2008 United States Senate election in Delaware

2008 United States Senate election in Delaware

← 2002 November 4, 2008 2010 (special) →
 
Nominee Joe Biden Christine O'Donnell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 257,539 140,595
Percentage 64.69% 35.31%

Biden:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
O'Donnell:      50–60%      60–70%
Tie:      50%      No votes

U.S. senator before election

Joe Biden
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Joe Biden
Democratic

The 2008 United States Senate election in Delaware was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Senator Joe Biden, 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. Biden took his oath of office in the Senate chamber with the rest of his colleagues on January 3, 2009,[1] but resigned his seat on January 15, 2009, and assumed the vice presidency five days later. Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed Ted Kaufman, a Democrat and longtime Biden advisor, to fill the vacant seat pending a 2010 special election in which O'Donnell once again ran unsuccessfully for the seat, losing to Democrat Chris Coons.

This marked the last time Biden won all three counties in the state, as concurrently in his vice presidential runs in 2008 and 2012, and in his presidential run in 2020, he would go on to only win New Castle and Kent counties, as Sussex County would vote for the Republican ticket in each election.

  1. ^ Levi, Michelle (January 6, 2009). "Biden Sworn In (As a Senator)". CBS News. Retrieved December 3, 2020.