Unofficial results: Schaeffer tops Burton in Sussex council race
With no Democratic challengers, it appears there will be two new Sussex County Council members to start 2021. Unofficial Delaware Department of Elections results from the Sept. 15 Republican primary have challenger Mark Schaeffer of Lewes defeating incumbent Irwin “I.G.” Burton of Lewes by 44 votes, or seven-tenths of 1 percent. Schaeffer garnered 50.35 percent of the vote while Burton had 49.65 percent.
The Department of Elections will certify the unofficial results on Sept. 18 in each of the three counties that held primaries. A grassroots effort to urge Burton to file as a write-in candidate is underway. The deadline to file is 4:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21.
Schaeffer, former mayor of Smyrna and Little Creek, ran unsuccessfully against Burton in 2016. Burton, who was an appointee to Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission for 11 years, served one four-year term on council.
In the District 2 Republican primary, Sussex County Register of Wills Cindy Green topped Robert Wilson and Lisa Hudson Briggs. Current Councilman Sam Wilson is retiring from the District 2 seat.
District 3: Mark Schaeffer, 3,164; Irwin “I.G.” Burton, 3,120.
District 2: Cindy Green, 1,431; Robert Wilson, 1,150; Lisa Hudson Briggs, 1,086.
No members of the Delaware House or Senate from Sussex County were challenged to force a primary.
State winners
With 100 percent of districts reporting, the voter turnout was 32.2 percent, which is 177,519 out of the 550,288 registered voters. Absentee and mail-in ballots had the most impact in the democratic races for U.S. senator, governor and insurance commissioner, which all recorded more mail-in or absentee votes than from voting machines. The unofficial results posted on the Department of Elections site listed the following primary winners:
Governor
Democrat
John Carney – 44,680 machine votes; 56,462 absentee/mail-in; 101,142 total votes, 84.7 percent
David Lamar Williams Jr. – 30,493 machine votes; 6,411 absentee/mail-in; 18,169 total, 15.2 percent
Republican
Julianne Murray – 22,819 total, 41.1 percent
Colin Bonini – 19,161 total, 34.5 percent
Bryant Richardson – 4,262 total, 7.6 percent
Scott Walker – 3,998 total, 7.2 percent
David Bosco – 3,660 total, 6.6 percent
Dave Graham – 1,547 total, 2.7 percent
U.S. Senate
Democrat
Chris Coons – 37,529 machine votes; 49,796 absentee/mail-in; 87,325 total, 72.8 percent
Jessica Scarane – 19,213 machine votes; 13,323 absentee/mail-in; 32,536 total, 27 percent
Republican
Lauren Witzke – 30,695 total, 56.8 percent
James DeMartino – 23,263 total, 43 percent
Congress
Republican
Lee Murphy – 39,175 total, 73.8 percent
Matthew Morris – 13,895, 26 percent
Insurance Commissioner
Democrat
Trinidad Navarro – 33,153 machine votes; 40,694 absentee/mail-in; 73,847 total, 64 percent
Kayode Abegunde – 21,410 machine votes; 20,019 absentee/mail-in; 41,429 total, 35.9 percent
For a full report of election results, go to https://elections.delaware.gov/results/html/index.shtml?dc=report&electionId=PR2020.
