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Published: November 24, 2008 WASHINGTON — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware will be succeeded in the United States Senate by his longtime aide, Edward Kaufman, when Mr. Biden resigns the seat to become vice president. Delaware’s governor, Ruth Ann Minner, announced Monday that she would name Mr. Kaufman, the senator’s chief of staff for 19 years and a close personal friend, to fill the vacancy through 2010. Mr. Kaufman, 69, said he intended to retire after two years, leaving open the possibility that Senator Biden’s son Beau, the state’s attorney general, could run in 2010. In remarks made in Wilmington, Del., after his pending appointment was made public, Mr. Kaufman said he wanted “to make clear that I am very comfortable with retiring after two years.” “I don’t think Delaware’s appointed senator should spend the next two years running for office,” he said. Aides to Mr. Biden, who said he welcomed the appointment, said he intended to resign in the next 40 to 50 days but an exact date has not been announced. He won re-election to a seventh term in November, running simultaneously with his vice-presidential bid, and would begin that term on Jan. 6. In his statement, Mr. Biden did not hide the fact that he would like to see his son take the seat, but Beau Biden, 39, said he would not accept an appointment and wanted to fulfill a military obligation with the Delaware Army National Guard in Iraq. “If he chooses to run for the Senate in the future, he will have to run and win on his own,” the vice president-elect said in his statement, noting that the appointment of Mr. Kaufman would mean a “level playing field” for those who choose to compete for the seat in two years. “The voters will make that decision.” Both Governor Minner and Senator Biden noted Mr. Kaufman’s deep familiarity with Delaware issues from his experience in the Biden office. “His political views are close to Senator Biden’s, and he doesn’t need any on-the-job training,” the governor said in a statement. Mr. Biden was first elected to the Senate at age 29 and has been chairman of both the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees.
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