Delaware's 10th state senate district special election, 2017
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On February 25, 2017, voters in the 10th district of the Delaware Senate voted in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by Democrat Bethany Hall-Long, the previous incumbent, who had resigned at the beginning of the year after having been elected
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
the preceding November.
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
Stephanie Hansen Stephanie Leigh Hansen (born July 24, 1961) is an American politician. She is a Democrat member of the Delaware Senate, representing District 10. She was elected in 2017 after winning a special election to fill the seat of Bethany Hall-Long, who ...
, an
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yer from Middletown who had in the past served a term as New Castle County Council President, won with 58.1 percent of the vote, defeating Republican opponent John Marino, who finished with 40.8 percent.
Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
John Lanzendorfer, the only other candidate in the race, claimed the other 1.1 percent. Republicans had hoped that their party could capitalize on gains they had made in the
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in a potentially vulnerable district, where despite a Democratic edge in voter registration Marino had lost to Hall-Long by less than 300 votes in the 2014 election. Hansen's victory ensured that Democrats retained control of the state senate, where they have been the majority party since 1976. Since Delaware's House of Representatives has been controlled by Democrats for the preceding eight years, and no Republican has served as governor since 1993, Democrats also preserved their trifecta. Delaware was at that time one of only five U.S. states where the Democratic party controls the executive and legislative
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. The race attracted significant national media attention and interest from Democrats outside of Delaware, who along with several liberal political action committees and
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s contributed more money to Hansen's campaign than both Marino and Hall-Long had spent combined in their 2014 contest, conscious of their party's frequently poor performance in special elections; ultimately, she raised over a million dollars, ten times as much as a Delaware state legislative race usually costs and a new record for any state legislative race and any special election in Delaware. Marino also raised a large amount of money for a state legislative race, but was still outspent. There were also formal complaints from both sides over apparent collusion between the campaigns and outside groups. Republicans were also unhappy after the election when it was reported that some voters had been under the age of 18 due to a loophole in a recently passed election law. Democrats both inside and outside the state saw the contest as a chance to respond electorally to the presidency of Donald Trump, which had led to widespread protests since his inauguration the month before, and while Hansen and Marino primarily campaigned on local issues, she touched on national concerns in her advertising and speeches. Former Delaware U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, whose term as Vice President had ended at the same time Trump was sworn in, not only appeared at Hansen's fundraisers and in her campaign ads but went door-to-door with her as well. Hansen's victory margin and the 35.3 percent voter turnout, better than usual for a special election, were seen as validating hopes that opposition to Trump could motivate Democrats to vote and possibly lead to greater success later that year and in the 2018 national midterm elections.


Background

After
Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
dominance of the state in the late 19th century, neither party truly dominated Delaware politics for most of the 20th. That began to change in 1974, when Democrats gained control of the state senate and have held it ever since. The state's electoral votes for President have gone to Democrats ever since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 and no Republican has served as governor since
Dale E. Wolf Dale Edward Wolf (September 6, 1924 – March 20, 2021) was an American businessman and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was veteran of World War II, and a member of the Republican Party, who served for three weeks ...
's brief tenure at the beginning of the following year. William V. Roth's defeat in
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made him the last of his party to serve as one of the state's U.S. Senators. In 2008, with Delawarean Joseph Biden on the national ballot as the Democratic nominee for Vice President, the state
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swung to his party, and by
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Democrats had gained Delaware's sole seat in the U.S. House as well. Only
Tom Wagner Robert Thomas Wagner Jr. served as Delaware's state auditor from 1989 to 2019. A Republican, he lost to incumbent Democratic Auditor Dennis E. Greenhouse in 1986, but was appointed to the position in 1989 after Greenhouse resigned after being el ...
remained as the state auditor. Starting with that year's elections, however, Republicans began regaining one state senate seat each election. By 2016 they had narrowed the Democratic advantage in the 21-member body to just two seats. That year's election created the possibility that the GOP could reclaim control when
Patricia Blevins Patricia "Patti" Blevins is an American politician and the former President pro tempore of the Delaware Senate. A Democrat, she represented the 7th district from 1990 until 2016, when she lost her reelection campaign by 282 votes. Blevins served ...
, the senate's
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, was narrowly upset by
Anthony Delcollo Anthony Delcollo (born 1985) is an American politician. He is a former Republican member of the Delaware Senate representing District 7. Early life and education Delcollo was born in Marshallton Heights in 1985 to Daniel and Barbara Delcollo. ...
in her suburban Wilmington district, and Bethany Hall-Long was elected
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. She vacated her state senate seat to assume the position early in January 2017, requiring a special election to fill her seat in the 10th district.


The 10th Senate district

The state senate's 10th district is located in the western and southwestern areas of New Castle County, northernmost, most populous and politically the most
Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
of Delaware's three counties. It is a narrow strip, running north to south close to the state's western border with Maryland from just south of the University of Delaware campus in
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, north of
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, through Glasgow, just west of Lums Pond State Park to Middletown and reaching east to the northwest vicinity of
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along
Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland R ...
, both of the latter south of the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Augus ...
, which traditionally divides the state into northern and southern portions, the latter of which is more Republican-leaning. It is within commuting distance of Wilmington,
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and Philadelphia by car and rail. Most of the district is either exurban residential subdivisions or worked fields, broken by occasional woodlots. The 10th is a nominally Democratic district, with 45% of its
registered voters In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...
affiliating with the party while only 28% are Republicans. However, that has in recent years not always translated into comfortable wins for Democratic candidates. In the
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, in the middle of a presidential term when Democrats are less likely to vote, Bethany Hall-Long, who had generally won easily since her initial election in 2008, had her closest victory, with less than 300 votes, under 2% of the total, separating her and Republican John Marino, a retired New York City police officer and
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who had made the district his home. In the
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, Hillary Clinton had carried the district with 54% of the vote, less than a percentage point above her victory margin statewide. Blevins, defeated the previous November, represented a district with more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.


Candidates

Before the date of the special election had been set, both parties had settled on candidates. In early December the state Republican Party announced it would nominate Marino for a second try at the seat. Before his narrow 2014 loss, he had also run a close race in
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for a
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seat held at the time by
Rebecca Walker Rebecca Walker (born November 17, 1969, as Rebecca Leventhal) is an American writer, feminist, and activist. Walker has been regarded as one of the prominent voices of Third Wave Feminism, and the coiner of the term "third wave", since publish ...
. He made his top campaign issue the purportedly stifling effect of one-party rule on Delaware and its citizens. One New Castle Democrat interviewed by the Wilmington '' News Journal'', the state's largest newspaper, agreed, pointing out how Blevins had been appointed to lead the state's animal-welfare agency after her loss in the November election, despite possibly insufficient qualification for the job. Democrats from the district committees in the 10th district met to hear from six potential candidates.
Earl Jaques Jr. Earl G. Jaques Jr. (born October 5, 1947) is an American politician. He was a Democratic member of the Delaware House of Representatives from 2008 to 2020, representing District 27. Jaques earned a B.S. in business administration from Columb ...
, a state representative from a district in the Glasgow area whose winning electoral record had made him an early favorite for the nomination, had taken himself out of the running early on, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. After the group of 25 chose Hansen, New Castle County party chair Betsy Maron formally announced her as the nominee. Both candidates waited for the election date to be set to formally file their candidacies with the state's Department of Elections. At the beginning of 2017, a third candidate,
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investigator Joseph Lanzendorfer, was also announced on the
Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
line.


Campaign

On January 17, 10 days after the state legislative session began, Hall-Long was sworn in as
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
and resigned her seat the same day. She retained her role in the senate, however, since as with many lieutenant governors and the U.S. Vice President she is also the body's president. While it is a mostly ceremonial post, with the
president pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...
exercising the practical powers and authority of the job, one of those responsibilities that falls to the lieutenant governor is setting the date for special elections to vacated seats. A week after taking her new office, Hall-Long finally announced that the special election for her former seat would be held a month and a day later, on February 25. Marino made an issue of the length of time it took to set the date, connecting it to one of his general campaign platforms that Delaware and its residents had suffered from eight unbroken years of Democratic control and it was time for voters to put an end to it. "Democrats have known for months what the date is going to be," he charged. "It is another example of the
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insiders taking advantage of their power. They get the inside information." Hansen made no response of her own other than to say she was happy she could finally give voters she had been talking to when visiting their houses a date. She did, however, criticize the senate minority for blocking new Governor John Carney's appointment of former federal
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regional administrator Shawn Garvin to head the state's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, whose previous role in the
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they had objected to. Hansen likened it to the obstructionist politics of their fellow Republicans in Congress. While the election was for state office, both candidates appealed to the national political mood. Upon being announced as the Republican nominee, Marino told radio station WDDE that the presidential election a month earlier had revealed "a sense of frustration and disappointment, and a lack of trust with our elected officials and our leadership". His campaign slogan, "Make Delaware First Again", echoed Trump's "
Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...
", although he denied any intent to evoke the new president, calling on voters to stay focused on Delaware. "Casting a vote out of frustration of what's going on at the federal level is not the right direction to go," he told National Public Radio. Some Republican voters, tired of protests against Trump and his
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picks, agreed with him. Hansen, speaking at a local Women's March the day after Donald Trump's
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, said " te speech, divisiveness, exclusivity, misogyny will not rule the day because we won't let it." Later she told '' The New York Times'' that many of her encounters with Democratic voters began with "venting sessions" where they expressed their anger about the actions of Trump and the Republicans in Washington. "I will come up to houses and ... people are glued to their TV sets because you never know what craziness is going to pop up during the day."


Debate

The national issues shared the stage with local ones when the candidates debated on February 1. Supporters of both Hansen and Marino dominated the audience at the event, sponsored by news radio station WDEL-FM, whose Alan Loudell served as moderator, at Middletown High School, cheering and booing responses. The two major party candidates differentiated themselves on abortion, with Marino opposing it as "ripping a child out of a mother's womb" while Hansen and Lanzendorfer both said it was a decision that should be left to a woman and her physician. Marino called for Delaware to adopt a right-to-work law to improve its job creation, saying it need not be seen as anti-union, while Hansen opposed it as "the right to work for less." Marino confronted Hansen at one point about her allegedly changing her position on whether parents should be allowed to opt their children out of
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. In return she said that his active opposition to a successful December 2016 referendum on a capital improvement project for the Appoquinimink School District made him seem hypocritical when he claimed to support public education. Lanzendorfer said he disagreed with most other Libertarians on abolishing public education entirely, calling it an "extremist"' position. He called for schools to be funded out of taxes levied on legalized marijuana. National issues entered the debate when the candidates were asked about Trump's executive order tightening immigration restrictions on visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, issued four days earlier and dominating the news at the time. Hansen and Lanzendorfer both condemned it, while Marino said the country should focus on its own citizens. This sparked some debate within the audience as to whether he had answered the question, and the extent to which the race was about Trump. "If we want to be able to keep the federal Republican agenda from settling in our living room, we have to be able to have our own fortification here at home", Hansen reiterated as to why voters should retain the Democratic majority in the Senate. Hansen and Marino agreed on some issues. Neither said the state needed to raise taxes despite a $350 million deficit, and they opposed efforts to repeal Delaware's Coastal Zone Act, which limits industrial activities in that area of the state, although there were some areas where it could be relaxed to allow the redevelopment of former industrial sites. Marino also agreed with the others that it was not necessary to restore the state's death penalty, struck down as unconstitutional by the Delaware Supreme Court in August 2016, distinguishing himself from five of the state senate's Republicans, all of them former police officers as well, who have consistently supported it.


Endorsements

Two days before the election, Marino was endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Delaware Political Action Committee, based on his answers to their candidate survey. Pointing also to his own experience starting and running a small business, the NFIB said "Our members could certainly use more lawmakers that think along the same lines as Mr. Marino." According to her campaign website, Hansen likewise earned the endorsements of several labor groups, including the Delaware State AFL–CIO, the state
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organization, the District Council of Delaware Laborers, and the Delaware State Education Association, which represents the state's teachers. Mary Ann's List, an organization similar to the national Emily's List that works to raise funds for pro-choice Democratic women running for office in Delaware, also endorsed Hansen's candidacy, along with organizations speaking for the state's
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and LGBT communities. No notable Republicans campaigned on Marino's behalf; state party chairman Charles Copeland said late in the campaign there had not been any outreach to them. For Hansen, however, Governor Carney made appearances, as did the state's two U.S. senators, Tom Carper (also formerly governor and the state's
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) and Chris Coons (who had succeeded Hansen as New Castle County Council president in 2001).
Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...
, who had sought the Democratic presidential nomination the preceding year, came over the state line from Maryland, where he had served as governor for two terms, to campaign for Hansen. He said the great interest Democrats nationally were showing in the race was a sign that they were "waking up to the reality that we've got to rebuild our party" at the state level, having grown complacent about those elections during the years when Barack Obama was President.


Fundraising

Shortly before the election, the '' News Journal'' reported on the required financial disclosures by the candidates' campaigns. Between January 27 and February 17, when the forms had to be filed, Hansen's campaign reported raising over $300,000 from Democrats not just in Delaware but around the country, from all 50 states, around 14,000 of those donations amounting to less than $100 each, of which she had spent just under half. A political action committee (PAC), First State Strong, that also entered the race on her behalf, had spent almost $400,000; it is, however, not required to disclose its donors until January 2018. The newspaper speculated that Hansen and First State Strong were on pace to spend $1 million on the race, more than had ever been spent in any race for a seat in either house of the state legislature. Usually, it reported, candidates spend around $50,000 in their races, perhaps twice that if the election is vigorously contested. The money raised for Hansen allowed her campaign to afford commercials on Philadelphia TV stations, an expense normally beyond the budgets of state legislative campaigns even in the state's general elections. National fundraising was directed to Hansen in part by two Democratically affiliated websites, Flippable.org and Sister District, which connect voters living in electorally safe districts to more marginal races where their dollars and volunteer efforts can potentially make a difference. Flippable, founded by a former Hillary Clinton campaign worker, alone raised $130,000 of Hansen's campaign contributions. Hansen said after the elections she was "shocked" by the support she got, attributing it to Democrats' desire to take a stand against the Trump presidency. "I think this movement had started and was looking for a vehicle, and we were that vehicle." The cash flowing to her campaign also meant that Hansen, unlike most candidates, did not have to devote any of her time to making fundraising calls herself to potential large donors. Instead, she could devote all her campaigning time to voter contact. "She was out knocking on doors from 11 a.m. until dark," said her campaign manager, Erik Raser-Schramm. Marino, by contrast, had spent a little over $65,000 during the same period. FirstStateFirst, a PAC supporting him, reported spending only $35,000. He called the amount of money coming into Hansen's campaign from all over the country "pretty gross", preferring to campaign by going door-to-door in person. "My hope is that the voters will see how much I care about this district and the issues that are facing it."


Allegations of election law violations by PACs

The involvement of the PACs drew formal complaints to the state's Elections Department from both sides. Two weeks before the election, Delaware Republican chairman Charles Copeland alleged in his filing that First State Strong and the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Union Council had coordinated its activities with Hansen's campaign in violation of election law. The PAC, he claimed, had sent out mailers that attacked Marino, while a plumbers' union local that belonged to the building-trades council had distributed
door hanger A door hanger (also spelled ''doorhanger'' or ''door-hanger'') is a plastic or cardboard sign, generally rectangular in shape, cut to hang from the handle or knob of a door. They are sometimes used to distribute print advertising to residences. ...
s supporting Hansen and urging a vote for her during a weekend
canvassing Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...
event. Copeland said these actions constituted express advocacy, forbidden to outside groups that coordinate their actions with candidates' campaigns. Copeland also sharply criticized First State Strong for not voluntarily disclosing its donors, something it is not required to do until January 2018, which he said could instantly resolve the issue. He noted that a single one of the PAC's donations accounted for almost half the total money it had reported raising. "I can guarantee that heir ads arebeing coordinated with the Hansen campaign," Copeland said. "And the Election Commissioner is duty bound to investigate this shadowy PAC and find the truth." Raser-Schramm called the claims "absurd", noting that it was hypocritical of Copeland to make the allegations when he himself had raised money for many PACs promoting conservative causes while continuing to serve as state party chairman. First State Strong likewise called the allegations "frivolous". As to the door hangers, Building and Construction Trades Council president Jim Maravelias called Copeland's complaint " alternative facts", noting that election law permits unions to engage in express advocacy when communicating with their own members. He in turn accused Copeland and Republicans of trying "to divert voters' attention from their party's weak candidate." After a preliminary investigation, state Elections Commissioner Elaine Manlove ruled that no express advocacy occurred in First State Strong's mailer, so there was no issue. The door hangers, on other hand, did engage in express advocacy, but a visit by Hansen to a meeting of a different branch of the building-trades council did not suffice to establish there had been coordination between the union group and her campaign. Copeland called the ruling "a sad day for Delaware" and said the party would appeal it in court. On Hansen's side, Maravelias, also Delaware's AFL–CIO president, made a similar allegation against FirstStateFirst, arguing that since sitting Republican state senator
Gregory Lavelle Gregory F. Lavelle is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the Delaware General Assembly from 2001 to 2019, serving in both the Delaware Senate and the Delaware House of Representatives. In the 2018 midterm elections, he lost his ...
served as treasurer for both the PAC and Marino's campaign, using his home address to solicit donations for both. Manlove denied that complaint shortly before the election, saying that coincidence did not necessarily prove illegal collusion between the two.


Advertising

Hansen's well-funded campaign dominated the airwaves, with some of her ads using footage from
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. Both candidates tried to reach voters through their mailboxes. Both candidates took exception to some of the claims made about their past records in attack ads sent as mailers. Hansen called a claim by Marino's campaign that she sought to increase the state's
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, based on something she had said in April 2015, "disingenuous", adding that it was not the time to do so in any event. She also dismissed a further claim that she would eliminate a property tax deduction for seniors as a scare tactic. Marino likewise disputed some of the attacks on him. He particularly objected to a FirstStateStrong ad pointing out that he had lost two elections already, suggesting that this was because voters rejected his policies. In response, Marino noted that both of those losses had been close. He also rejected claims that he supported cuts to public education funding. "I have said from the start that a strong education system is one of the most important things we need to have."


Canvassing

In addition to the many donations, the national attention brought the Hansen campaign volunteers as well. Many showed up from all over Delaware to
canvass Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership driv ...
, and the campaign told the '' News Journal'' it believed it had knocked on the door of every voter likely to support the candidate "at least once." Phone banks to reach those voters who were not able to answer their doors when canvassers knocked were organized by supporters as far away as San Francisco. A thousand volunteers came into the district from Delaware and nearby states, half of them on the day of the election. For many, it was their first experience with a political campaign. With this many, the campaign had trouble finding enough voters for all of them to talk to;
David Sokola David P. Sokola (born July 28, 1955) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Delaware Senate since 1991, representing District 8. He earned a BS from the University of Delaware. Elections *1990 When Republican Margo Ewing Bang ...
, a Democratic state senator, told the ''
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'' that was more volunteers than he'd had in all nine of his election campaigns combined. By the time of the election staffers estimated that they had knocked on 90,000 doors and made 60,000 calls to voters. Hansen, who was able to do a lot of canvassing herself since she did not need to worry about raising money herself, got one very high-profile volunteer the weekend before the election. A rumor that sitting Vice President
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
would appear on Marino's behalf led Hansen's campaign to ask Joseph Biden, his Democratic predecessor, a six-term Delaware U.S. Senator who had also served on New Castle County Council, if he would appear for her. After he spoke at a fundraiser for her, he offered to do more. He appeared in radio and television ads for Hansen, telling voters the race was about "being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be O.K.'" He even said he was willing to go door-to-door with her talking to voters. "Are you serious?" Hansen recalled asking him, in a '' New York Times'' story about the race. He was, and the two spent the last Saturday before the election visiting voters in the
Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...
area. While many of them were delighted to meet him, taking selfies with the former vice president and even in some cases imploring him to run for President in
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, he reminded them that he was appearing for Hansen, and they should remember to vote for her. Copeland suggested to the ''Times'' that Biden's presence in the race along with other high-profile Democrats showed how weak their standing with voters in the state truly was.


Election

The weather on February 25—unseasonably warm and clear—was seen as ideal for high voter turnout. A thunderstorm line that passed across the state around 4:30 p.m. only briefly deterred voters from going to the polls. By the time they closed at 8 p.m. 35.3% of all
registered voters In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...
had cast ballots, well above the 10% who turn out for Delaware special elections on average. It was also more voters, and a greater percentage that had turned out for the 2014 election that Marino had almost won. When all the votes were counted, Hansen was the clear winner, with 7,110 of the 12,376 votes cast, or 58.1%. Marino's total of 5,127 accounted for 40.8%. Lanzendorfer finished a distant third with 139 votes, 1.1% of the total. Democrats pointed to more numerical indicators of successful campaigning than just the high turnout. Hansen had outperformed Hall-Long's 2014 total by more than a thousand votes. Her share of the vote, as well, was four percentage points better than that Hillary Clinton had gotten from the district's voters in November's
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
. The '' News Journal'' calculated that Hansen's campaign had spent $102.40 for every vote Hansen had gotten, based purely on the amounts the campaign and First State Strong had reported by the election. There were two issues on the day of the election. Some voters reported receiving calls that morning saying Hansen had withdrawn from the race. After they were reported to the Department of Elections, they were turned over to the state's Department of Justice for further investigation. On the other side, Republicans were upset when they learned that some of the voters casting ballots were under the age of 18. State senator
Gregory Lavelle Gregory F. Lavelle is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the Delaware General Assembly from 2001 to 2019, serving in both the Delaware Senate and the Delaware House of Representatives. In the 2018 midterm elections, he lost his ...
, who served as Marino's
campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...
, said this was "outrageous" and filed a complaint of his own when he heard of it by noon that day. However, New Castle County's Election Department explained that state law allows those as young as 16 to register when they receive their driver's licenses, as long as they will be 18 by the next
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. This was in accordance with a 2010 law intended to make it easier for teenagers to vote upon turning 18. "That was not the intent", Lavelle claimed, adding that it seemed to him that the Elections Department decisions seemed to be favoring Hansen, and that the department should have let the legislature know this could happen. He did not know at the time he raised the issue how many under-18 voters had voted, saying he would "wait and see". Marino's lopsided loss turned out to make the issue moot. After accepting a congratulatory phone call from Biden, Hansen spoke to her supporters at the
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
fire hall. She again connected the race to national politics. "It was the first chance for voters to declare with one loud voice that we're better than the politics of fear and division", she said. "I think tonight they're hearing us loud and clear in all corners of this country—and certainly in D.C. and in
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
." Marino did not make a statement or appear publicly. But other Republicans spoke for him and their party. While commending Marino and his campaign for their work, Lavelle admitted "we knew it would not be easy." He conceded that for Democrats, "it absolutely was a national race". Copeland, the state Republican chair, continued to accuse Democrats of buying the election. " heyspent over $100 per vote in a district that they already had a 60-to-40 registration advantage," he said. "Once again, we are seeing what happens when one political party has absolute power ... corruption." Once she is sworn in, Hansen will complete Hall-Long's term, which expires shortly after the 2018 general election. She has not said yet whether she will run for re-election then; should she do so, and win, she would serve a two-year term ending in 2020, with the term after that extending to 2022.


Aftermath

Democrats and their supporters nationally were delighted by the outcome. "On Saturday ... the voices in the streets turned into votes in the ballot box," the ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' wrote, alluding to the protests against the Trump administration that had dominated the national news during the campaign. Former
Labor Secretary The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...
Tom Perez Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee from February 2017 until January 2021. Perez was previously Assistant Attorney General for Civil Right ...
, who had just the same day been elected chairman of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
, tweeted: "Great work. We kept the majority in Delaware. Let's keep the momentum going, this is only the beginning." Publicly, Delaware Republicans stuck with their line that Democrats had bought the election for Hansen. Two weeks after the election, Marino characterized the amount of money she raised, particularly from out of state, as "obnoxious, frankly." He said Delawareans "should be represented for their best interests, not the interests of lobbyists or people outside the state." Hansen responded that although many of the voters whose homes she visited started the conversation with national issues, "as soon as they got that off the chest, they wanted to talk about education or about the traffic or on job creation", all common issues in legislative races in any state. To make sure the campaign stayed local, staff allowed only volunteers who were themselves from Delaware to make calls at its phonebanking events. However, Republican sources "on the ground", not named or directly quoted, who talked to '' Roll Call'' after the election offered more praise for Democratic efforts. Hansen's party, they said, took fuller advantage of changes in state campaign finance laws on coordination between outside groups and campaigns. They also credited the Democrats with exploiting the loophole that allowed some voters not yet 18 to cast ballots. For ''Roll Call'' and the national media generally, the question was what this meant for Democrats going forward, particularly in the
2018 midterms The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during Republican Donald Trump's term. Democrats made a net gain of 41 seats in the United States House of Representatives, gaining a majo ...
, when the party might be able to retake control of Congress. While Democratic spirits, commentator Nathan Gonzales noted, were certainly buoyed by the win, "the realities surrounding the race are more sobering". The party expected a competitive race given the higher stakes than usual in most special elections for state legislative seats, and thus "flooded the zone" to win. However, at the same time, "Republicans didn't put up much of a fight." Gonzales speculated that this may have been because Delaware has only one
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
U.S. House seat and thus national Republicans saw no possible advantage to be gained by control of the state's senate in
redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...
following the 2020 census. He also suggested that Democrats overstated Republican strength in the 10th district, since Marino's close finish in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
may have had more to do with Hall-Long's husband getting arrested and charged stealing some of Marino's signs a week before the election (a qualifier also noted by David Weigel in '' The Washington Post'') than any GOP gains in what may well have been their best possible election year in recent memory. "The good news for Democrats is that demonizing President Donald Trump galvanized and mobilized Democratic voters", Gonzales wrote. However, Democrats would have to make that strategy work in tougher terrain than a Democratic-leaning state senate district in Delaware if they wanted to regain the 24 seats needed for a House majority in 2018. For example, if the party spent $137 per vote, roughly as much as it did on Hansen in a successful effort to win the nearby 7th district of Pennsylvania, a
swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...
district currently represented by Republican Pat Meehan but which has voted for Democratic presidential candidates and representatives in the past, it would cost $16 million. Much depends on whether the Democrats can maintain a consistent level of engagement among its base over the next 20 months, as the Tea Party did for Republicans during the early years of the
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...
. " e biggest lesson out of this Delaware race," Gonzales concluded, "appears to be that when Democrats dramatically outspend Republicans in Democratic districts, Democrats win."


See also

*
Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, 2017 A special election to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 6th congressional district was held on April 18, 2017, with a runoff held two months later on June 20. Republican Karen Handel narrowly defeate ...
, also seen by Democrats as an early referendum on Trump's presidency *
Politics of Delaware Due to the state's small size ( 45th of 50 by population in 2022), the politics of Delaware tend to be less convoluted and controversial than those in neighboring states. Nonetheless, Delaware's political status quo reflects the state's long hi ...
* United States elections, 2017


Notes


References

{{reflist, 30em Delaware Senate 10 2017 * February 2017 events in the United States United States Senate 2017 state legislature elections in the United States