Biden Wins His Seat In Senate

Joe Biden won a seventh Senate term Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Christine O'Donnell and setting up several intriguing possibilities because he also won the vice presidency.

Delaware law permitted Biden, the running mate of Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, to seek both offices. His victory guarantees Democrats will hold the seat.

Obama and Biden were elected, so outgoing Gov. Ruth Ann Minner would likely appoint Biden's replacement. It also is possible the task could fall to Gov.-elect Jack Markell, a Democrat. Delaware's governor and the new president will be inaugurated Jan. 20, and Biden could wait until then to resign from the Senate.

Had Republican Sen. John McCain been elected president, Biden would have returned to the Senate.

Delaware political observers have speculated that Biden was grooming his son, state Attorney General Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, to succeed him.

But Beau Biden also is a captain in the Delaware National Guard and is about to deploy to Iraq for a nine-month stint as a military prosecutor. Military policy would bar him from performing the duties of any elective office while on active duty, and being the son of a vice president-elect would not lead to his deployment ending early, said Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman.

Whoever is appointed would serve for two years. Voters in 2010 would fill the remaining four years of the term. That timetable has led to speculation that Minner would appoint a caretaker who would step aside in 2010, allowing Beau Biden to run.

Minner, 73, has said she would not appoint herself.

"I guess the real catch here is whether or not Joe Biden is going to get involved and try to get somebody to hold the set for Beau Biden," said Republican Rep. Michael Castle, who was re-elected Tuesday. Castle is likely the GOP's best option to pick up the seat in 2010.

"I would consider it," he said of a possible run. "I'm not committed to anything."

Another possible successor to Biden is Lt. Gov. John Carney, who lost to Markell in a closely contested primary. Carney, 52, said Tuesday he was interested in the seat and had relayed that to Minner. But if appointed, he would prefer not to step aside in two years.

"I'd be willing to talk to the governor and others about whatever approach they wanted to take," Carney said.

O'Donnell, 39, a conservative activist, had accused Biden of lacking commitment to Delaware.