Shortly after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Republican Christine O’Donnell took the stage in the Gold Ballroom of the Rollins Center at Dover Downs to concede the race for the U.S. Senate seat to Democrat Chris Coons.
Coons defeated O’Donnell with 56.6 percent of the vote, 172,590 to 122,237. Independent Party of Delaware candidate Glenn A. Miller and James W. Rash combined for 3.3 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results posted online by the Delaware Department of Elections.
It was the most votes O’Donnell has ever received in her third try for U.S. Senate.
But, in the end, she could not overcome the 110,000 advantage Democrats have in the Diamond State. Her message of smaller government, including making the Bush tax cuts permanent so that small businesses would have more money in their pockets to hire people, did not resonate with enough voters. Neither did campaign ads hammering Coons for increasing taxes 54 percent during his six years in office, years that saw the real estate transfer tax dry up.
O’Donnell told hundreds of supporters that her campaign was still a victory in that her supporters changed the electoral process in Delaware forever.
“The Delaware Democratic system will never be the same,” O’Donnell told a cheering crowd of about 300. “The Republican Party will never be the same. Our voice was heard, and we will never be silenced.
“We will continue to be heard,” she said. “God bless you.”
She had just gotten off the telephone with Coons, she told the crowd during her concession speech. She reminded him to think about small business owners like Victor Rodriguez – a longstanding grocer in the traditional Hispanic enclave of Hilltop in the city of Wilmington’s Westside. Namely, she urged him to not cast a vote for a tax increase that small business owners said would cause some of them to close their doors. And she urged him to fight the death tax that she also said would hurt small business owners.
But O’Donnell believes her supporters will continue to be vigilant in keeping a watchful eye on Washington, D.C., which she continually criticized for irresponsible spending that has the nation trillions of dollars in debt to China.
Indeed, O’Donnell’s campaign taught the Republican Party of Delaware – the hard way – that the people pick their candidate, not party bosses, when she upset U.S. Rep. Mike Castle in the September primary.
The Tea Party Express-backed candidate also saw about $5 million pour into her campaign, most of it from out-of-state.
A steady stream of Delawareans headed to the polls after seeing the U.S. Senate race between O’Donnell and Coons thrust into the First State into the national and international spotlight as well as the high-profile race for the U.S. House of Representatives race between Democrat John Carney and Republican Glen Urquhart.
Indeed, those two races attracted most voters to this off-year election.
And it was a mixed bag in terms of who voted for whom.
Some Democrats and Republicans voted along party lines, respectively. Some Republicans voted for the Democrats in the two top races. Some Democrats voted for both Republicans in the high profile races. Some people split their vote.
Republican Bob Russell, 59 of Hockessin, voted for Coons and John Carney, the Democrat in the race for Delaware’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, at the Hockessin PAL Center. Russell, a Castle supporter, did not want to vote for O’Donnell because she’s “never really had a job,” he said. As for the U.S. House race, he went for the Democrat because of the social issues that people fought for like health care reform and Roe v. Wade.
Democrat Ken Brick, 51 of Brandywine Hundred, voted for Coons and Carney at Brandywine High School.
“I think [Coons] is far more qualified,” Brick said. “I also know him personally. I know his children. He is much more of an inclusive person. He’s more of a healer. He’s more pragmatic. My sense is that Christine O’Donnell is reactionary, fear-based and will cause a lot of separation.”
Democrat Barbara Volko, 48, of Greenville, with her daughter Jameson, 9, voted for Coons because he’s more educated and capable of doing the job and Carney because she has heard him speak before and likes his stance on environmental issues.
Republican Marilyn Flaherty, 86, of Greenville, voted for Republicans, including O’Donnell and Urquhart, at Alexis I. duPont High School because she is unhappy with the Obama administration and wants more checks and balances in Washington, D.C.
Also at A.I. High, Republican Samuel Hobbs, 45, of Greenville, voted for O'Donnell and Urquhart because he's concerned with taxes going up as a businessman.
“I live on a farm here in Greenville, Delaware and there are farmers up and down the state that are under pressure because of the estate tax,’ Hobbs said. “One gentleman Christine O’Donnell talks about has been farming the same farm since the 1800s. All they want to do is just farm their land. People around them have sold their farms for beach houses. His property may be worth $5 million or $6 million and they don’t have money to pay [those] taxes. So, they’re going to have to sell their farm. Instead he wants to die because he knows that he can pass that family farm on and that’s an absolute travesty. Our government should never be putting people in that position, especially here in the state of Delaware. We only have so much green space.”
Republican Jeffrey Watt, 49, of Hockessin, brought his sons Matthew, left, and Joshua, right – students at Brandywine Springs – to the Hockessin PAL Center where Watt voted for O’Donnell and Urquhart. Watt, a Mike Castle supporter, said he sort of held his nose when he voted for O’Donnell because he did not like the outside influences on Delaware. However, he found Urquhart was in the conservative mode that Watt follows.
However, Republican Bob Kissell, 68, of Greenville, went across party lines and voted for Coons and Carney.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to vote for Christine O’Donnell,” Kissell said. “She’s unqualified. A lot in that message has appeal, but there’s a whole lot more to that job than just saying less government. It was tough on the House side because Urquhart seems to have some intelligence and ideas.”
Democrat Barbara Volko, 48, of Greenville, with her daughter Jameson, 9, voted for Coons because he’s more educated and capable of doing the job and Carney because she has heard him speak before and likes his stance on environmental issues.
