Delaware 2010 Election Results

Delaware held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 52 legislative seats and 3 statewide offices. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Delaware bucked the national Republican tide: Democrats widened their House majority from 24-17 to 26-15, clearing the three-fifths vote the state constitution requires for new taxes, and lost just one Senate seat (15-6 to 14-7). That kept them in full control of state government in 2011, when the legislature drew its own post-census maps.
• Democrats flipped three Republican-held House seats and lost one:
  • Debra Heffernan (D) unseated Rep. Tom Kovach (R) in House District 6 by about 400 votes.
  • Rebecca Walker (D) beat John Marino (R) by fewer than 300 votes in House District 9, the seat of retiring Minority Leader Richard Cathcart.
  • Ed Osienski (D) easily won open, Republican-held House District 24 over Abraham Jones (R).
  • Republicans' lone House pickup was House District 33, where Harold Peterman (R) unseated Rep. Robert Walls (D) by about 360 votes.
• Senate Democrats' only loss was Senate District 15 in Kent County, where Dave Lawson (R) unseated Sen. Nancy Cook (D) by about 750 votes. Cook, first elected in 1974, had been the first woman to chair the Joint Finance Committee.
• In the treasurer's race, Chip Flowers (D) edged state Sen. Colin Bonini (R) by about 2 points; Flowers had beaten incumbent Treasurer Velda Jones-Potter in the September primary. Auditor Tom Wagner (R) held the closest statewide race, beating Richard Korn (D) by under 1 point; Korn requested a recount, and the certified count kept Wagner ahead. Attorney General Beau Biden (D) won easily over Doug Campbell (I).
• In all, 5 legislative seats changed party and 3 incumbents lost (Cook, Kovach, and Walls); 15 of the 52 legislative races had only one candidate.

Legislature

• House (41 seats): 24 D, 17 R before the election, 26 D, 15 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (21 seats): 15 D, 6 R before the election, 14 D, 7 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Statewide races

Legislative races