2000 United States Senate election in Delaware

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 ran for re-election to a sixth term, but was defeated by Democratic Governor Tom Carper. Tom Carper became the 1st Democrat to hold this seat since 1947.

2000 United States Senate election in Delaware

November 7, 2000

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

County results Carper:      60–70% Roth:      50–60%

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

Major candidates

Democratic

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

Republican

• William 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, Tom Carper could not run again. Both he and U.S. Representative Michael Castle wanted to be U.S. Senator. Roth would not retire, and fellow Republican Castle decided against a primary.

Roth, 79, was in the U.S. Senate for 30 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. 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. Roth received more votes than Presidential candidate George W. Bush, suggesting the strength of the Democratic turnout was a boon to Carper's candidacy. Some consider Roth's defeat to be due to his age and health, as he collapsed twice during the campaign, once in the middle of a television interview and once during a campaign event.[3][4][5][6]

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 15, 2000

Results

General election results[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Tom Carper	181,566	55.53%	+13.04%
	Republican	William Roth (incumbent)	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

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2000

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2017-11-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. https://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://www.sussexcountyonline.com/campaign2000/results/ussenate.html
5. http://cache.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/In_tight_race_health_issues_dog_Delaware_s_Roth+.shtml
6. 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
7. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2000/2000Stat.htm