2010 Delaware elections

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Elections were held in Delaware on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on September 14, 2010.

Contents

Federal

Senate

The 2010 election for the United States Senate was an open seat special election to finish the term ending in January 2015. Joe Biden, the 36-year senator from the seat, was reelected to his Senate seat in 2008 and was simultaneously elected vice president of the United States. He resigned on January 16, 2009, in order to take his seat as vice president (he was sworn in five days later, on January 20, Inauguration Day). Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced her intention to appoint Biden's longtime aide and chief of staff Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman on November 24, 2008, and made the appointment the same day Biden resigned. Kaufman was sworn in as a senator the next day. He made clear that he would not be a candidate for election in 2010.

Biden's son Beau Biden, the state attorney general, considered entering the race but decided not to. Democrat Chris Coons, the county executive of New Castle County, entered the race instead and won the Democratic nomination unopposed. In a widely publicized Republican primary, Michael Castle, the former governor and nine-term U.S. representative for Delaware's sole congressional seat who was initially heavily favored to win the primary and then the general election, was defeated in an upset by Tea Party movement-aligned marketing consultant Christine O'Donnell. Coons went on to defeat O'Donnell, as well as minor-party candidates Glenn A. Miller (Independent Party of Delaware) and James W. Rash (Libertarian), by a wide margin.

2010 election, U.S. senator for Delaware
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Chris Coons 174,012 56.6
Republican Christine O'Donnell 123,05340
Independent Party Glenn A. Miller8,2012.7
Libertarian James W. Rash2,1010.7

House of Representatives

John Carney was elected to Delaware's sole seat in the House of Representatives, replacing Republican Mike Castle, who vacated his seat to unsuccessfully run for the Senate. This was one of just three House seats to be picked up by the Democrats; the others were Cedric Richmond in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district and Colleen Hanabusa in Hawaii's 1st congressional district.

2010 election, Delaware's at-large congressional district
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic John Carney 173,543 56.8
Republican Glen Urquhart 125,44241
Independent Party Earl R. Lofland3,7041.2
Libertarian Brent A. Wangen1,9860.6
Blue Enigma Jeffrey Brown9610.4

State

Constitutional officers

Attorney General

2010 Delaware Attorney General election
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 2006
2014  
  Beau Biden 2013 (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Beau Biden Doug Camp
Party Democratic Independent Party
Popular vote203,93154,503
Percentage78.9%21.1%

2010 Delaware attorney general election results map by county.svg
2010 Delaware attorney general results map by house district.svg
Biden:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

Attorney General before election

Beau Biden
Democratic

Elected Attorney General

Beau Biden
Democratic

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, son of Vice President Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr., cruised to reelection as Delaware attorney general with no major-party opposition and a commanding 58-point margin of victory. Beau Biden had considered running in the special Senate election held simultaneously with the general election to serve the balance of his father's unexpired Senate term. (His father resigned to become vice president.) However, Beau chose to run for reelection as attorney general instead.

2010 election, Delaware attorney general
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Beau Biden 203,931 78.9
Independent Party Doug Camp54,50321.1

Treasurer

2010 Delaware State Treasurer election
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 2006
2014  
  Chip Campaign Official Photo.jpeg Colin Bonini 2 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Chipman Flowers Jr. Colin Bonini
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote153,203147,031
Percentage51.0%48.9%

2010 Delaware state treasurer election results map by county.svg
2010 Delaware treasurer results map by house district.svg
Flowers:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Bonini:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Treasurer before election

Velda Jones-Potter
Democratic

Elected Treasurer

Chipman Flowers Jr.
Democratic


In this race, Democrat Chipman "Chip" Flowers Jr., a 35-year-old attorney from Middletown, narrowly edging out Republican Colin R. J. Bonini of Magnolia, a 45-year-old state senator representing District 16. Flowers replaced Velda Jones-Potter, the incumbent treasurer appointed by Governor Jack Markell to finish out his term as treasurer when he was elected to the governorship in the 2008 election. Jones-Potter ran for the Democratic nomination, but was defeated by Flowers in the primary. Flowers became Delaware's first African American elected to statewide office. Bonini remained a state senator until 2010. [1]

2010 election, Delaware State Treasurer
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Chip Flowers, Jr. 153,203 51
Republican Colin R. J. Bonini 147,03149

Auditor of Accounts

2010 Delaware State Auditor election
Flag of Delaware.svg
 2006
2014  
  Auditor Tom Wagner.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Tom Wagner Richard Korn
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote150,156147,593
Percentage50.4%49.6%

2010 Delaware auditor of accounts election results map by county.svg
2010 Delaware auditor results map by house district.svg
Wagner:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Korn:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Auditor before election

Tom Wagner
Republican

Elected Auditor

Tom Wagner
Republican


In this race, longtime State Auditor R. Thomas "Tom" Wagner Jr. of Dover, the Republican nominee and 21-year incumbent, won a sixth term in office by just 2,563 votes (0.8 percent) over Democratic nominee Richard Korn of Wilmington, the president and CEO of Franklin Strategies, a political consulting firm. This was the closest statewide race in Delaware in the 2010 general elections.

2010 election, Delaware Auditor of Accounts
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican R. Thomas Wagner Jr. 150,156 50.4
Democratic Richard Korn147,59349.6

General Assembly

Senate

Half of the seats of the Delaware Senate were up for election in 2010.

House of Representatives

All of the seats in the Delaware House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

Local

Sheriffs

The countywide position of sheriff was up for election in all of Delaware's three counties.

In heavily Democratic New Castle County , Democratic nominee Trinidad Navarro, 40, a senior corporal and chief media spokesman with the New Castle County Police, won by a very wide margin, defeating Republican William Hart, a commercial construction project manager and Independence Party of Delaware candidate Joseph O'Leary. In the Democratic primaries, Navarro routed 30-year incumbent Sheriff Mike Walsh, 72, with 63.3 percent of the vote. In the Republican primary, Hart defeated O'Leary, 14,377 to 11,105, but O'Leary chose to run as an Independence Party candidate. [2]

2010 election, sheriff of New Castle County
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Trinidad Navarro 125,133 68.8
Republican William Hart48,43726.6
Independent Party Joseph O'Leary8,4144.6

In Sussex County , Republican Jeffrey Scott Christopher, 46, of Greenwood, a former Sussex County sheriff's chief deputy, won with 53.8 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Democrat Eric D. Swanson, 56, of Lewes, who had been sheriff since 2007 and, before that, a Delaware State Policeman. [3]

2010 election, sheriff of Sussex County
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Jeffrey S. Christopher 36,900 53.8
Democratic Eric D. Swanson31,63546.2

In Kent County , Democrat Norman Wood of Camden, a Smyrna Police Department lieutenant, defeated Republican incumbent Sheriff James A. Higdon Jr. of Dover. [4] [5] Higdon pleaded guilty in July 2010 to driving under the influence on May 29, 2010. First elected in 1994, he won reelection three more times, in 1998, 2002, and 2006, and only in 1998 had an opponent. [6] [7]

2010 election, sheriff of Kent County
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Norman Wood 25,136 52
Republican James Higdon Jr.20,01041.4
Independent Party Christopher Tallman3,1886.6

References

  1. [ dead link ]
  2. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100915/NEWS02/9150359/Delaware-elections-Trinidad-Navarro-defeats-30-year-incumbent-sheriff
  3. "Jeffrey Scott Christopher challenges Eric Swanson for sheriff's seat - by Kara Nuzback - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  4. "Smyrna PD's Norman Wood to run for Kent sheriff - Dover, DE - Dover Post". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  5. "Newsmaker Q&A: Kent County sheriff-elect Norman Wood".
  6. "Kent County Sheriff James Higdon pleads guilty to DUI - WGMD.COM". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  7. "Kent County sheriff awaits his day in court - Dover, DE - Dover Post". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2010.