1976 Delaware gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1976 United States gubernatorial elections.

1976 Delaware gubernatorial election

←  1972 November 2, 1976 1980  →

Nominee Pete du Pont Sherman W. Tribbitt Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 130,531 97,480 Percentage 56.86% 42.46%

County results House district results du Pont:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Tribbitt:     50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election Sherman W. Tribbitt Democratic Elected Governor Pete du Pont Republican

The 1976 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. Pitting incumbent Democratic Governor Sherman W. Tribbitt Against U.S. Representative Pete du Pont. Largely due to the state's unresolved financial problems, du Pont defeated Governor Tribbitt by a landslide margin of 57% to 42%. This is the last time that an incumbent governor of Delaware lost re-election.

Nominations

From 1972 to 1992 Delaware used a system of “challenge” primaries, in which a candidate for statewide office who received at least 35 percent of the convention vote could challenge the endorsed candidate in a primary. No such primaries were held in 1976. ^{[1] [2]}

General election

Candidates

• Sherman W. Tribbitt, Democratic, incumbent Governor
• Pete du Pont, Republican, U.S. Representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district
• George W. Cripps, American, former Delaware Auditor of Accounts ^[3]
• Harry Conner, Prohibition

Results

1976 Delaware gubernatorial election ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Pierre S. duPont IV	130,531	56.86%
	Democratic	Sherman W. Tribbitt (incumbent)	97,480	42.46%
	American	George W. Cripps	1,255	0.55%
	Prohibition	Harry Conner	297	0.13%
Majority			33,051	14.40%
Turnout			229,563	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

References

1. America Votes 12, p. 82.
2. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 104.
3. "Politics: Reports" (PDF). Ripon Forum. Vol. IX, no. 16. Washington, D.C. September 1973. p. 16. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
4. "DE Governor, 1976". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
5. Delaware Official Results 1976, p. 2.
6. America Votes 12, p. 78.
7. Glashan 1979, pp. 52–53.
8. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 46.

Bibliography

• Lewis C. Wrightson, Commissioner of Elections (1977). Official Results of General Election, 1976 (PDF). State of Delaware. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2016.
• Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN   0-930466-17-9.
• Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN   1-56802-396-0.
• Scammon, Richard M.; McGillivray, Alice V. (1977). America Votes 12: a handbook of contemporary American election statistics, 1976. Washington, D.C.: Elections Research Center.