Biden Replacement Could Fall to Delaware’s New Guv
EmailABC News’ Matthew Jaffe and Teddy Davis Report: Lost in the hullabaloo of Tuesday’s historic presidential election is that Joe Biden was re-elected to the United States Senate from Delaware, defeating Republican Chistine O’Donnell.
Delaware law provides that when a U.S. senator resigns before the end of his term, the state’s governor appoints a replacement who remains in office until the next election which, in this case, is 2010.
It is likely – though not certain – that Biden’s replacement is going to be decided by Governor-elect Jack Markell (D) rather than by outgoing Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. The answer will ultimately turn on when Biden submits his Senate resignation and exactly what time the Jan. 20 gubernatorial inauguration is held.
Just prior to Tuesday’s election, Biden told a local television station that he does not want to resign his Senate seat until the moment he were to become vice president.
Delaware has not determined the time of its Jan. 20, 2009 gubernatorial nomination. But Gov. Minner’s office tells ABC News that the decision is traditionally made by the incoming governor.
Markell has not decided what time he wants to hold his inauguration. But his spokesman says the governor-elect is aware that some Delawareans are interested in attending both the gubernatorial inauguration as well as the Obama-Biden inauguration in Washington, D.C. What’s more, Markell’s spokesman cites the 12:01 am ET swearing-in of Delaware Gov. Pierre S. duPont, IV, in 1981 as a precedent for doing the gubernatorial inauguration as early in the day as possible.
Biden only mentioned his Senate re-election campaign once while stumping for Obama. It came as a brief aside in his speech at Delaware’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
"Remember folks, I’m on the ballot," he reminded Blue Hen supporters October 13 in Dover. "Don’t be carried away with this vice-presidential stuff. I am on the ballot running for my seventh term. So don’t forget, don’t stop at the top of that ticket. Walk your way down. You can vote twice for the first time in your life for the same guy and have it be legal."
Some possible replacements to hold Biden’s seat until 2010 include Minner and the senator’s son Beau – the Delaware Attorney General currently in Texas training for a year-long deployment to Iraq. A number of Delaware state officials have also been mentioned as possibilities: Lieutenant Gov. Jack Carney, Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele, and Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor.
"It’s impossible to replace Joe Biden," Markell spokesman Joe Rogalsky told ABC News. "No one is going to do that. But if it becomes apparent that Biden is going to resign after Markell is sworn-in, we will go through the process of finding the best possible replacement."
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It will stay in the hands of the Democrats, so it really doesn’t matter much. Only suspense is if Markell will make sure the replacement only keeps the seat warm for Hunter Biden.
http://www.political-buzz.com/
Posted by: matt | November 6, 2008, 7:49 pm 7:49 pm
I think Beau is the safe choice. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Minner got it. I doubt she’d serve more than eight years. But then again, who knows…
http://demockracy.com/the-morning-after/
Posted by: Kevin | November 6, 2008, 8:37 pm 8:37 pm
fyi
Posted by: Gary Davis | November 8, 2008, 4:50 am 4:50 am
Most people I talk to here in Delaware think John Carney is the best choice. At the Returns Day parade, apparently there were lots of buttons and signs saying “Send JC to DC”.
John Carney ran a very positive campaign against Markell in the primary, and the race was very close. He would very likely retain the Senate seat in 2010.
Posted by: Meg | November 10, 2008, 9:50 pm 9:50 pm
After last week’s historic election, all of the talk of Biden’s Senate replacement misses an important point: Minner, who broke the glass ceiling as the first female governor in Delaware history, is in a unique position to break another glass ceiling by appointing a woman to serve Delaware in the Senate for the first time in the state’s history.
To be sure, talk has been made of Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor being appointed as a placeholder for Beau Biden. But to make history by appointing a woman to the Senate, only to have that woman pushed aside in two years would be no progress for the advancement of women. Minner realizes this.
Minner will (and, indeed, should) appoint a woman who can hold her own in an election two years later – either against a primary challenge from Beau Biden, or a Republican in the general. With no female statewide elected officials, one person to keep an eye on is Cari DeSantis. After seven years at the helm of the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Families, Secretary DeSantis was widely recognized as one of the Governor’s most effective Cabinet members. DeSantis left the Cabinet in July to work for a foundation promoting the cause of foster children, but has been maintaining her presence in the state. During the 2000 gubernatorial campaign, DeSantis co-chaired the Women for Minner committee that was integral in raising money for Minner and helping her win the election. Minner could very well return the favor by appointing DeSantis to the Senate, while also ensuring that Delaware is represented by an effective, competent and committed woman – and not just for two years.
Posted by: J. Cory Tull | November 12, 2008, 11:47 am 11:47 am
Beau Biden, the “natural choice” for Senator is deployed in the National Guard and cannot serve. If he were somehow called home,the son of a powerful man, how would that look?
Also, I don’t think Joe Biden needs the charges of favoritism and nepotism dogging his vice presidency from the very first days in office. On the other side, if the voters perceive that Beau Biden was appointed to the Senate because of his father, it will follow him all his political career, just as the unfortunate plagiarism charge followed his father.
In my opinion John Carney would make an able, principled, and conscientious senator who would keep the interests of Delaware in the forefront of his term.
Posted by: M. Dougherty | November 17, 2008, 8:45 am 8:45 am
Minner must be two years older than baseball! She would be too old to be a freshman senator. The best thing to do would be appoint someone who could accrue seniority straightaway.
Posted by: WabashCannonball | November 19, 2008, 1:14 am 1:14 am