O'Donnell's win gave new energy to the tea party movement, which targeted Castle after victories by Republican tea party candidates in the Alaska and Nevada Senate primaries. It was another primary victory for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who endorsed O'Donnell last week.With all precincts reporting, O'Donnell had 53 percent to 47 percent for Castle, a former two-term governor and the longest serving congressman in Delaware history.O'Donnell supporters who gathered at an Elks Lodge in Dover erupted in cheers and dancing upon learning of her victory. O'Donnell took the lead early as voting results came in and never relinquished it, prompting some of her supporters to make floor-sweeping motions while cheering, "Sweep 'em out!"
She got behind us war-weary folks and gave us a boost of encouragement when we need it," she said. "She was a vote against the politics of personal destruction."Castle supporters at his election party in Wilmington stood in stunned silence as returns rolled in, but erupted into cheers when he took the stage for a brief speech.O'Donnell, who hasn't had a steady job in years but has instead made an avocation of running for Senate, finally won after two failed Senate bids. She came in last in a three-way GOP primary in 2006 and lost badly to Biden in 2008, when she won the endorsement of state GOP convention delegates but received virtually no help from the party.
But the Tea Party Express bolstered O'Donnell's long-shot bid this year with its pledge of $250,000 for radio and television ads.O'Donnell and her staunchly conservative supporters characterized Castle as a liberal who often votes with Democrats in Congress while masquerading as a GOP conservative. In their words, Castle is a "RINO," a "Republican in Name Only."They also suggested that Castle, 71, was so frail that he might die before finishing his Senate term, that he might switch parties, and that he was cheating on his wife with a man.

Here's something to add to your background on newly minted GOP Delaware Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell. The Atlantic's Joshua Green unearths a 1998 appearance that O'Donnell made on Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect" show. (She appeared with Martin Mull, Jasmine Guy, and Eddie Izzard!) The conversation revolved around the Clinton/Lewinski scandal, and the "relativity of truth.The state had been a primarily "red" state throughout most of the 20th century. Political theorists speculate that the republican presence was largely due to the presence of the DuPont Company and its family. The company had a great effect on state politics as the business became more diversified. Currently, however, the state has voted Democratic in the last five elections.

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