New poll shows Harris, Meyer up big in Delaware

(A previous version of this story misstated the political seat that Democrat Sarah McBride and Republican John Whalen are running for. They are facing off in the general election to represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives.)
A statewide general election poll shows Democratic presidential nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats holding a strong lead in Delaware with less than 40 days left before the general election.
Matt Meyer, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Sarah McBride are the other Democrats on November’s ballot who are leading their Republican counterparts.
The poll was conducted by the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication, which surveyed 400 registered voters in Delaware. The survey took place Sept. 11-19, and the margin of error is plus or minus 5.76 percentage points.
Harris leads Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump with a 55.6% share of the vote. Trump received 35.6% of the votes in the survey, and 3.3% went for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump. Additionally, 4.4% of respondents said they were unsure.
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Blunt Rochester, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate and who is the current U.S. House representative, got 52.1% of the votes in the survey while Republican opponent Eric Hansen gained 31.6% of the vote. Independent Mike Katz won 6.1% of the vote.
McBride, the current state senator representing parts of Brandywine Hundred and Bellefonte, received 52% of the votes over Republican John Whalen, who had 30.9% of the votes for U.S. representative among those surveyed, while 17% of respondents said they were unsure in the race.
New Castle County Executive and Democratic governor candidate Matt Meyer leads Republican Mike Ramone, a state representative for Pike Creek and the House minority leader, with a 51% share of the votes compared with 32.3%. Nearly 16.7% of respondents didn’t vote for either in the poll.
Independents who participated in the poll broke heavily for most Democrats: 41.2% went with Harris, 41.2% went for Blunt Rochester, 35.7% supported McBride. Independents went for Meyer and Ramone equally, with each candidate sitting at 36.5%.
There is a notable gap between male and female voters. Women supported every Democratic candidate more than men. The poll showed 65% of women supporting Harris.
Delaware is a true blue state, so Democrats being heavy favorites in the First State isn’t a surprise. But, women and independents backing Democrats at such a strong rate was notable to Dannagal Young, director of UD’s Center for Political Communication and a professor.
Young said while the economy is the main concern for the majority of voters, abortion and reproductive rights were a very close second, especially with women. She said their support for Harris also extends beyond identity politics.
“Abortion and reproductive rights are really important to female voters, and those women are more likely than men to hold more pro-choice attitudes on abortion,” Young said. “It’s possible that some of what’s going on is that we’re in this sort of post-Roe world where that is an issue of increasing relevance to female voters.”
Respondents rated the economy as the most important issue in the election. Abortion was the second-most important issue, and immigration was the third-most important. The economy was at least a “very important issue” for 88% of the respondents.
Young said the results of the poll are similar to the party registration of voters in the state. She said people are voting on party lines. She also said this poll is a snapshot of the current situation and shows who is eligible for debates as the campaigns hit their final stretch. If a candidate has 10% or more of the votes, then they qualify for debates.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Shane Brennan covers New Castle County with a focus on Newark and surrounding communities. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback at [email protected]. Follow @shanebrennan36 on X, formerly Twitter.