It seems that Joe Biden can continue his run for senator from Delaware as well as be Barack Obama‘s running mate.
Biden has been a senator since 1972. He was reelected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002… bringing him up for his seventh election in 2008. In some states he’d have to drop his Senate bid in order to run for vice president. But not in Delaware.
Delaware Online (see the sidebar) has details. They note that Joe Lieberman did the same double-dip in Connecticut in 2000, when he was Al Gore‘s national running mate. Lieberman lost the VP race but was reelected to the Senate.
CBS News recently quoted Delaware election official Elaine Manlove as saying that Biden can run for both seats at once. If Biden and Obama win, then Delaware governor Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat, will choose his replacement for a two-year term. A further election would then be held in 2010.
On an unrelated note: Delaware Online points out that of the original 13 colonies, only Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island have never had a vice-presidential nominee before. Now it’s down to just NH and RI.