The 2008 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Senator

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, who was also the Democratic nominee for vice president in the concurrent presidential election, faced Christine 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 his senatorial career, while also being elected

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

. 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 advisor Ted Kaufman was appointed to fill the vacant seat. A

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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.

Background

After ending his 2008 presidential bid in January 2008, Biden focused instead on running for a seventh Senate term. He was unopposed within his party. On August 23, 2008, Democratic Party presidential nominee

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

announced that he had selected Biden to serve as his vice presidential running mate. Under Delaware law, Biden could run simultaneously for both his Senate seat and for vice president, which he decided to do. O'Donnell had previously run in for Delaware's Class One senate seat in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. 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

, incumbent and longest serving Senator from Delaware

Republican

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

General election

Campaign

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 serving his constituents was not important to him, and criticized his unwillingness to participate in debates and candidate forums. ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'''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, Murray claimed that O'Donnell was misusing her campaign donations.

Predictions

Various pundits considered the race a safe

blue state Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to US states whose voters vote predominantly for one party—the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in bl ...

Results

Minutes after the polls closed the race was called for Biden. He was re-elected in a landslide victory against O'Donnell. Biden secured his largest margin of victory, improving on his 2002 margin by around 6.5%.

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(largest city:

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

)

Analysis

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 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, and in his presidential run in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, 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 lowest share of the vote. New Castle County had the highest number of votes cast with 246 thousand, followed by Sussex County with 86 thousand. Biden took the oath of office in the Senate chamber with his fellow senator-elects on January 3, 2009, but resigned his seat on January 15, 2009, and assumed the vice presidency five days later. Outgoing Delaware Governor

Ruth Ann Minner Ruth Ann Minner ( Coverdale; January 17, 1935 – November 4, 2021) was an American politician and businesswoman who served as the 72nd List of governors of Delaware, governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009. She previously served in the Delaware G ...

appointed Ted Kaufman, a Democrat and longtime Biden advisor, to fill the vacant seat pending a 2010

. Kaufman stated he had no plans to run in 2010. O'Donnell once again ran unsuccessfully for the seat, losing to Democrat

Chris Coons Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, a seat he has held since 2010. A member ...

References

{{Elections in Delaware footer

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...