Ex-aide of Biden will fill his Senate seat

Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a former aide to Senator Joe Biden, was named yesterday by Governor Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware to fill the Senate seat Biden is leaving for the vice presidency.

Kaufman is president of a political and management consulting firm based in Wilmington.

He served on Biden's Senate staff from 1973 to 1994, including 19 years as chief of staff.

He is an advisory board member to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

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 seat.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

When fund-raiser Alan Solomont gathered Barack Obama's New England finance steering committee in Boston last week for a postelection celebration, he shared statistics with the group that he said testified to its success.

The committee's 742 members had held 89 meetings and 167 fund-raising events, while campaigning on behalf of Obama in 28 states over the course of the campaign.

They helped to outraise John McCain's campaign in New England by $28.6 million, through the latest federal filings in mid-October, according to Solomont's calculations.

But one statistic made Solomont prouder than any other: the $21.4 million that Obama raised in Massachusetts made it his most lucrative state on a per-person basis.

Obama raised $3.31 per Massachusetts resident and $2.91 per Vermonter - more than he took in from New York ($2.62) and California ($2.29), traditionally among the richest pastures for Democrats.

By Solomont's measure, Massachusetts even outperformed Obama's home state, Illinois, which contributed $2.42 per capita to his campaign.

SASHA ISSENBERG

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, President-elect Barack Obama's top pick for Homeland Security secretary, heads a fund-raising committee that collected thousands of dollars from special interests and gave money to Democratic House campaigns nationwide for the fall elections.

Napolitano is honorary chairwoman of the Competitive Edge PAC, which took in at least $390,000 in the 2007-08 election cycle.

Its fund-raising includes about $315,000 from individuals and $65,500 from political action committees.

Competitive Edge resembles the so-called leadership PACs maintained by many members of Congress and used to further their political careers.

Such PACs help politicians build name recognition, broaden their fund-raising reach, and strengthen support for themselves within their party, in part by making campaign contributions.

ASSOCIATED PRESS