The Mid-Atlantic

Thursday, November 6, 2008

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.

Rep. Chris Carney (D) fended off a challenge from entrepreneur Chris Hackett (R), and Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D), though weakened by publicity over earmarks that benefited a family-owned business, defeated Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton, who had received national attention for an ordinance banning employment of illegal immigrants.

Longtime Rep. John P. Murtha (D), who got in trouble over remarks suggesting that his district is "racist" or "redneck," beat back William Russell (R), a retired Army lieutenant colonel, with the help of funds from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats.

The retirement of Rep. John E. Peterson (R) opened the way for former Centre County GOP chairman Glenn Thompson to join Congress; he defeated Democrat Mark McCracken.

Virginia

No state saw its politics change more dramatically over the past four years -- a reversal illustrated by Obama's 51.8 percent to 47.3 percent victory over McCain.

In 2004, Bush won Virginia easily over Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the 10th straight time a Republican presidential candidate had carried the commonwealth.

The intervening years, however, have brought almost no good news for the GOP. Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine claimed the state's highest office in 2005, and the following year Sen. George Allen (R) fell in a stunning upset to James Webb (D).

Democrats kept up their momentum Tuesday. Former Democratic governor Mark Warner cruised to victory over another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore, in the race to succeed retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R).

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly (D) defeated newcomer Keith Fimian to win Northern Virginia's 11th District, which had been held by retiring Rep. Tom Davis (R) since 1994.

And incumbent GOP Rep. Thelma Drake, whose 2nd District includes large swaths of Norfolk and Virginia Beach and has a 21 percent African American population, lost to Glenn Nye (D), who has been promised a seat on the locally vital Armed Services Committee.

The 5th District, a conservative redoubt held by party-switching Republican Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., was in also jeopardy for the GOP as Goode found himself in a much more competitive race against Democrat Tom Perriello than expected. The preliminary vote count showed that the contest was too close to call.

West Virginia

After the shellacking Obama took in West Virginia during the primaries, there was little expectation that the state would become competitive in the general election, and McCain won easily -- 55.7 percent to 42.6 percent.

The Mountain State was solid Democratic territory for years, but in 2000 it shifted to the Republicans in the presidential race, and Bush expanded his margin here in 2004. Obama received only 27 percent of the primary vote against Clinton.

But voters split their tickets, easily reelecting Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D). Both men are popular and familiar figures in a state with otherwise conservative leanings.

Manchin, 61, beat back two challengers: Republican former legislator Russ Weeks and Mountain Party nominee Jesse Johnson. The governor's campaign stressed his efforts to reverse the state's economic problems.

Rockefeller, 71, the great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and a maverick Democrat in a family of prominent Republicans, won his fifth term over Republican challenger Jay Wolfe. He has represented the state since 1985.

Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito held her seat, defeating Democrat Anne Barth.