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 ...

, 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 opera ...

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 ...

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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 Colin Rafferty Marie Jude Bonini (born April 14, 1965) is an American politician and a Republican former member of the Delaware Senate, where he represented the 16th District from 1995 to 2022. Bonini received his Bachelor of Arts from Wesley ...

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 Bi ...

, former Delaware 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 o ...

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 f ...

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 ...

, Delaware Attorney General 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 Thomas P. Gordon is an American politician and former law enforcement officer. He served as chief of police for New Castle County, Delaware prior to being elected to county executive. He was defeated by Matt Meyer in 2016 during his bid for an u ...

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 ...

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, state representative * Peter Schwartzkopf, 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

, 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 *

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 ...

, Minority Leader of the Delaware House of Representatives * Ken Simpler, 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 Stat ...

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

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 adjacen ...

Gubernatorial 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 ...