|
RACES-2-WATCH
Updated: Nov. 3, 2006
Statewide
| ELECTION |
KEY
CANDIDATES |
REGISTRATION |
RUNDOWN |
OUTLOOK |
| U.S. Senate |
Dem: Thomas R. Carper
Rep: Jan C. Ting |
Voters: 557,703 Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24% |
Carper is having his most
trouble-free race since his automatic-pilot run
for governor in 1992. Ting, who barely survived what should have been
a nominal primary, is no threat to keep him from
a record-setting 12th statewide victory |
Safe Democrat |
| U.S. House of Representatives |
Rep:
Michael N. Castle
Dem: Dennis Spivack |
Voters: 557,703 Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24% |
It is a Democratic year,
Delaware is a blue state, Castle was out of
commission for three weeks, and Spivack still
failed to show up on the national radar screens
as a possible Democratic pickup |
Safe Republican |
| Attorney General |
Dem: Joseph R. "Beau" Biden
III Rep: Ferris W.
Wharton |
Voters: 557,703 Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24% |
Republicans have shown they
can damage Biden on the airwaves, but this one
will be won or lost on the ground by the party
that does better in getting out its vote |
Leans Democrat |
| Treasurer |
Dem: Jack A. Markell
Rep: Esthelda R. Parker Selby |
Voters: 557,703 Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24% |
His "I Back Jack" signs do
not say what office he is running for. Maybe he
will leave them up and get started right away on
governor |
Safe Democrat |
| Auditor |
Rep: R. Thomas Wagner Jr.
Dem: Michael J. Dalto |
Voters: 557,703 Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24% |
Wagner could win this one
even if he was caught with an abacus |
Safe Republican |
State Senate
The 21-member Senate has 13 Democrats and eight
Republicans. There are 11 seats up for four-year terms.
Six senators have no major party opposition, including
five Democrats (Adams, Bunting, Cook, McBride,
Peterson) and one Republican (Connor)
| ELECTION |
KEY
CANDIDATES |
REGISTRATION |
RUNDOWN |
OUTLOOK |
| 1st Senate |
Dem: Harris B. McDowell
III
Rep: Gregory T. Chambers |
Voters: 27,884
Democrat--51% Republican--26%
other--23%
|
The real race was settled
when McDowell won a primary against City
Councilman Charles Potter Jr. in this decidedly Democratic
district |
Safe Democrat |
| 5th Senate |
Rep: Catherine A. Cloutier
Dem: Patricia Morrison |
Voters: 27,347
Democrat--40% Republican--36%
other--24%
|
Cloutier is a fixture in
Brandywine Hundred |
Safe Republican |
| 8th Senate |
Dem: David P. Sokola
Rep. Michael J. Ramone |
Voters: 26,368
Democrat--37% Republican--37%
other--26%
|
After nearly winning in 2002,
Ramone came out charging for the rematch, but
Sokola has been ruthless in his countercharge |
Tossup |
| 14th Senate |
Dem: James T. Vaughn Sr.
Rep: John Feroce |
Voters: 30,825
Democrat--44% Republican--31%
other--25%
|
At 81, Vaughn is aging and
ailing, but political insiders are rallying to
carry him across the finish line if they have to |
Likely Democrat |
State House of Representatives
The 41-member House of Representatives has 25
Republicans, 15 Democrats and one independent who used
to be a Republican and is retiring. All seats are up for
two-year terms. There are 17 races without major party
opposition, including eight for the Republicans
(Booth, Ewing, Lee, Maier, Miro, Oberle,
Stone and Thornburg) and nine for the Democrats (Ennis,
Gilligan, Johnson, Keeley, Marshall, Plant, Schooley,
Viola and Williams)
| ELECTION |
KEY
CANDIDATES |
REGISTRATION |
RUNDOWN |
OUTLOOK |
| 4th Rep |
Dem: Gerald
L. Brady Rep: Gary C.
Linarducci |
Voters: 15,412
Democrat--44% Republican--32%
other--24%
|
In a
Democratic city in a Democratic year, there is
probably too much to overcome for Linarducci to
keep Brady, a city councilman, from winning a
seat held for 20 years by Rep. Joseph G. DiPinto,
a Republican who retired |
Likely
Democratic |
| 9th Rep |
Rep:
Richard C. Cathcart
Dem: Rebecca Walker
|
Voters: 16,602
Democrat--41% Republican--35%
other--24%
|
Walker is a
lawyer and a nurse. The last time Cathcart ran
against a nurse, it was Bethany Hall-Long, and
she got so close the Republicans created a
district for her to save Cathcart. A respectable
showing from Walker in '06 could make this one a
race in '08 |
Likely
Republican |
| 10th Rep |
Rep: Robert J. Valihura
Jr. Dem: Francis J.
Murphy Jr. |
Voters: 15,484
Democrat--40% Republican--37%
other--23%
|
Once upon a time, Brandywine
Hundred was a Republican stronghold, but it is
drifting Democratic. If Murphy loses this time,
the Democrats like his chances in a rematch in
'08 |
Likely Republican |
| 13th Rep |
Dem: John L. "Larry" Mitchell Jr.
Rep: John Jaremchuk Jr. |
Voters: 12,284
Democrat--53% Republican--20%
other--27%
|
Mitchell was tested in a
primary in the race to replace retiring
Democrat Rep. John F. Van Sant. Jaremchuk has
made a name for himself as an immigration
hard-liner, but this district is a Democratic
hard-liner |
Safe Democrat |
| 18th Rep |
Rep: Terry R. Spence
Dem: Michael A. Barbieri |
Voters: 11,930
Democrat--49% Republican--26%
other--25%
|
Spence, the longest-serving
speaker in state history, is targeted, but he
probably has too many friends in the labor
movement to lose this time. Barbieri may use
this run as a warm-up for a better showing in
'08 |
Likely Republican |
| 20th Rep |
Rep: Nick Manolakos Dem: Richard
J. Korn |
Voters: 14,890
Democrat--34% Republican--40%
other--26%
|
Manolakos showed his strength
by knocking out an endorsed Republican in a
primary that was tantamount to winning the
election to replace Rep. Roger P. Roy, a
30-year Republican |
Safe Republican |
| 25th Rep |
Rep: Stephanie A. Ulbrich
Dem: John Kowalko |
Voters: 10,771
Democrat--41% Republican--31%
other--28%
|
This is a rematch of a 2004
race that Ulbrich won with 58 percent of the
vote, and there is no reason she cannot win
again |
Safe Republican |
| 30th Rep |
Rep: William R. "Bobby"
Outten Dem: Robert
E. "Gene" Price Jr. |
Voters: 12,214
Democrat--38% Republican--37%
other--25%
|
The best time to go after an
incumbent is his first term, so the Democrats
are. Their candidate is Harrington's mayor, who
wanted to run in 2004 but lost the Democratic
primary |
Likely Republican |
| 33rd Rep |
Rep: Ulysses S. Grant
Dem: Robert E. Walls |
Voters: 13,958
Democrat--37% Republican--37%
other--26%
|
Grant was a surprise winner
in a primary against a Kent County
Levy Court commissioner. He is up against a
candidate the Democrats really like in the race to
succeed G. Wallace Caulk Jr., the
Republican-turned-independent who is retiring |
Leans Democrat |
| 34th Rep |
Rep: Donald A. Blakey
Dem: M. Jeanine Kleimo |
Voters: 14,132
Democrat--38% Republican--38%
other--24%
|
Kleimo is giving Blakey a
surprisingly tough race in what was supposed to
be a smooth move for him off the Kent County
Levy Court to replace retiring Republican Rep.
Gerald A. Buckworth and become
the first African-American legislator below the
canal |
Leans Republican |
| 39th Rep |
Rep: Daniel B. Short
Dem: Richard J. Sternberg |
Voters: 10,536
Democrat--40% Republican--39%
other--21%
|
The accession appears
inevitable for Short, running as the heir apparent to
88-year-old Rep. Tina Fallon, a 14-term
Republican who is retiring |
Safe Republican |
| 41st Rep |
Rep: John C. Atkins
Dem: Barbara A. Lifflander |
Voters: 14,431
Democrat--42% Republican--38%
other--20%
|
Atkins was coasting until he
delivered an "October Surprise" on himself by
getting arrested in a domestic dispute with his
wife |
Likely Republican |
Incumbents in bold, registration as of Nov. 1
RETURN TO COVER PAGE
###
|
