# 2020 United States Senate election in Delaware

The 2020 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Delaware, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic senator Chris Coons ran for reelection to a second full term and won against Republican challenger Lauren Witzke with 59.4% of the vote. He outperformed Democratic presidential nominee and former Delaware Senator Joe Biden (whose seat Coons was elected to in a 2010 special election) by 0.7 percentage points, compared to the concurrent presidential election. Coons also won Kent County, a swing county, for the first time in his senatorial career.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Chris Coons, incumbent U.S. senator

#### Eliminated in primary

* Jessica Scarane, technology executive

#### Withdrawn

* Scott Walker, Republican nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in 2018 (running for governor as a Republican)

#### Declined

* Kerri Evelyn Harris, former candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2018
* Lisa Blunt Rochester, incumbent U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district (running for re-election)

### Endorsements

U.S. vice presidents
* Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States (2009-2017), United States Senator from Delaware (1973-2009), Democratic nominee for the 2020 election
State executives
* Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware (2009-2017), Treasurer of Delaware (1999-2009)
State legislators
* Margaret Rose Henry, Member of the Delaware Senate from the 2nd District (1994-2019), Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate (2017-2019)
* Sean Lynn, Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 31st district (2014-present)
* Nicole Poore, Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate (2009-present), Member of the Delaware Senate from the district 12 (2013-present)
Individuals
* Sarah McBride, LGBTQ rights activist, National Press Secretary of the Human Rights Campaign and candidate for the Delaware State Senate
Organizations
* 314 Action
* American Bankers Association
* Brady Campaign
* Council for a Livable World
* Delaware AFL-CIO
* Delaware Bankers Association
* Delaware Building and Construction Trades
* Delaware Stonewall PAC
* Democratic Majority for Israel
* End Citizens United
* Everytown for Gun Safety
* Giffords
* Human Rights Campaign
* Humane Society of the United States Legislative Fund
* Jewish Democratic Council of America
* Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs
* League of Conservation Voters
* Moms Demand Action
* NARAL Pro-Choice America
* Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund
* Planned Parenthood
* Pro-Israel America
* Sierra Club
State legislators
* John Kowalko, Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 25th district (2006-present)
Organizations
* Brand New Congress
* Democratic Socialists of America
* Sunrise Movement - Newark Hub
Political parties
* Working Families Party

### Polling

Hypothetical head-to-head polling :
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Lisa Blunt Rochester | Chris Coons | Undecided |
| Data for Progress | November 15–25, 2019 | 528 (LV) | ± 6.1% | 31% | 35% | 34% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Chris Coons | More liberal female Democrat | Undecided |
| Data for Progress | November 15–25, 2019 | 528 (LV) | ± 6.1% | 24% | 45% | 31% |
| Data for Progress | November 15–25, 2019 | 528 (LV) | ± 6.1% | 32% | 36% | 32% |
| Data for Progress | November 15–25, 2019 | 528 (LV) | ± 6.1% | 32% | 36% | 33% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Chris Coons (incumbent) | 87,332 | 72.85% |
| | Democratic | Jessica Scarane | 32,547 | 27.15% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 119,879 | 100.00% |

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Lauren Witzke, far-right activist and proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory

#### Eliminated in primary

* James DeMartino, attorney and nominee for the Delaware House of Representatives in 2016 & 2018

#### Declined

* Rob Arlett, former Sussex County councilman and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018

### Endorsements

Organizations
* Delaware Colonial Region Republicans
Political parties
* Republican State Committee of Delaware
U.S. representatives
* Paul Gosar, U.S. representative from Arizona (2011–present)
Individuals
* Nick Fuentes, white nationalist activist

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Lauren Witzke | 30,702 | 56.89% |
| | Republican | James DeMartino | 23,266 | 43.11% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 53,968 | 100.00% |

## Other candidates
### Libertarian Party
#### Nominee

* Nadine Frost, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018

### Independent Party of Delaware
#### Nominee

* Mark Turley, small business owner

## General election

Prior to the election, Chris Coons' re-election was considered to be a near certainty regardless of the Republican challenger. The choice of Lauren Witzke, a controversial extremist and believer of QAnon, as the nominee, only cemented this prediction. Networks declared Coons the winner as soon as voting ended, based on exit polling alone. Coons also outperformed Biden (who also once held this Senate seat) in terms of percentage, but underperformed in terms of raw vote, likely due to the lack of third-party Senate candidates.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid D | October 29, 2020 |
| Inside Elections | Safe D | October 28, 2020 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| Daily Kos | Safe D | October 30, 2020 |
| Politico | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| RCP | Safe D | October 23, 2020 |
| DDHQ | Safe D | November 3, 2020 |
| 538 | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |
| Economist | Safe D | November 2, 2020 |

### General election endorsements

Labor unions
* International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
Organizations
* Delaware State Education Association
* National Education Association

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Chris Coons (D) | Lauren Witzke (R) | Other/ Undecided |
| University of Delaware | September 21–27, 2020 | 847 (LV) | – | 57% | 27% | 17% |

### Results

United States Senate election in Delaware, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Chris Coons (incumbent) | 291,804 | 59.44% | +3.61% |
| | Republican | Lauren Witzke | 186,054 | 37.90% | −4.33% |
| | Independent Party | Mark Turley | 7,833 | 1.59% | N/A |
| | Libertarian | Nadine Frost | 5,244 | 1.07% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 490,935 | 100.0% | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

#### By county

By county :
| County | Chris Coons Democratic | Chris Coons Democratic | Lauren Witzke Republican | Lauren Witzke Republican | Mark Turley IPoD | Mark Turley IPoD | Nadine Frost Libertarian | Nadine Frost Libertarian | Margin | Margin | Total votes |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total votes |
| Kent | 43,893 | 51.65 | 38,571 | 45.39 | 1,553 | 1.83 | 958 | 1.13 | 5,322 | 6.26 | 84,975 |
| New Castle | 191,774 | 68.62 | 80,081 | 28.65 | 4,277 | 1.53 | 3,330 | 1.19 | 111,693 | 39.97 | 279,462 |
| Sussex | 56,137 | 44.38 | 67,402 | 53.28 | 2,003 | 1.58 | 956 | 0.76 | -11,265 | -8.90 | 126,498 |
| Totals | 291,804 | 59.44 | 186,054 | 37.90 | 7,833 | 1.60 | 5,244 | 1.07 | 105,750 | 21.54 | 490,935 |