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2016 Delaware gubernatorial election

{{Short description|none}}

{{for|related races|2016 United States gubernatorial elections}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 2016 Delaware gubernatorial election

| country = Delaware

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 2012 Delaware gubernatorial election

| previous_year = 2012

| next_election = 2020 Delaware gubernatorial election

| next_year = 2020

| election_date = November 8, 2016

| image1 = File:John C. Carney Jr. 2017.jpg

| image_size = x150px

| nominee1 = John Carney

| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)

| popular_vote1 = 248,404

| percentage1 = 58.34%

| image2 = File:Colin Bonini 2 (cropped).jpg

| nominee2 = Colin Bonini

| party2 = Republican Party (United States)

| popular_vote2 = 166,852

| percentage2 = 39.18%

| map_image = {{switcher |210px |County results |210px |Precinct results |default=1}}

| map_size = 210px

| map_caption = Carney: {{legend0|#A5B0FF|40–50%}} {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}} {{legend0|#3933e5|80–90%}} {{legend0|#0D0596|>90%}}
Bonini: {{legend0|#FFB2B2|40–50%}} {{legend0|#E27F7F|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend0|#D72F30|70–80%}}
{{legend0|#808080|No votes}}

| title = Governor

| before_election = Jack Markell

| before_party = Democratic Party (United States)

| after_election = John Carney

| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

The 2016 Delaware gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the governor of Delaware, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Democratic governor Jack Markell was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office. Democratic congressman John Carney defeated Republican state senator Colin Bonini in a landslide. Despite his loss, Bonini flipped Sussex County back to the Republicans for the first time in a gubernatorial election since 2004.

Democratic primary

=Candidates=

==Nominee==

  • John Carney, U.S. representative, former lieutenant governor of Delaware and candidate for governor in 2008{{cite news|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/73082/rep-john-carney-run-governor-delaware|title=Rep. John Carney to Run for Governor of Delaware|work=National Journal|last=Bruggeman|first=Karyn|last2=Railey|first2=Kimberly|date=September 16, 2015|access-date=September 16, 2015}}

==Deceased==

  • Beau Biden, former Delaware Attorney General and son of Delaware senator, vice president, and future president Joe Biden{{cite news|title=Beau Biden says he plans to run for governor in Delaware|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/17/beau-biden-says-he-plans-to-run-for-governor-in-delaware/?hpt=hp_t2|access-date=April 17, 2014|publisher=CNN|date=April 17, 2014|archive-date=January 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118132828/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/17/beau-biden-says-he-plans-to-run-for-governor-in-delaware/?hpt=hp_t2|url-status=dead}} (died May 30, 2015)

==Withdrew==

  • Kevin Tinsley{{cite web|url=http://delawarestatenews.net/government/can-carney-be-topped-in-delaware-governor-race/|work=Delaware State News|title=Can Carney be topped in Delaware governor race?|first=Matt|last=Bittle|date=July 23, 2016|access-date=August 14, 2016}}

==Declined==

  • Matthew Denn, Delaware Attorney General and former lieutenant governor of Delaware{{cite news|title=Delaware's 2016 speculation all about Biden|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/11/08/delawares-speculation-biden/18727837/|access-date=November 9, 2014|publisher=Delaware Online|date=November 8, 2014}}{{cite news|author=Jonathan Starkey|title=Denn enters AG's race; primary still possible|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/story/firststatepolitics/2014/04/21/denn-attorney-general/7956989/ |access-date=March 3, 2013|newspaper=DelawareOnline|date=April 21, 2014}}{{cite news |url=http://delaware.newszap.com/centraldelaware/138458-70/levy-courts-eaby-pursuing-a-run-for-lieutenant-governor |title=Levy Court's Eaby pursuing a run for lieutenant governor |publisher=DelawareNewszap |author=Matt Bittle |date=February 21, 2015 |access-date=February 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224102657/http://delaware.newszap.com/centraldelaware/138458-70/levy-courts-eaby-pursuing-a-run-for-lieutenant-governor |archive-date=February 24, 2015 }}
  • Thomas P. Gordon, county executive of New Castle County{{cite web|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/06/bonini-declares-governors-race/18611743/ |title=Bonini declares for governor's race |publisher=Delaware Online |date=November 6, 2014 |access-date=November 9, 2014}}
  • John Kowalko, state representative{{cite news|url=http://www.wdde.org/69591-2016-rearing-head-return-day |title=Talk of 2016 rears its head at Return Day |work=WDDE |last=Dawson |first=James |date=November 6, 2014 |access-date=February 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225011454/http://www.wdde.org/69591-2016-rearing-head-return-day |archive-date=February 25, 2015 }}
  • Peter Schwartzkopf, Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives
  • Bryan Townsend, state senator (running for Delaware's at-large seat in Congress)

= Polling =

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
valign= bottom

! Poll source

! Date(s)
administered

! Sample
size

! Margin of
error

! style="width:100px;"| John
Carney

! Other

! Undecided

Fairleigh Dickinson/Delaware News Journal[http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2016/160727/final.pdf Fairleigh Dickinson/Delaware News Journal]

| align=center| July 20–24, 2016

| align=center| 344

| align=center| ± 5.3%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 67%

| align=center| 9%

| align=center| 23%

Republican primary

=Candidates=

==Nominee==

==Eliminated in primary==

  • Lacey Lafferty, retired state trooper

==Declined==

  • Greg Lavelle, state senator and Minority Whip of the Delaware Senate{{cite news|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/story/firststatepolitics/2015/02/23/lavelle-governor-race/23896659/|title=Sen. Lavelle opts out of 2016 governor race|work=The News Journal|last=Starkey|first=Jonathan|date=February 23, 2015|access-date=February 24, 2015}}
  • Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office and former president and CEO of Happy Harry's
  • Michael Ramone, state representative{{cite news|last=McPike|first=Erin|title=Is Beau Biden Democrats' Next Emerging Star?|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/11/09/is_beau_biden_democrats039_next_emerging_star_295630.html |access-date=March 3, 2013|newspaper=RealClearPolitics|date=September 11, 2012}}
  • Daniel Short, Minority Leader of the Delaware House of Representatives
  • Ken Simpler, State Treasurer of Delaware{{cite web|url=http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/05/republicans-pushing-simpler-run-governor/18568683/ |title=GOP may eye Simpler for governor in 2016 |publisher=Delaware Online |date=November 6, 2014 |access-date=November 9, 2014}}

= Polling =

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
valign= bottom

! Poll source

! Date(s)
administered

! Sample
size

! Margin of
error

! style="width:100px;"| Colin
Bonini

! style="width:100px;"| Lacey
Lafferty

! Other

! Undecided

Fairleigh Dickinson/Delaware News Journal

| align=center| July 20–24, 2016

| align=center| 224

| align=center| ± 6.6%

| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center| 29%

| align=center| 22%

| align=center| 3%

| {{party shading/Undecided}} align=center| 42%

=Results=

[[File:Delaware Governor Republican primary, 2016.svg|thumb|110px|Results by county:

{{legend|#d40000|Bonini—70–80%}}

{{legend|#cc2f4a|Bonini—60–70%}}

]]

{{Election box begin no change

| title = Republican primary results{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/governor/delaware/|publisher=Politico|access-date=September 14, 2016|title=Delaware Election Results 2016: Governor Live Map by County, Real-Time Voting Updates}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Colin Bonini

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 21,150

| percentage = 69.88

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Lacey Lafferty

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 9,115

| percentage = 30.12

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 30,265

| percentage = 100.00

}}

{{Election box end}}

Libertarian Party

=Candidates=

==Declared==

  • Sean Louis Goward{{cite web|url=http://www.newarkpostonline.com/article_db6fe244-c406-5c73-be60-31217a570836.html|work=Newark Post|date=July 14, 2016|access-date=September 2, 2016|first=Josh|last=Shannon|title=Candidate slate set for fall election}}

General election

=Debates=

  • [https://www.c-span.org/video/?416800-1/delaware-governors-debate Complete video of debate], October 19, 2016 - C-SPAN

= Predictions =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Source

! Ranking

! As of

align=left | The Cook Political Report{{cite web | title=2016 Governor Race ratings | url=https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/governor-race-ratings/139364 | website=The Cook Political Report | access-date=October 15, 2018}}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| August 12, 2016

align=left | Daily Kos{{cite web | title=Elections 2015-16 | url=https://elections.dailykos.com/app/elections/2016/office/governor | website=Daily Kos | access-date=October 15, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| November 8, 2016

align=left | Rothenberg Political Report{{cite web | title=Gubernatorial Ratings | url=http://www.insideelections.com/ratings/governor/2016-gubernatorial-ratings-november-3-2016 | publisher=The Rothenberg Political Report | access-date=October 15, 2018}}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| November 3, 2016

align=left | Sabato's Crystal Ball{{cite web | title=Our Final 2016 picks | url=http://crystalball.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/our-final-2016-picks/ | website=Sabato's Crystal Ball | access-date=October 15, 2018 | archive-date=October 15, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015114619/http://crystalball.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/our-final-2016-picks/ | url-status=dead }}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| November 7, 2016

align=left | Real Clear Politics{{cite web | title=2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races | url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/governor/2016_elections_governor_map.html| publisher=Real Clear Politics | access-date=October 15, 2018}}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| November 1, 2016

align=left | Governing{{cite web|url=http://www.governing.com/governor-races-2016|title=2016 Governors Races Ratings & News|publisher=Governing Magazine|access-date=October 28, 2016|archive-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027090343/http://www.governing.com/governor-races-2016|url-status=dead}}

| {{USRaceRating|Safe|D}}

| October 27, 2016

= Polling =

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"

|- valign= bottom

! Poll source

! Date(s)
administered

! Sample
size

! Margin of
error

! style="width:100px;"| John
Carney (D)

! style="width:100px;"| Colin
Bonini (R)

! Other

! Undecided

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kArTFlBMU1iNjU1dmM/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| November 1–7, 2016

| align=center| 367

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 56%

| align=center| 40%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 4%

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kArck4xWGRaUEVid1U/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| October 31–November 6, 2016

| align=center| 383

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 54%

| align=center| 42%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 4%

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kArUGZzeTA3UTZOcWM/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| October 28–November 3, 2016

| align=center| 405

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 56%

| align=center| 40%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 4%

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kArX25Ba3RrWkZsQTg/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| October 27–November 2, 2016

| align=center| 397

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 56%

| align=center| 39%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 5%

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxxpEMTW3kAreDluOWJFc0xsSzA/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| October 26–November 1, 2016

| align=center| 413

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 58%

| align=center| 37%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 5%

|-

|SurveyMonkey[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B99Qs2h04TA7UGZ3aDZjeFBBNW8/view SurveyMonkey]

| align=center| October 25–31, 2016

| align=center| 458

| align=center| ± 4.6%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 60%

| align=center| 36%

| align=center| —

| align=center| 4%

|-

|University of Delaware[http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/04/carney-rochester-poll/91533716/ University of Delaware]

| align=center| September 16–28, 2016

| align=center| 900

| align=center| ± 3.8%

| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center| 57%

| align=center| 25%

| align=center| 7%

| align=center| 11%

{{Election box end}}

=Results=

{{Election box begin

|title= Delaware gubernatorial election, 2016{{cite web|url=https://elections.delaware.gov/archive/elect16/elect16_general/html/election.shtml|title=State of Delaware General Election (Official Results)|publisher=State of Delaware Election Commissioner|access-date=November 16, 2016|archive-date=October 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028141145/https://elections.delaware.gov/archive/elect16/elect16_general/html/election.shtml|url-status=dead}}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = John Carney

|votes = 248,404

|percentage = 58.34%

|change = -10.99%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Colin Bonini

|votes = 166,852

|percentage = 39.18%

|change = +10.59%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Green Party (United States)

|candidate = Andrew Groff

|votes = 5,951

|percentage = 1.39%

|change = +0.24%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party = Libertarian Party (United States)

|candidate = Sean Louis Goward

|votes = 4,577

|percentage = 1.09%

|change = +0.17%

}}

{{Election box total

| votes = 425,784

| percentage = 100.00%

| change = N/A

}}

{{Election box hold with party link no swing

|winner = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

{{Election box end}}

==By county==

{{collapse top|1=By county|left=yes|bg=#B0CEFF;line-height:135%;|border=none}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;font-size:90%;line-height:1.3"

! rowspan="2" |County

! colspan="2" |John Carney
Democratic

! colspan="2" |Colin Bonini
Republican

! colspan="2" |All Others

data-sort-type="number" |#

! data-sort-type="number" |%

! data-sort-type="number" |#

! data-sort-type="number" |%

! data-sort-type="number" |#

! data-sort-type="number" |%

{{party shading/Democratic}} |Kent

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |35,955

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |49.68

| {{party shading/Republican}} |34,777

| {{party shading/Republican}} |48.05

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |1,646

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |2.27

{{party shading/Democratic}} |New Castle

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |165,973

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |66.21

| {{party shading/Republican}} |77,839

| {{party shading/Republican}} |31.05

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |6,879

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |2.75

{{party shading/Republican}} |Sussex

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |46,476

| {{party shading/Democratic}} |45.24

| {{party shading/Republican}} |54,236

| {{party shading/Republican}} |52.79

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |2,031

| {{party shading/Independent (US)}} |1.97

class="sortbottom"

! Totals

|248,404

|58.34

|166,852

|39.18

|10,556

|2.48

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

{{collapse bottom}}

References

{{reflist|2}}

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20161103011856/https://johncarney.org/ John Carney (D) for Governor]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20161010052335/http://colin2016.com/ Colin Bonini (R) for Governor]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160506193129/http://www.laceylafferty.org/pages/ Lacey Lafferty (R) for Governor]

{{Delaware elections}}

{{United States elections}}

{{2016 United States elections}}

2016

Delaware

Gubernatorial