The Mid-Atlantic

Delaware

Vice presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr. helped deliver a big home-state win for the Democratic ticket -- 61.2 percent to 37.5 percent. Biden, who also won a seventh term in the Senate handily, said he will resign from the Senate when he is sworn in as vice president.

One potential replacement: Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D), who is retiring. She will be succeeded by Jack Markell, the Democratic state treasurer, who triumphed easily over Republican Bill Lee, a retired judge.

District of Columbia

The overwhelmingly Democratic city gave Barack Obama his biggest victory margin of the night -- 92.8 percent to 6.5 percent. Eleanor Holmes Norton was reelected as the District's delegate to Congress.

Maryland

Obama won easily, beating John McCain by more than 23 points.

But the 1st District race to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest remained up in the air. Gilchrest endorsed the Democratic candidate, Frank M. Kratovil Jr., a state's attorney in Queen Anne's County, who was leading yesterday with some votes still uncounted. Republicans fielded anesthesiologist Andy Harris, who was counting on a strong performance in the wealthy St. Michaels area to counter Obama enthusiasm elsewhere in the sprawling Eastern Shore district.

The other districts were won by incumbents, including House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D) and Donna F. Edwards, a lobbyist for nonprofit organizations, who defeated incumbent Albert R. Wynn in the 4th District Democratic primary and then won a special election for the seat after Wynn resigned.

New Jersey

Obama breezed to victory in this reliably Democratic state, defeating McCain by more than 14 points. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) was easily reelected over challenger Dick Zimmer (R), a former congressman.

In the 7th District, state Sen. Leonard Lance (R) fended off a tough challenge from Democratic state legislator Linda Stender to hold onto a seat created by the retirement of a Republican. In the 5th District, GOP Rep. Scott Garrett defeated Dennis Shulman (D), a blind rabbi endorsed by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I).

In the 3rd District, Democrat John Adler, a state senator from Cherry Hill with strong party backing, defeated Chris Myers, a Lockheed Martin executive and Republican mayor of Medford. Both were seeking to replace GOP Rep. H. James Saxton, who retired after 12 terms.

Pennsylvania

Virtually no other state saw more of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in the closing days of the election, but Obama and Biden held their hard-earned advantage, defeating the Republicans decisively, 54.6 percent to 44.3 percent.

After losing the primary here to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Obama solidified his position by choosing Biden, a Scranton native, as his running mate, and rallying a blue-collar Democratic base. The GOP ticket's weakness among suburban independents and the large turnout tilted the race to Obama.

Democrats, who picked up four seats in the House in 2006, held onto all of them and added one more. Landscape architect Kathy Dahlkemper (D), a political newcomer known for her work as director of the Lake Erie Arboretum, defeated seven-term Rep. Phil English (R), whom Democrats had targeted.