2008 United States Senate election in Delaware

Background

In January 2008, following a poor performance in the Iowa Caucus, Biden ended his 2008 presidential bid to instead focus on running for a seventh term in the United States Senate. He was unopposed within his party. On August 23, 2008, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee Illinois, Senator Barack Obama, announced that he had selected Biden to serve as his running mate in the 2008 United States presidential election. Under Delaware law, Biden could run simultaneously for both his Senate seat and vice president, which he decided to do.

O'Donnell had previously run in for Delaware's Class One senate seat in 2006. After losing the Republican Primary to Jan C. Ting, she ran in the general election as a write-in candidate. She lost, only receiving less than five percent of the vote. The statewide party primary elections were held September 9, 2008, both candidates ran unopposed.

Candidates

Both candidates ran unopposed in the primaries.

Democratic

• Joe Biden, incumbent and longest serving Senator from Delaware

Republican

• Christine O'Donnell, media consultant, political analyst and write-in candidate in 2006

Predictions

Pundits believed Biden would easily win reelection, with several polls pacing him over 30 points ahead of O'Donnell.

General election

Biden largely ignored the election in favor of Obama's presidential run. O'Donnell tried to make an issue of the dual campaigns, claiming that doing so was evidence that serving his constituents was not important to him as well as criticizing his unwillingness to participate in debates and candidate forums. Politico's Daniel Libit writing about O'Donnell said, "nowhere else in America is a challenger wanting her incumbent opponent to campaign harder against her."

Biden put up very few campaign advertisements, nevertheless he heavily outspent O'Donnell and her campaign failed to gain traction. Her campaign ended with thousands in debt. Kristin Murray briefly served as the campaign manager for O'Donnell. Murray claimed she left the campaign willingly because of O'Donnell's financial situation, though O'Donnell claimed she was fired. During O'Donnell's 2010 campaign for the seat, Murray claimed that O'Donnell was misusing her campaign donations and using the money to pay her rent and other "personal expenses".

O'Donnel received the endorsements of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Missouri Governor Haley Barbour, and activist David Horowitz.

Results

The election was held on November 4, 2008. Only minutes after the polls closed the race was called for Biden. He was re-elected in a landslide victory against O'Donnell, securing his largest margin of victory while improving on his 2002 performance by around 6.5%. Biden won all three counties, flipping Kent County from Republican to Democrat. This marked the last time he won all three counties in a general election. In his vice presidential runs in 2008 and 2012, and in his presidential run in 2020, Sussex County would vote for the Republican candidates.

Biden's best performance was in New Castle County, where he won around 72 percent of the vote to O'Donnell's 28 percent. O'Donnell's best performance was in Sussex County, where she almost won the county, receiving 49.84% of the vote to Biden's 50.16%, his weakest performance. New Castle County had the highest number of votes cast with 246 thousand, followed by Sussex County with 86 thousand.

Aftermath

Main article: [special election]]. Kaufman stated he had no plans to run in 2010.{{Cite web](special-election-kaufman-stated-he-had-no-plans-to-run-in-2010-ref-cite-web)

References

References

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2. Silverstein. (August 23, 2008). "Biden's the pick, sources confirm".
3. Libit, Daniel. (2008-10-04). "Joe Biden's other female foe".
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10. Libit, Daniel. (October 4, 2008). "Joe Biden's other female foe". [[Politico]].
11. Catanese, David. (2010-09-14). "Ex-aide: O'Donnell a 'complete fraud'".
12. Gibson, Ginger. (March 20, 2010). "Delaware politics: O'Donnell faces campaign debt, back-tax issues". [[The News Journal]].
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15. Catanese, David. (2010-09-17). "Ex-aides unload on O'Donnell".
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22. Levi, Michelle. (January 6, 2009). "Biden Sworn In (As a Senator)". [[CBS News]].
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24. Mahtesian, Charles. (2010-01-25). "Beau Biden declines Senate bid".
25. James, Frank. (2010-11-02). "Chris Coons Defeats Christine O'Donnell In Delaware: CNN, AP". [[NPR]].