Murray wins Republican primary for governor

Sussex County attorney Julianne Murray won the Republican primary for governor with 41 percent of the vote Sept. 15, beating out five opponents and earning the right to challenge incumbent Gov. John Carney in November.

“We can continue with the Carney agenda, or we can go in a different direction that will reopen the state, help small businesses, support law enforcement, and support our individual and constitutional rights,” Murray said following her primary win. “A Murray administration will always put the citizens of Delaware first, not the special interests. We have seen the mess that career politicians have created. I am here as a business owner and citizen politician to clean up this mess.”

State Sen. Colin Bonini came in second with about 34 percent of the vote followed by state Sen. Bryant Richardson with 7.6 percent of the vote, Scott Walker with 7.2 percent, David Bosco with 6.6 percent and Dave Graham with 2.7 percent.

Murray will go up against Carney in the Nov. 3 general election. Carney handily won his primary with about 84 percent of the vote against challenger David Lamar Williams Jr. who took about 15 percent.

Voter turnout was 32.2 percent, which is 177,519 of the 550,288 registered Democrat and Republican voters allowed to vote in the primary. 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. Department of Elections officials in Delaware's three counties will verify the results Friday, Sept. 18.

The unofficial results posted on the Department of Elections website 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. – 11,758 machine votes; 6,411 absentee/mail-in; 18,169 total, 15.2 percent

Republican

Julianne Murray – 18,713 machine votes; 4,106 absentee/mail-in; 22,819 total; 41.1 percent

Colin Bonini – 14,213 machine votes; 4,948 absentee/mail-in; 19,161 total; 34.5 percent

Bryant Richardson – 3,014 machine votes; 1,248 absentee/mail-in; 4,262 total; 7.6 percent

Scott Walker – 2,811 machine votes; 1,187 absentee/mail-in; 3,998 total; 7.2 percent

David Bosco – 2,880 machine votes; 780 absentee/mail-in; 3,660 total; 6.6 percent

Dave Graham – 997 machine votes; 550 absentee/mail-in; 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 – 25,535 machine votes; 5,160 absentee/mail-in; 30,695 total; 56.8 percent

James DeMartino – 15,834 machine votes; 7,429 absentee/mail-in; 23,263 total; 43 percent

Congress

Republican

Lee Murphy – 30,493 machine votes; 8,682 absentee/mail-in; 39,175 total; 73.8 percent

Matthew Morris – 10,031 machine votes; 3,864 absentee/mail-in; 13,895 total; 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 the results, go to https://elections.delaware.gov/results/html/index.shtml?dc=report&electionId=PR2020