DELAWARE
      Nov. 2, 2010 U.S. Senate (Special)

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 Sen.2
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+Chris Coons (D)
174,012
 56.61%
Christine O'Donnell (R)
 123,053
 40.03%
Glenn A. Miller (IP)
 8,201
 2.67%
James W. Rash (L)
 2,101
 0.68%

307,367
Plurality: 50,959 votes (16.58 percentage points).
 DE Dept. of Elections



Notes:  In the Nov. 2008 presidential election, voters made Sen. Joe Biden, first elected to the Senate in 1972, Vice President elect.  Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) announced on Nov. 25 she would appoint Biden's longtime aide and former chief of staff Ted Kaufman to fill his seat.  Biden resigned on Jan. 15, 2009, and Kaufman took office, but made it clear he would not run in the 2010 special election to fill out the remaining four years of Biden's term.  

In the 2010 special election, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) defeated conservative activist Christine O'Donnell (R) and two third party candidates.

Coons was elected president of the New Castle County Council in 2000 and county executive in 2004.  O'Donnell was making her third run for U.S. Senate; she finished third in the Republican primary in 2006 and was the Republican nominee against Biden in 2008.  In the Sept. 14, 2010 Republican primary, backed by the Tea Party movement including an endorsement for Sarah Palin, O'Donnell pulled off a huge upset, defeating U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics.  Castle was first elected to Congress in 1992, was a former governor, and started his political career as a member of the Delaware House in 1966, before O'Donnell was born.

After O'Donnell's unexpected win in the primary, her campaign hit rough waters.  On Sept. 15, Politico ran a very unflattering profile.  A couple of days later on Sept. 17 Bill Maher released a video of O'Donnell in a 1999 appearance on his "Politically Incorrect" show during which she said that she "dabbled into witchcraft.  This set off a media frenzy which lasted for weeks and came to define her candidacy (>).  On Oct. 5 the campaign released an ad "I'm You," in which O'Donnell, speaking to the camera, declared, "I'm not a witch (>)."  This only inspired more attention to the matter (>).

Coons and O'Donnell debated on Oct. 13 at the University of Delaware in Newark, organized by the University and Delaware First Media and co-hosted by CNN's Wolf Blitzer (1, 2); and on Oct. 20 at WHYY-TV in Wilmington.

President Obama and Vice President Biden rallied for Coons in Wilmington on Oct. 15 (1, 2).

According to Open Secrets, the O'Donnell campaign, which went through a very competitive primary, outspent the Coons campaign by $7.1 million to $3.5 million (>).



See also:
Devin Dwyer, Russell Goldman and Mark Schone.  "Christine O'Donnel Is a 'Crimina,' Claims Watchdog Group."  ABC News, Sept. 20, 2010.

Ryan Creed.  "Maher Airs Christine O'Donnell 'Witchcraft' Video."  ABC News, Sept. 19, 2010.

Time Grieve and Andy Barr.  "Meet Christine O'Donnell ..."  Politico, Sept. 15, 2010.



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