Democrat Stephanie Hansen scored a decisive victory for the State Senate seat vacated by Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long.
The environmental lawyer and former New Castle County Council President won by a 58-41 margin over Republican John Marino, a retired policeman and businessman from Middletown.
(Unofficial results from the State Board of Elections)
The race garnered national attention since a win by Marino would have tipped the balance of power in the state Senate to the Republicans, The GOP has not controlled the State Senate for more than four decades.
National media, including the New York Times and the National Review covered the race, focusing on whether it represented an early referendum on the anger among Democratic voters. over the presidency of Donald Trump.
Democrats were able to mobilize a large number of volunteers, with former Vice President Joe Biden endorsing Hansen in a widely aired TV commercial.
An estimated $1 million was pumped into the race, with the bulk of the money coming from Democrats. The campaign blanketed cable networks with a high percentage of women viewers.
There was speculation that the national Republican Party wrote off the race in what has been described as a deep blue county that Hillary Clinton won a few months earlier.
Even so, Democratic party officials were nervous about the race, since Hall-Long had only beat out Marino by a couple of hundred votes in a previous election.
Turnout was heavy by special election standards, at 35 percent. Click here for a further breakdown of results from the Board of Elections.
