaware Online. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
8. ^ Starkey, Jonathan (May 22, 2014). "Christine O'Donnell backs off Delaware Senate run". Delaware Online. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
9. ^ Mark Eichmann (June 4, 2014). "Christine O'Donnell not running for Senate". News Works. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
10. ^ "State of Delaware Primary Election (Official Results)". elections.delaware.gov. Archived from the original on September 27, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
11. ^ "STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS GENERAL ELECTION 11/04/2014 FILED CANDIDATES BY OFFICE". elections.delaware.gov. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
12. ^ "2014 Senate Race Ratings for November 3, 2014". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
13. ^ "The Crystal Ball's Final 2014 Picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
14. ^ "2014 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
15. ^ "2014 Elections Map - Battle for the Senate 2014". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
16. ^ a b CBS News/NYT/YouGov
17. ^ University of Delaware
18. ^ Andrew Groff (G)
19. ^ Rasmussen Reports
20. ^ CBS News/NYT/YouGov
21. ^ CBS News/NYT/YouGov
22. ^ Princeton Survey Research
23. ^ "State of Delaware General Election (Official Results)". State of Delaware Election Commissioner. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* U.S. Senate elections in Delaware, 2014 at Ballotpedia
* Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets
* Chris Coons for U.S. Senate
* Carl Smink for U.S. Senate
* Kevin Wade for U.S. Senate

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See also: Political party strength in Delaware
*[v]: View this template
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