http://delawareonline.com/article/20081102/NEWS02/811020370"...There are all kinds of rumors," said Senate President Pro Tem Thurman Adams Jr., D-Bridgeville, first elected to Delaware's Senate in 1972, when Biden won his first term in Washington.
On the "A" list so far: Lt. Gov. John Carney -- who lost a bruising gubernatorial primary to Jack Markell last month -- and Attorney General Beau Biden, Joe Biden's son.
Joe Biden has long been seen as supporting the idea of handing off the Senate mantle to his son. But the younger Biden departed this month for National Guard duty that starts with training in Texas and will take him to Iraq. He explicitly declined to seek a waiver available to political officeholders.
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The U.S. Constitution calls for a presidential inauguration at noon Jan. 20. Delaware's constitution calls for the swearing in of regularly elected governors on the third Tuesday of January, which also falls on Jan. 20 this year, but is silent on the time.
Should both swearings-in occur at noon, with Joe Biden keeping his Senate job until after he accepts the vice presidency, the appointment authority would likely fall to Markell, if he wins.
Minner would keep the right if Delaware's inauguration fell later in the day, although custom gives the inaugural time-setting right to the incoming governor.
"If Joe Biden makes his resignation effective on the day he takes office as vice president, it comes down to a matter of hours," said Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, "who's sitting in the seat at that moment, and whether Markell has already taken his oath of office."
"Jack certainly isn't beholden to anybody in the party, the chairs or the stewardship," Peterson added. "The party leadership did its best to knock him off. He could make an independent decision."
Markell declined to discuss the issue in detail.
"It could very well be Gov. Minner's decision to make. I think it really comes down to when Sen. Biden should decide to step down," Markell said. "I'm just totally focused now on the election in front of me, getting myself elected, helping Matt Denn get elected, helping other Democrats."
Others said it was more likely that Joe Biden will resign before the new year, to assure that Delaware's appointee has slightly more seniority than new senators taking office on Jan. 6. Anything later would make Delaware's senator 100 out of 100 in seniority, and last in line for everything from office space to committee assignments.
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