Former state Secretary of Labor Lisa Blunt Rochester scored a surprisingly comfortable victory in the six-person primary for the Democratic nomination for Congress - winning by nearly 20 percent.
Rochester took in nearly 44 percent of the vote, swatting away five other candidates.
Her largest margin of victory came in Wilmington and New Castle County, though she did well in Kent County and ended in a three-way tie in Sussex.
She acknowledges the backing of EMILY's List, a Super PAC dedicated to promoting women in politics, but feels her positive message resonated more than potentially being Delaware’s the first Congresswoman.
“People want positive change. They want folks that are going to deal with the issues, but do it in a way that brings people together and I think that’s really what we need in Washington right now,” Rochester said.
State Sen. Bryan Townsend (D-Newark) earned nearly 25 percent of the vote, while Sean Barney garnered 20 percent according to unofficial results.
Her opponents called into question her fundraising methods and her substantial loans to herself, though those attacks didn't seem to stick on election night. She ended up donating more than $400,000 of her own money to her campaign as of the most recently available finance records.
Libertarian Scott Gesty, Green Party candidate Mark Perri and Republican Hans Reigle will join Rochester in seeking to fill the seat vacated by Congressman John Carney in November.