Castle says he won’t support tea party favorite O’Donnell for Senate after bitter Del. primary

O’Donnell hopes for GOP unity after bitter primary

DOVER, Del. — Surprise GOP Senate primary winner Christine O’Donnell called on fellow Republicans to rally around her Wednesday, but she can count out at least one — respected longtime Rep. Michael Castle, her opponent in the nasty primary fight.

The tea party-backed O’Donnell sounded upbeat as she made the rounds of morning talk shows to discuss her stunning upset of Castle, a former two-term governor who is the longest-serving congressman in state history and had never lost an election.

“We have to rise above this nastiness and unify for the greater good, because there’s a lot of work to be done, and there are a lot of people who want to get involved if the Republican Party would,” O’Donnell told The Associated Press in an interview.

But Castle spokeswoman Kate Dickens said Wednesday that the congressman will not support O’Donnell in her November race against Democratic county executive Chris Coons for the seat vacated by Joe Biden when he became vice president.

The primary contest was one of the ugliest in Delaware history, with O’Donnell supporters suggesting, among other things, that the 71-year-old Castle would die in office if elected and that he was cheating on his wife with a man.

Castle and the state GOP responded with ads criticizing O’Donnell, 41, for lying about her education and record, leaving a trail of unpaid bills that included unsettled campaign debts, tax liens and a default on her mortgage, and using campaign finances for personal expenses. State Republican Party chairman Tom Ross denounced her as a liar and a fraud who couldn’t be elected dogcatcher.

Still, the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Wednesday pledged to support O’Donnell: U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he had personally congratulated her and that the committee he chairs was sending her on Wednesday the maximum possible donation of $42,000.

And Mitt Romney, a potential 2012 Republican presidential and former Massachusetts governor, endorsed her and sent $5,000 for her campaign, the maximum allowable, from his political action committee.

O’Donnell said she’s confident that she can beat Coons, though she acknowledged it won’t be easy. There are some 293,000 registered Democrats in Delaware, far outnumbering the 183,000 Republicans, but O’Donnell notes that the state also has 146,000 independent voters.

“I’m not saying we glide into November, but I’m saying it’s do-able, it’s definitely do-able, … without the support of the Republican Party,” she said.

Just months ago, few people anticipated a matchup like the one between O’Donnell and Coons. Early buzz centered on a high-profile contest between Castle and Biden’s son, state Attorney General Beau Biden, who shocked the Democratic Party establishment by opting earlier this year not to run.

“I have no regrets,” Biden said Wednesday, adding that his decision was based not on Castle being a formidable opponent but rather on his desire to oversee the prosecution in one of the most notorious criminal cases in Delaware history, that of a pediatrician charged with sexually assaulting more than 100 of his patients. Biden said he would work hard to get Coons elected.

O’Donnell first stepped into the political spotlight in the mid-1990s as a conservative Christian activist and commentator, focusing on issues such as abortion, homosexuality and premarital sex. She founded and led a group called the Saviors Alliance for Lifting the Truth before taking a job in 2003 with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative think tank based in Wilmington.

“As best as I can tell, much of Ms. O’Donnell’s public life has been dedicated to promoting a very narrow social agenda,” Coons said Wednesday.

She made her first Senate bid in 2006, finishing last in a three-way GOP primary. In 2008, she won the endorsement of state convention delegates as the nominee to challenge Joe Biden, but she received little support from party officials.

Critics, including some former campaign staffers, have suggested O’Donnell has lived off campaign contributions in recent years, and has a history of not paying her debts. O’Donnell said her financial troubles are like those many other Americans have gone through.

“I can relate to what they’re doing in terms of wondering where your next paycheck is coming from,” said O’Donnell, who reported $5,800 in earned income on a financial disclosure form this year but said she had a healthy client list as a consultant for various nonprofit groups before the economic downturn.

Online:

christine2010.com

www.chriscoons.com

Associated Press Writer Sarah Brumfield contributed to this report.