US Sen. Chris Coons heads back to Washington after besting Mike Katz

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons is headed back to Washington for a fourth term after defeating Republican challenger Dr. Mike Katz.

Coons has held the seat since 2010, when he won a special election to replace then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Katz, a former Delaware state senator, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate as an independent in 2024 before returning to the ballot this year as a Republican.

The race was called by multiple news outlets moments after polls closed at 8 p.m., including The Associated Press, ABC News and CNN.

Cheers erupted at the Democratic election night watch party at Wilmington's Riverfront when CNN showed his race projection on screen.

"All right, Senator!" one person shouted, as others clapped.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Coons led Katz by about 27.2 percentage points − 63.6% to 36.4%.

Coons, in addressing attendees on the night of Nov. 3, began by focusing on "how bad the news was" in the last year-and-a-half. He largely blamed President Donald Trump for that.

But speaking on the night's results, he said he "almost cannot believe how good the news is here in Delaware and around our country."

"Folks, starting here in Delaware tonight, there is change in the air," Coons said. "There is a new future in front of us. There is hope right before us."

Coons' win expected

Like in the primary, when Coons faced three Democratic opponents, the senator entered the general election as the clear favorite.

In the Sept. 15 primary, he received 78% of the vote. That was about 5 percentage points greater than in 2020, when he last faced a Democratic primary challenger.

That year, he defeated progressive activist Jessica Scarane with nearly 73% of the vote. Coons went on to handily defeat Republican Lauren Witzke in the general election.

Still, Witzke's showing made waves. The Trump-aligned Republican received more than 186,000 votes − the most any Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Delaware had received since 2000.

And though she received just under 38% of the vote, Witzke performed better than pre-election polling had suggested. An October 2020 University of Delaware poll showed Coons leading Witzke by 30 points, 57% to 27%. He ultimately won by about 21 points.

Katz entered this year's race with experience in both medicine and Delaware politics. An anesthesiologist and health care executive, he served in the Delaware Senate from 2009 to 2013 after winning election as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning district. He later left the party.

Katz campaigned largely on lowering the cost of living, overhauling health care and reining in federal spending. He called for fiscal restraint and fewer business regulations, while advocating expanded health care access and lower prescription drug costs.

His platform also included completing the southern border wall in high-traffic areas, reinstating the "Remain in Mexico" policy, strengthening immigration enforcement, supporting voter-identification requirements and opposing state and federal red-flag gun laws.

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