The 2014 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

to represent the

State of Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state' ...

, concurrently with other elections to the

in other states and elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. This election was the fifth consecutive even-number year in which a senate election was held in Delaware after elections in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Incumbent Democratic Senator

Chris Coons Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, a seat he has held since 2010. A member ...

ran for re-election to a first full term in office. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican businessman Kevin Wade in the general election.

Background

Democratic senator

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

was re-elected to a seventh term in 2008, defeating Republican political commentator

Christine O'Donnell Christine Therese O'Donnell (born August 27, 1969) is an American conservative activist in the Tea Party movement best known for her 2010 campaign for the United States Senate seat from Delaware vacated by Joe Biden. O'Donnell was born in Phil ...

by 65% to 35%. At the same time, he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

and resigned his Senate seat to be sworn in as vice president in January 2009. Delaware Governor

Ruth Ann Minner Ruth Ann Minner ( Coverdale; January 17, 1935 – November 4, 2021) was an American politician and businesswoman who served as the 72nd List of governors of Delaware, governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009. She previously served in the Delaware G ...

appointed Biden's longtime aide

Ted Kaufman Edward Emmett Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is a retired American politician and businessman who served as a United States senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010. He chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Oversight of the Troubled ...

to the seat until a special election was held in November 2010. In the election, Christine O'Donnell ran again and upset U.S. Representative and former governor

Mike Castle Michael Newbold Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992 and as the U.S. representative from from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Th ...

in the Republican primary to face Democrat

, who had run unopposed for his party's nomination. In the general election, Coons defeated O'Donnell by 57% to 40% and was sworn in later that month.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Declined

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

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 genera ...

and son of then

vice president A vice president or 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 vi ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Carl Smink, retired engineer and businessman * Kevin Wade, businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

Declined

, former U.S. Representative, former

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

and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

Tom Kovach Thomas H. Kovach (born May 27, 1969) is an American attorney and politician who served in the Delaware House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011 and as the president of the New Castle County Council from 2011 to 2012. A Republican, he ran for ...

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 ...

Council President and nominee for Delaware's at-large congressional district in

, political commentator, candidate for the U.S. Senate in

and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

and

Primary results

Other candidates

Green Party

Nominee

* Andrew Groff, computer science professor and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012

General election

Fundraising

Debates

This is a video of the sole debate held on October 15, 2014

Predictions

Polling

Results

Coons easily won the election to a full term, with 56% of the vote. Coons was projected the winner right when the polls closed in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. Wade conceded defeat at 8:32 P.M. EST.

By county

References

External links

U.S. Senate elections in Delaware, 2014
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Chris Coons for U.S. Senate

Carl Smink for U.S. Senate

Kevin Wade for U.S. Senate
{{Elections in Delaware footer

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...