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1966 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

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For related races, see 1966 United States House of Representatives elections.

1966 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware
← 1964 November 8, 1966 1968 →
 
Nominee William Roth Harris McDowell
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 90,561 72,142
Percentage 55.77% 44.23%
County results
Roth:      50–60%
U.S. Representative before election

Harris McDowell
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

William Roth
Republican

The 1966 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware took place on November 8, 1966 to decide who would represent Delaware's at-large congressional district in the United States Congress. Incumbent representative Harris McDowell ran for re-election to a sixth term but lost to Republican challenger William Roth by 11 percentage points.

Prior to the election, the seat was regarded as being a safe Democratic seat. With the loss, Harris McDowell became the last Democrat to represent Delaware in the House until Tom Carper in 1982. The election was held during Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson's second term; his party lost 47 seats in the House.

Background

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Incumbent Harris McDowell was a veteran Democrat[1] and was expected to easily hold the seat.[2] In 1964, he had won reelection by 13 points and over 26 thousand votes.[3] McDowell had previously lost a re-election bid in 1956 before returning to the House of Representatives in 1958.[4] The election was held during the midterm election cycle of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson second term.[5][6]

Primaries and candidates

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Democratic primary

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There was some effort from the Delaware Democratic Party to get McDowell to run against Republican Senator J. Caleb Boggs in the concurrent Senate election. McDowell declined, opting to instead seek another term in the House.[2] McDowell was challenged by James M. Tunnell Jr., a former judge on the Delaware Supreme Court.[9]

Republican Primary

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The first person to announce their candidacy for the Republican nomination was George W. Cripps. Following the death of his son in the Vietnam War, Cripps called for further engagement in Vietnam.[11][12] Cripps was challenged for the nomination by attorney and former Delaware Republican Party (GOP) chairman William Roth.[13] Cripps and Roth did not run negative campaign advertisements and avoided attacking each other.[10] Roth explained that since Republicans were the minority party they "cannot afford the luxury of disunity".[14] At the GOP state convention, Cripps withdrew from the race and endorsed Roth's campaign, describing him as "The kind of man we need in the Republican party." He subsequently won the nomination for Delaware's Auditor of Accounts.[10]

General election

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Throughout the campaign, Roth appeared alongside his wife, Jane, and their dog, Ludwig. Roth stated that he hoped to shake hands with 50 thousand voters. He frequently wore a yellow button reading "I am Bill Roth". [8] He had previously worn the button during his 1960 campaign for Lieutenant Governor.[15]

During the campaign, Roth aggressively criticized then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, particularly his foreign policy. The Morning News joked that Roth was "running against the President of the United States in addition to the Democratic Congressman."[8] McDowell made a similar comment saying that Roth was "running against President Johnson, the Department of Defense and all the liberal legislation passed in the past six years." He further criticized Roth saying that his political positions were unclear.[16]

On October 28, 1966, Roth and McDowell participated in a debate at the University of Delaware. The debate was sponsored by the Student Government Association. Questions were written by students of the university's political science department.[17]

Allegations of voting irregularities

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During the campaign, John J. Smith, a Republican candidate for the state legislature, claimed there were irregularities with voting registration. Smith asked the United States Department of Justice to investigate and monitor the election, but was rejected due to a lack of legal basis for the request.[18] A report by the grand jury of New Castle County found that there was some evidence of illegal activity. The activity included voters voting in primaries for parties they were not registered for and allowing voters to vote without proper voter identification.[19]

A list of absentee voters was made available to select Democratic candidates including McDowell. No Republicans received the list, Delaware GOP chairman Clayton S. Harrison criticized this decision, referencing the findings of the grand jury report. Reportedly, McDowell used the list to send out campaign materials.[20]

Results

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The election took place on November 8, 1966, concurrently with various other elections.[21] Like with most cycles the President's party struggled, losing 47 house seats along with various governorships and Senate seats.[5][6] Roth defeated McDowell by around 11 percent of the vote. He received 97,268 votes, nearly 30 thousand more than McDowell's 67,281. Roth received the second highest number of votes of any Republican candidate elected at-large, behind only incumbent Insurance Commissioner Robert A. Short.[21]

Additionally, Roth won all three of Delaware's counties. His strongest showing was in New Castle County where he received 66,871 votes. McDowell's strongest showing was also in New Castle County where he received 49,718 votes. The closest was Kent County where Roth won by just 723 votes.[22]

General election results[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William Roth 90,561 55.77% Increase12.4
Democratic Harris McDowell (Incumbent) 72,142 44.23% Decrease12.3
Total votes 162,703 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

Aftermath

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Following his victory, Roth resigned from his position as a senior councilman at Hercules Inc.[7] Like several other lame duck representatives after the loss, McDowell was set travel to Europe as part of a congressional delegation.[23] However, he, like fellow Democratic representatives Roy H. McVicker and Ronald B. Cameron, decided to cancel his trip. When asked why, McDowell explained that he did not believe it was fair for an outgoing congressman to go abroad.[24]

McDowell and Roth competed again in the following election; Roth won re-election, increasing his margin of victory to seventeen percent.[25] Following the second loss, McDowell retired from politics.[26] During Roth's second term, he resigned from the House to fill a vacant Senate seat.[27] He was succeeded by Republican state representative Pete du Pont.[28] McDowell was the last Democrat to represent Delaware in the House until Delaware Treasurer Tom Carper's 1982 victory.[22][29] After his defeat, McDowell was appointed to a position within the Government of Delaware by then-Governor Charles L. Terry Jr..[7] Despite this, during the following election Terry endorsed candidates to run against McDowell in the Democratic primary.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "How the Nation voted-State by state". United Press International. Evansville Press. November 9, 1966. p. 4. Retrieved March 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Carpenter, Leslie (August 14, 1966). "Washington Beat". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 21. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  3. ^ Guthrie, Benjamin J. (August 16, 1965). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. p. 8. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "McDowell, Harris Brown, Jr". Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Rennent, Leo (October 26, 1988). "Elections to shape national future". The Modesto Bee. pp. 1, 10. Retrieved March 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Lahr, Raymond (November 9, 1966). "Great Society endangered by major Republican gain". The Sault Star. pp. 1–2. Retrieved March 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c "State bigwigs in '66 shuffle". The News Journal. January 3, 1967. p. 21. Retrieved March 19, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Liberman, Cy (October 18, 1966). "William V. Roth tackles opponent and LBJ". The Morning News. p. 23. Retrieved April 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b "Boggs is mum on race plans". The Daily Times. August 11, 1966. p. 13. Retrieved April 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b c Frank, William P. (August 31, 1966). "Roth gets House Bid; Cripps auditor's nod". The Morning News. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved March 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Clements, Nan (January 17, 1966). "Short shell kills Dover G.I. in Viet". The News Journal. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Martin, Larry K. (March 29, 1966). "GOP hopeful urges tougher Viet policy". The Morning News. p. 2. Retrieved March 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Sapienza, Jerry (January 17, 1966). "Roth says he is interested in House run". The News Journal. p. 3. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  14. ^ "GOP candidates blast Johnson". The Daily Times. May 10, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved April 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Frank, William P. (October 29, 1968). "Roth still establishing identity". The Morning News. Retrieved April 30, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Federal rent aid urged by Tunnell". The News Journal. October 27, 1990. p. 3. Retrieved April 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Roth, McDowell at U. of D. tonight". The Morning News. October 28, 1966. p. 24. Retrieved April 29, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "1965 act cited by Smith for U.S. poll watch". The News Journal. October 16, 1966. p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Terry to get vote findings". The News Journal. October 13, 1966. pp. 1–2. Retrieved March 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Crosland, Philip F. (October 17, 1966). "GOP Chairman says absentee list used". The News Journal. p. 3. Retrieved March 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b c Guthrie, Benjamin J. (March 31, 1967). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1966" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 8.
  22. ^ a b Cripps, George W. "State of Delaware Official Results of General Election 1966" (PDF). Delaware Department of Elections. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  23. ^ Pearson, Drew (November 20, 1966). "Washington merry-go-round". The News & Observer. p. 42. Retrieved March 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Rapoport, Daniel (November 27, 1966). "Lame Ducks fly on world tours". United Press International. The Pantagraph. p. 5. Retrieved March 27, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1968" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. p. 6.
  26. ^ Frank, William P. (November 6, 1968). "Roth tops McDowell". The Morning News. Retrieved April 7, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Sen. William Roth, 82; Created Popular Retirement Account". Los Angeles Times. December 15, 2003. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  28. ^ "Pierre 'Pete' du Pont IV dies; ran for president in 1988". Politico. May 9, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  29. ^ Corty, Susanne P.; Hanson, Joseph J. (November 4, 1982). "The Governor returns to bitter defeat". The News Journal. p. 18. Retrieved March 19, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Frank, Bill (June 25, 1968). "McDowell displays new political vigor". The Morning News. p. 20. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
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