WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Conservative activist Christine O'Donnell has earned a stunning victory in Delaware's Republican Senate primary. O'Donnell's shocking win over longtime Congressman Mike Castle gives new energy to the tea party movement, which targeted Castle after victories by Republican tea party candidates in the Alaska and Nevada Senate primaries.
With 78 percent of precincts reporting, O'Donnell had 54 percent to 46 percent for Castle, a former two-term governor and the longest serving congressman in Delaware history.
While attracting enough GOP conservatives to defeat Castle, a leader of Republican moderates in Congress, O'Donnell will have a hard time defeating Democrat Chris Coons in November for the Senate seat vacated by Joe Biden after he was elected vice president.
