Delaware politicians expressed their condolences Saturday and Sunday shorty after Beau Biden, son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former state Attorney General, passed away from brain cancer.
Current Democratic Governor Jack Markell, who took office in 2009, sent out a number of tweets following Biden's death that thanked him for his service and called him a friend.
Markell released a statement expressing a similar sentiment, also directing that Delaware and U.S. flags in the state be flown at half-staff.
Both U.S. Senators from the state mourned the lost of Biden. Chris Coons, a Democrat first elected in 2010, called Biden an "extraordinary father, husband, son, and public servant," and added that the state had lost someone who would do the right thing even when it was hard.
The state's senior U.S. Senator Tom Carper, also a Democrat, said his heart was "breaking" in a tweet following the news.
Delaware's current Attorney General Matthew Denn, who succeeded Biden in January 2015, released a statement through Facebook.
My family and I share other Delawareans’ heartache tonight in hearing about Beau Biden’s passing. Our kids were about the same age, and more than anyone else I knew in politics, he appreciated the importance of taking care of his family before worrying about work or elections. It is a great loss to the state, but more importantly a crushing loss for his family, which needs all of our support.
The Delaware National Guard, a unit Biden had served in as a part of the U.S. Army since 2002, addressed the news with "great sorrow and heavy hearts" on their Facebook page.
Biden had announced his intention to run for Governor of the state in 2016 before his death. Previously, he had served as Delaware Attorney General from 2007-2015.