Vice President Joe Biden mailed a letter congratulating Republican candidate Eric Bodenweiser for his election to the Delaware State Senate, apparently unaware of one major thing: Bodenweiser bowed out of the race almost a month before election day after he was arrested on child rape charges.
Bryan Pettyjohn, who actually won the seat, started a write-in campaign after Bodenweiser was arrested, winning 60 percent of the vote on election day, according to
Delaware Online.
The congratulatory letter to a winner in Biden’s home state apparently was based on Bodenweiser’s name still appearing in election records. State officials attempted to place signs in polling places and stickers on paper ballots to make voters aware of the change, however Department of Elections computer systems may not have noted the change.
Biden’s letter was received by Pettyjohn’s office with other form letters addressed to election winners, according to an unnamed staffer who referred to them as “suitable for framing.”
“As you prepare for the responsibilities and challenges of public office, I encourage you to reflect on the extraordinary moment we are living in,” Biden wrote. “We have an economy to improve, a workforce to rebuild, a Nation to defend, an environment to protect and a future to secure for our children.”
Bodenweiser was indicted on allegations he raped a boy 39 times, beginning when he was 13, between 1987 and 1990.
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