In the most surprising result of the night, Joe Arminio won the GOP primary for Delaware’s lone U.S. House seat, defeating John Whalen and Earl Cooper.
Arminio gathered about 48% of the vote to secure the victory and a match-up with incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Sarah McBride in November.
He beat Whalen, who won the GOP primary for this seat two years ago, and Cooper, the party endorsed candidate in the race. Cooper finished third in the race.
Arminio says his campaign’s focus on debt-relief resonated wih voters, along with his stance against the U.S. entering foreign wars.
“We need to heed George Washington. We are entangled with Ukraine, with Israel. We're entangled with this thing called the 'petrodollar system.' We need to end these entanglements and take a more balanced approach in our relations abroad," he said. "And if we will do that, treat countries more like they would like to be treated regardless of who they are... We will do that, and we can then enter into all manner of constructive bargains in the Middle East and beyond the Middle East.”
This is the political scientist, author and educator's first run for public office in Delaware, though he previously ran for Congress in Maryland in 2008, losing in a 4-person Republican primary in that state's First congressional district.
The result is reminiscent of Scott Walker’s win in this same GOP primary in 2018, when he shocked the party-endorsed candidate Lee Murphy.
Congresswoman McBride did not face a primary challenge this year as she seeks a second term.
