1980 Delaware lieutenant gubernatorial election

1980 Delaware lieutenant gubernatorial election

4 November 1980

Nominee Mike Castle Thomas B. Sharp Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 128,827 88,224 Percentage 58.72% 40.21%

Lieutenant Governor before election James D. McGinnis Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor Mike Castle Republican

The 1980 Delaware lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on 4 November 1980 in order to elect the lieutenant governor of Delaware. Republican nominee and former member of the Delaware Senate Mike Castle defeated Democratic nominee Thomas B. Sharp, Libertarian nominee Margaret R. Buchanan and American nominee Donald G. Gies.

General election

On election day, 4 November 1980, Republican nominee Mike Castle won the election by a margin of 40,603 votes against his foremost opponent Democratic nominee Thomas B. Sharp, thereby gaining Republican control over the office of lieutenant governor. Castle was sworn in as the 20th lieutenant governor of Delaware on 20 January 1981.

Results

Delaware lieutenant gubernatorial election, 1980

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Castle	128,827	58.72
	Democratic	Thomas B. Sharp	88,224	40.21
	Libertarian	Margaret R. Buchanan	1,654	0.75
	American	Donald G. Gies	687	0.32
Total votes			219,392	100.00
	Republican gain from Democratic