Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has named a longtime aide to Sen. Joe Biden to fill the U.S. Senate seat Biden will be vacating for the vice presidency.

At a news conference in Wilmington this afternoon, Gov. Minner said she would appoint Ted Kaufman to fill the vacancy.

Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman is a member of the advisory board of the Obama-Biden Transition project and Co-Chair of Vice-President Biden's transition team.

He was Senior Adviser to Senator Biden on the Obama Biden Presidential campaign. He has held a senior position in all of Biden's federal campaigns.

He was on Biden's Senate staff from 1973 through 1994, nineteen years as Chief of Staff.

It was not immediately clear if Biden would resign his Senate seat before or after he begins his seventh term in January. However, he must resign before being sworn in Jan. 20 as vice president.

Speculation on Biden's successor had centered in recent weeks on his son, Attorney General Beau Biden. Last week, however, the younger Biden announced that he planned to fulfill his National Guard duties and wouldn't accept an appointment to his father's U.S. Senate seat.

We wish you good luck and much success, Ted!