Carney to run for Congress in 2010 giving Mike Castle his first serious competition

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090415/NEWS/90415023&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

CARNEY ANNOUNCES BID FOR CONGRESS

WASHINGTON – Former Delaware Lt. Gov and Secretary of Finance John Carney announced this morning he will run for Congress, setting up a battle with nine-term Republican Rep. Mike Castle for the state’s lone House seat if Castle decides to run again.

In making his announcement, the Claymont native and longtime Wilmington resident touted his ability to work across the aisle.

“With our economy in a recession and unemployment continuing to rise, our country and our state are facing unprecedented challenges. To address them, we need strong, experienced leaders who can rise above partisanship and bring people together to address these challenges. I’ll be that kind of leader in Congress - one who works with both Republicans and Democrats to move our country forward, starting with a focus on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track.”

Carney served two terms as lieutenant governor from 2001 through January of 2009 under Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.

He said he’s running for Congress to continue his commitment to public service
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This is HUGE and could have greater impact than exected.

This is the first time a serious contender is running against Mike Castle for congress and might give us a chance to pick up this house seat against this popular moderate republican.

This also frees up the special election for Senate in 2010 in which some thought Carney might run against expected candidate Beau Biden for his Dad's old senate seat. (Ted Kaufmann was selected to hold the seat and already stated he has no intention of running in the 2010 special election to finish out the tearm). However there has been grumblings that Beau isn't ready to hold the senate seat and that he barely has the experience with his limited time as AG for the state of Delaware (part of that term he has actually been serving overseas in Iraq). PLUS polls have showed that if Mike Castle were to run for US Senate he might actually win the Senate seat.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.