The 2016 Delaware gubernatorial election took take place on November 8, 2016, to elect the

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states and

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Incumbent Democratic Governor

Jack Markell Jack Alan Markell (born November 26, 1960) is an American politician who currently serves as the United States ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He previously served as the 73rd governor of Delaware from 2 ...

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* John Carney, U.S. Representative, former

lieutenant governor of Delaware The lieutenant governor of Delaware is the second ranking executive officer of the U.S. state of Delaware. Lieutenant governors are elected for a term of four years in the same general election as the U.S. president and take office the following ...

and candidate for governor in 2008

Deceased

Beau Biden Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (February 3, 1969 – May 30, 2015) was an American politician, lawyer, and officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from Wilmington, Delaware. The oldest child of current U.S. president Joe Bid ...

, former

Delaware Attorney General The attorney general of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice. On January 1, 2019, Kathy Jennings was sworn in as the 46th attorney general ...

and son of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and Future

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joe Biden (died May 30, 2015)

Withdrew

* Kevin Tinsley

Declined

Matthew Denn Matthew P. Denn (born February 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician from New Castle County, Delaware. He served as the 45th attorney general of Delaware from 2015 until 2019. Denn previously served as the 25th lieutenant governor of Dela ...

and former

Lieutenant Governor of Delaware The lieutenant governor of Delaware is the second ranking executive officer of the U.S. state of Delaware. Lieutenant governors are elected for a term of four years in the same general election as the U.S. president and take office the following ...

* Thomas P. Gordon,

County Executive A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county. The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

John Kowalko John A. Kowalko Jr. (born September 17, 1945) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Delaware House of Representatives from 2006 to 2022. He represents District 25, which covers parts of Newark, Delaware. He was describe ...

, state representative *

Peter Schwartzkopf Peter C. Schwartzkopf (born January 15, 1955) is an American politician and the Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented the 14th district since 2002. His district covers Rehoboth B ...

, Speaker of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

* Bryan Townsend, state senator (running for Delaware's at-large seat in Congress)

Polling

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Colin Bonini, state senator and nominee for State Treasurer in 2010

Eliminated in primary

* Lacey Lafferty, retired state trooper

Declined

* Greg Lavelle, state senator and Minority Whip of the

Delaware Senate The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at whi ...

* Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office and former president and CEO of

Happy Harry's Happy Harry's was an American drugstore chain that was merged into Walgreens starting in 2006. Happy Harry's operated 76 locations in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. It was founded in 1962 by entrepreneur Harry Levin. It was an ...

Michael Ramone Michael J. "Mike" Ramone (born July 11, 1961) is an American politician from the state of Delaware. A member of the Republican Party, Ramone was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 2008. Electoral history *In 2008, Ramone won the ...

, state representative *

Daniel Short Daniel B. Short (born July 11, 1961) is an American politician. He is a Republican member of the Delaware House of Representatives, representing District 39. He was elected in 2006 to replace retiring Republican Tina Fallon in the House, after ha ...

, Minority Leader of the Delaware House of Representatives *

Ken Simpler Kenneth A. Simpler is an American politician. He was Delaware State Treasurer from 2015 to 2019. He is the last Republican to win a statewide race in Delaware. Education Simpler attended high school at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delawar ...

, State Treasurer of Delaware

Polling

Results

Delaware Governor Republican primary, 2016

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

* Sean Louis Goward

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 19, 2016 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Predictions

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
, align=center, November 1–7, 2016 , align=center, 367 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 56% , align=center, 40% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 31–November 6, 2016 , align=center, 383 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 54% , align=center, 42% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 28–November 3, 2016 , align=center, 405 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 56% , align=center, 40% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 27–November 2, 2016 , align=center, 397 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 56% , align=center, 39% , align=center, — , align=center, 5% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 26–November 1, 2016 , align=center, 413 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 58% , align=center, 37% , align=center, — , align=center, 5% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 25–31, 2016 , align=center, 458 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 60% , align=center, 36% , align=center, — , align=center, 4% , -
University of Delaware
, align=center, September 16–28, 2016 , align=center, 900 , align=center, ± 3.8% , align=center, 57% , align=center, 25% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 11%

Results

References

External links

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
John Carney (D) for Governor

Colin Bonini (R) for Governor

Lacey Lafferty (R) for Governor
{{2016 United States elections

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...