2008 Delaware Governor
| pollster | date | spread |
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| pollster | date | Lee | Markell | spread |
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With Republicans unable to recruit a top-tier candidate, the winner of the September 9 Democratic primary appears likely to win the governorship in November.
That person is State Treas. Jack Markell (D), who defeated Lt. Gov. John Carney (D) in the Democratic primary 51%-49%. The two had been campaigning against each other since June 2007, when Markell decided to run despite calls for deference to Carney, who has served two terms as lieutenant governor under term-limited Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D). Party leaders asked Markell to run for lieutenant governor instead.
The top GOP recruit, Alan Levin, the former CEO of Happy Harry\'s drug store chain, dropped his bid in January. The GOP nominee is Retired Superior Court Judge Bill Lee (R), who defeated perennial candidate Mike Protack (R) with 72% of the vote in the GOP primary.
