Insurgent Republican Wins in Delaware
Christine O’Donnell, a Republican candidate for the Senate, at her election night party in Dover, Del.
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: September 14, 2010
The Tea Party movement scored another victory on Tuesday, helping to propel a dissident Republican, Christine O’Donnell, to a stunning upset win over Representative Michael N. Castle in the race for the United States Senate nomination in Delaware.
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Representative Michael N. Castle spoke to the media on primary day in Wilmington, Del.
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Mr. Castle, a moderate Republican who served two terms as governor and has been reliably winning elections for the last four decades, became the latest establishment Republican casualty of the primary election season. Republican leaders said the victory by Ms. O’Donnell complicated the party’s chances of winning control of the Senate.
A fight for the Republican Senate nomination in New Hampshire also was underway, with the state’s former attorney general, Kelly Ayotte, who earned the endorsement of Ms. Palin, working fight back a strong challenge from Ovide Lamontagne, who called himself the most conservative candidate in the race.
The contests on Tuesday, which also included races in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, came at the end of a seven-month string of primaries. The results highlighted anxiety and unrest in every corner of the country, with seven incumbent members of Congress already having been defeated in their primary bids for re-election.
Former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich won the Republican nomination for governor on Tuesday, positioning him for a rematch with Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, who defeated him four years ago. Mr. Ehrlich defeated Brian Murphy, an investment executive, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin.
It was the Republican race in the reliably Democratic state of Delaware that captured the most attention.
The race laid bare the antipathy between Ms. O’Donnell and the Republican Party, which has openly and repeatedly denigrated her. During Tuesday’s voting, a former aide to Ms. O’Donnell recorded automated calls seeking to discredit her, accusing Ms. O’Donnell of misusing campaign funds for personal use, a charge she denied.
During the campaign, Ms. O’Donnell countered that Mr. Castle was not a true conservative Republican.
“There’s a tidal wave that is coming to Delaware,” Ms. O’Donnell said in the closing days of the campaign. “We’re riding in it and he’s drowning in it.”
While other Republican officials denounced Ms. O’Donnell’s campaign or suggested they would not support her candidacy in a general election, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, pledged Tuesday to support the primary winner.
“The voters of Delaware are going to decide this very day as we are speaking who they want to represent them in the Senate,” Mr. McConnell said in an interview on MSNBC before the voting ended. “I’m going to support the nominee.”
Democrats believed their nominee, Chris Coons, a county executive, had an uphill fight against Mr. Castle, who is well known around the state and whose moderate politics have been well suited for its constituents. Senator Ted Kaufman, a Democrat who was appointed to fill Mr. Biden’s seat, did not run for election.
In New Hampshire, voters trickled out of polling places for much of the day, with many reporting average or lighter-than-expected turnout. Around lunchtime, Ovide LaMontagne stopped by the Gilbert H. Hood Memorial Middle School to greet voters but with few in sight, he resorted to chatting with campaign volunteers holding signs.
Mr. LaMontagne said an endorsement from The Union Leader in Manchester had given him crucial momentum in the final stretch. He said that with seven Republicans seeking the nomination, many voters had not settled on him until the eleventh hour.
At Mr. LaMontagne’s polling place, a Catholic community center on Manchester’s East side, 962 ballots had been cast by 6 p.m., up from 727 in the 2008 primary. Still, that is only about five percent of the ward’s 5,000 registered voters, said Wendy Garrity, its moderator.
Tom Sapienza, a lifelong Manchester resident who described himself as a stanch Democrat, said he had voted for Mr. LaMontagne because he did not act like a political insider.
“I’m sick of all the junk and he seems like an honest guy,” said Mr. Sapienza, 46, a mail carrier. “I don’t agree with him on every issue, but he seems like the type of person you can have a reasonable discussion with.”
Mr. Sapienza said he was not gripped by the anti-establishment fervor of activist groups like the Tea Party. “I’m anti-Tea Party,” he said, “anti-griping.”
With less than two months remaining in the midterm election campaign, the Democratic grip on the House and Senate, along with several governorships across the country, was in question. President Obama’s approval rating remained locked below 50 percent and voters in state after state signaling resentment and a rejection of several key initiatives, including the economic stimulus and the health care law.
Republicans must win 39 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate if they are to capture control from Democrats. The outcome of the contests on Tuesday will solidify the field for both parties.
In addition to the primaries in seven states, voters were selecting a Democratic nominee for mayor in Washington, D.C., which is akin to the general election considering the city’s strong Democratic leanings. An anti-incumbent mood, which has defined the midterm elections, was facing Mayor Adrian Fenty, who was struggling for survival against a strong challenge from Vincent Gray, chairman of the city council.
With less than two months remaining in the midterm election campaign, the Democratic grip on the House and Senate, along with several governorships across the country, was in question. President Obama’s approval rating remained locked below 50 percent, with voters in state after state signaling resentment and a rejection of several key initiatives, including the economic stimulus and the health care law.
Republicans must win 39 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate if they are to capture control from Democrats. The outcome of the contests on Tuesday will solidify the field for both parties.
In addition to the primaries in seven states, voters were selecting a Democratic nominee for mayor in Washington, D.C., which is akin to the general election considering the city’s strong Democratic leanings. An anti-incumbent mood, which has defined the midterm elections, was facing Mayor Adrian Fenty, who was struggling for survival against a strong challenge from Vincent Gray, chairman of the city council.
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