Democrat Stephanie Hansen overpowered her opponents Saturday in a special election that drew in more than a million dollars and national attention.
Hansen, a former New Castle County Council President, will soon be sworn in as Delaware’s newest state senator after drubbing Republican John Marino by more than 2,200 votes. Libertarian Joseph Lanzendorfer only brought in about one percent.
Those unofficial results mean Democrats hang on to their one vote majority in the state Senate for at least another year.
Hansen says the surge in support is due partly to voters rebuking the policies of Republicans in Washington.
“We are the home of a sleeping giant that I believe has awoken and that sleeping giant that’s representing the values, the Democratic values of inclusivity, of compassion, of kindness, of working together. You know, the opposite of prejudice,” she said.
Despite severe weather in the late afternoon, voter turnout skyrocketed to 35 percent – in some cases tripling figures from special elections in recent memory.
Had the sky stayed blue on an unusually warm February day, Hansen believes turnout could have been even higher.
“When I would go door-to-door in the neighborhood and in the community, I could tell the people were really energized and this was something that they were talking about. It was really part of the daily dinner table conversation.”
She will be sworn in next month, taking the place of Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long.
