Where They Won: The Congressional Primary Map
Click the map for a larger version.
Rochester dominated in Wilmington and Dover and its suburbs, and held her own downstate, even winning districts in what where three way ties. Barney won several Sussex districts where I suppose his military background was attractive. Townsend won the People’s Republic of Newark, but did not win all of Greater Newark, where Rochester won. Townsend also won the the liberal enclaves of Milton and Rehoboth, and thus the 20th and 14th RDs downstate.
I have to say this was the most surprising win of the night. She must have run a damn stealthy campaign.
Not sure TV ads are stealthy, but that’s what she did. But I know I know TV ads don’t work in Delaware…
No, it wasn’t stealthy. All three ran very visible campaigns. Barney and Rochester on the TV and with mailers, plus events. Townsend with radio ads, mailers and door knocking, plus events. If there was any surprise, it was the strong margins Rochester put up in Wilmington and New Castle, Dover, Middletown, and Pike Creek. The Townsend team knew that it had to win Middletown and draw even in Wilmington to win, and she clobbered them there.
Seems like Townsend ran a State Senate race for Congress. Just not ready for the big leagues yet. He’s a regional candidate. Delaware is a small d state. Not as progressive as people think. He’ll get there one day. But the whole, I’m more progressive than you, thing only works in the districts where it worked.
All three ran progressive campaigns. Only Barney claimed to be more progressive than thou with his Social Security claims (that he was the only candidate wanting to expand SS, etc). The tension between progressives and your standard fare Democrat is not found in the campaigns, but in the General Assembly, where you have Townsend, Kowalko, Baumbach, Lynn, Kim Williams, Sean Matthews on one side, and Pete Schwartzkopf and Valerie Longhurst on the other.
More like those six against the rest of the caucus.
This election was weird in that none of the candidates ran as moderates but rather three DINOs and three progressives, with the top three all running on their progressive bona fides. I don’t know if this is trend or a fluke, but it’s interesting to see in a state that prides itself on political moderation.
The victory in and of itself wasn’t all that surprising (and certainly didn’t feel all that silent). Rochester just had a lot of factors going in her favor. For me what was surprising was the margin of victory. I’m especially surprised that the 7th went for Rochester, considering that Arden seemed all but locked up for Townsend. I guess the Claymonsters preferred her to him.
DD, I’m glad you’re indulging your cartographic addiction. Maybe a heat map for each of the top three in the congressional race next?
All three serious candidates running as liberals is new, but let’s see if it carries through. Anyone Delaware sends to Congress will be lobbied heavily by financial corporations and be expected to vote with them.
True, the progressive bent of the race might just have been an artifact of it being a democratic primary, where that stuff plays really well. I guess we’ll have to see how LBR campaigns up till November, if she campaigns at all.
That map pretty much sums it up. I’m liking DL’s new “fun with maps” stage.
She wasn’t silent for this two-Dem downstate house that doesn’t watch much TV. Little visibility in the local media, no door-knockers, only one mailer that I recall. Townsend and Barney were by far the more visible candidates here – Townsend in mailers and Barney in online ads.
She *was* silent, sorry.