United States Senate election in Delaware, 2000

United States Senate election in Delaware, 2000

1994 ← November 7, 2000 → 2006

Nominee Thomas Carper William Roth Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 181,566 142,891 Percentage 55.5% 43.7%

County results

U.S. Senator before election William V. Roth Republican Elected U.S. Senator Tom Carper Democratic

The 2000 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 7, 2000, in conjunction with the 2000 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator William Roth war running for re-election to a sixth term, but was defeated by Governor Tom Carper.

Major candidates

Democrat

• Tom Carper, Governor of Delaware and former U.S. Congressman

Republican

• William V. Roth, Incumbent U.S. Senator first elected in 1970

Campaign

For 16 years the same four people had held the four major statewide positions. Because of term limits on the Governor's position Carper had to retire. Both he and U.S. Representative Castle wanted to be U.S. Senator. Roth would not retire voluntarily and fellow Republican Castle decided against a primary. Carper defeated Roth by over ten points. However, Roth received more votes than Presidential candidate George W. Bush, suggesting the strength of the Democratic turnout was a boon to Carper's candidacy and a key element of his victory.

Roth, 79, was in the U.S. Senate for thirty years. He was the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Carper, 53, was a popular Governor and former U.S. Congressman of Delaware's At-large congressional district, who announced his major candidacy against Roth back in September 1999.^[1] Both candidates were moderates. Roth was one of the few Republicans to vote for the Brady Bill. The African American community of Delaware were upset at Carper's actions as Governor. Although Roth started the campaign with a 2-to-1 spending advantage, Carper went into the final month with more than $1 million on hand.^[2] In a contest between two popular and respected politicians, the issue seemed to be Roth's age versus Carper's relative youth.

Carper defeated Roth by over ten points. However, Roth received more votes than Presidential candidate George W. Bush, suggesting the strength of the Democratic turnout was a boon to Carper's candidacy and a key element of his victory. Many consider Carper's upset due to age, as Roth collapsed at a campaign event.^[3]

Results

General election results[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas Carper	181,566	55.53%	+13.04%
	Republican	William V. Roth (inc.)	142,891	43.70%	-12.12%
	Libertarian	J. Burke Morrison	1,103	0.34%	-1.36%
	Constitution	Mark E. Dankof	1,044	0.32%
	Natural Law	Robert Mattson	389	0.12%
Majority			38,675	11.83%	-1.51%
Turnout			326,993
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

References

1. ^ http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-21/politics/senate.2000_delaware.senate_1_delaware-governor-sixth-senate-term-delaware-residents?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS
2. ^ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/62928651.html?dids=62928651:62928651&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+26%2C+2000&author=Curtis+Wilkie%2C+Globe+Correspondent&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=IN+TIGHT+RACE%2C+HEALTH+ISSUES+DOG+DELAWARE%27S+ROTH&pqatl=google
3. ^ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB7368E419B47F9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
4. ^ http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2000/2000Stat.htm