Delaware Democrats celebrate clean sweep of statewide ticket

By Joseph Edelen
Posted 11/8/22

WILMINGTON — Delaware Democrats celebrated a clean sweep of their statewide ticket at the party’s Election Night gathering on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Attorney General …

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Delaware Democrats celebrate clean sweep of statewide ticket

Posted

WILMINGTON — Delaware Democrats celebrated a clean sweep of their statewide ticket at the party’s Election Night gathering Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Attorney General Kathy Jennings, state Treasurer Colleen Davis and new state Auditor-elect Lydia York were joined by several of Delaware’s top elected officials and members of the General Assembly at the event, which was held at the DoubleTree in downtown Wilmington.

At the top of the Democratic ticket this midterm election was Rep. Blunt Rochester; with her midterm election win, she will prep for a fourth term as Delaware’s at-large representative in U.S. Congress. With about 73% of votes reported Tuesday night, Rep. Blunt Rochester had received 55.5% of the vote, which was enough for the race to be called in her favor by the Associated Press.

In the final tally after reporting was complete, Rep. Blunt Rochester came away with 55.47% of the vote compared to 42.97% for her opponent, Republican Lee Murphy.

At the Democratic watch party, Rep. Blunt Rochester took to the stage and said the three words that stuck with her this campaign season were “recover, rebuild and restore.” She prioritized recovery from the pandemic as it relates to jobs and the country’s economy; rebuilding roads, bridges and ports; and restoring the country’s trust in government.

“What I hope that my campaign proved is that you don’t have to be hateful, you don’t have to be negative, you don’t have to lie to lift us up,” Rep. Blunt Rochester said. “Our state is urban, suburban, rural, coastal, we got millennials, we got seniors, we’ve got everything. And we can do this in a way that restores our faith in government, our faith in our elected officials like Lydia York, who crushed it. Like our Attorney General Kathy Jennings, like Colleen Davis, our General Assembly; we do this with integrity because we are here to serve.”

Mr. Murphy conceded the race late Tuesday night in a statement that suggests his continued involvement in Delaware politics. Mr. Murphy fell short in the Republican primary during his 2016 campaign for the U.S. House, and in his 2018 campaign, where he lost to Rep. Blunt Rochester in the general election.

“The people of Delaware have spoken, and while I’m disappointed for myself and those who worked so hard on this race, I’m committed now to remaining involved as a voice for Delaware. This was a tremendously hard-fought race, and I want to thank everyone who gave their time, energy and support to our cause. The result tonight is an acknowledgment of partisanship in Delaware, not a repudiation of the message we carried. We still must demand that our representative work for us. We still must demand that our representative consider Delaware first. And we still must demand that our representative answer to the people she represents and not the powers that be in Washington,” Mr. Murphy said.

Tuesday night’s event featured speeches from each of the victorious statewide candidates, introductions from Gov. John Carney and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, and brief speeches from House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, and Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, D-Wilmington, about the changes their respective caucuses would see following the general election.

Regarding the Democrats’ victories, House Majority Leader Longhurst said the state spoke and said, “You know what, we’re going to keep it blue.” As those who took the stage continued to acknowledge the state’s “blue wave,” Gov. Carney said, “We call this the woman wave.”

With her victory, Ms. York became the first Black woman to be elected Delaware’s state auditor. Ms. York said from the onset of her campaign she “pledged to do the work that this office is supposed to do — and tonight I renew that pledge.”

The Wilmington-based attorney defeated Republican Janice Lorrah with 52.4% of the vote in the general election, less than two months after her primary election victory over former state Auditor Kathy McGuiness, who recently resigned following her July conviction on misdemeanor misconduct charges.

“I think it is important that Delawareans understand that this part of government needs to work,” Ms. York said. “And it needs to work so that they can have faith in the other parts of government as well, because that’s how we’ll build trust with the people and how we’ll return their trust to them.”

Though results remain unofficial until Thursday, Ms. Jennings defeated Republican Julianne Murray by a 6-point margin. The margin of victory was the same for Ms. Davis, who defeated Republican Greg Coverdale.

Rep. Blunt Rochester said she was “humbled, honored and pumped” to lead a statewide Democratic ticket that featured all women, and all that were victorious on Election Night.

“I mean, just being on the campaign trail and being with these women who are more than qualified, that have lived and work experience, and brought integrity to the process, it was easy for me to lead this ticket because they are incredible,” Rep. Blunt Rochester said.

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