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Personal U.S. Senator from Delaware 47th Vice President of the United States Vice presidential campaigns 46th President of the United States Tenure   | ||
The2008 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent SenatorJoe Biden, who was also the Democratic nominee for vice president in theconcurrent presidential election, facedChristine O'Donnell in the general election. Biden won re-election to a seventh term with 64.69% of the vote, his best-performing result in hissenatorial career, while also being electedvice president.
Biden took his oath of office in the Senate chamber with the rest of his colleagues on January 3, 2009, but resigned his seat on January 15, 2009, and assumed the vice presidency five days later. Long time Biden advisorTed Kaufman was appointed to fill the vacant seat. Aspecial election was held in 2010 where O'Donnell once again ran unsuccessfully.
This marked the last time Biden won all three counties in a general election, as in his vice presidential and presidential runs,Sussex County would vote for the Republican ticket.
In January 2008, following a poor performance in the Iowa Caucus, Biden ended his2008 presidential bid to instead focus on running for a seventh term in theUnited States Senate. He was unopposed within his party.[1] On August 23, 2008, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee Illinois, SenatorBarack Obama, announced that he hadselected Biden to serve as his running mate in the2008 United States presidential election.[2] Under Delaware law, Biden could run simultaneously for both his Senate seat and vice president, which he decided to do.[3]
O'Donnell had previously run in for Delaware'sClass One senate seat in2006. After losing the Republican Primary toJan C. Ting, she ran in the general election as a write-in candidate. She lost, only receiving less than five percent of the vote.[4] The statewide party primary elections were held September 9, 2008, both candidates ran unopposed.[5]
Both candidates ran unopposed in the primaries.[5]
Pundits believed Biden would easily win reelection, with several polls pacing him over 30 points ahead of O'Donnell.[6]
| Source | Ranking | Date of Prediction | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report | Safe D | October 23, 2008 | [7] |
| Congressional Quarterly | Safe D | October 31, 2008 | [8] |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe D | November 2, 2008 | [9] |
Biden largely ignored the election in favor of Obama's presidential run.[3] O'Donnell tried to make an issue of the dual campaigns, claiming that do 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."[10]
Biden put up very few campaign advertisements,[10] nevertheless he heavily outspent O'Donnell and her campaign failed to gain traction. Her campaign ended with thousands in debt.[11][12] 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.[11] 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".[13]
O'Donnel received the endorsements of astronautBuzz Aldrin,Missouri GovernorHaley Barbour, and activistDavid Horowitz.[10]
The election was held on November 4, 2008. Only minutes after the polls closed the race was called for Biden.[14] He was re-elected in a landslide victory against O'Donnell,[15][16] securing his largest margin of victory while improving on his 2002 performance by around 6.5%.[17]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joe Biden (incumbent) | 257,539 | 64.69% | +6.47% | |
| Republican | Christine O'Donnell | 140,595 | 35.31% | −5.49% | |
| Majority | 116,944 | 29.38% | |||
| Total votes | 398,134 | ||||
| Democratichold | |||||
Biden won all three counties, flippingKent County from Republican to Democrat.[18][17] This marked the last time he won all three counties in a general election. In his vice presidential runs in2008 and2012, and in his presidential run in2020,Sussex County would vote for the Republican candidates.[19][20][21]
Biden's best performance was inNew 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 bySussex County with 86 thousand.[18]
| County | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Democratic | Christine Therese O'Donnell Republican | Total votes cast | Ref(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | |||
| Kent | 37,074 | 56.99% | 27,981 | 43.01% | 65,055 | |
| New Castle | 177,070 | 71.82% | 69,491 | 28.18% | 246,561 | |
| Sussex | 43,395 | 50.16% | 43,123 | 49.84% | 86,790 | |
| Total | 257,539 | 64.69% | 140,595 | 35.31% | 398,406 | |
Biden took the oath of office in the Senate chamber with his fellow senators-elect on January 3, 2009,[22] but resigned his seat on January 15, 2009, and assumed the vice presidency five days later.[23] Outgoing Delaware GovernorRuth Ann Minner appointedTed Kaufman, a Democrat and longtime Biden advisor, to fill the vacant seat pending a 2010special election. Kaufman stated he had no plans to run in 2010.[24] O'Donnell once again ran unsuccessfully for the seat, losing to DemocratChris Coons.[25]
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