65 Facts About Christine O'Donnell

Christine Therese O'Donnell was born on August 27,1969 and is an American conservative activist in the Tea Party movement best known for her 2010 campaign for the United States Senate seat from Delaware vacated by Joe Biden.

Christine O'Donnell worked for such organizations as Enough is Enough and Concerned Women for America.

Christine O'Donnell ran for the US Senate from the state of Delaware in 2006,2008, and 2010.

Christine O'Donnell then ran as a write-in in the general election, drawing four percent of the vote.

Christine O'Donnell was born in Philadelphia and raised in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Christine O'Donnell is the fifth of the six children of Carole and Daniel O'Donnell.

Christine O'Donnell's mother is of Italian descent and her father is of Irish descent.

Christine O'Donnell has said that at times, her father had to work three jobs to make ends meet.

Christine O'Donnell worked part-time in community theatre and on local television, and did a brief stint as Bozo the Clown in the 1960s.

Christine O'Donnell graduated from Moorestown High School in 1987, where she was a member of the drama club and a student announcer.

Christine O'Donnell attended Fairleigh Dickinson University beginning in 1987, initially majoring in theater, but later changing to English literature with a concentration in communications.

Christine O'Donnell later told The New York Times she had three senior years of college.

Christine O'Donnell received a bachelor's degree in English literature from Fairleigh Dickinson in September 2010.

Christine O'Donnell first held political office in 1991 when she worked the polls for the College Republicans.

Christine O'Donnell then spent two years working in the communications office of the Republican National Committee in Washington DC O'Donnell later became a spokesperson for the conservative Christian group Concerned Women for America.

In 1996 Christine O'Donnell attended the Republican National Convention in San Diego, moved to Los Angeles, and founded her own advocacy organization, The Savior's Alliance for Lifting the Truth, serving as its president.

Christine O'Donnell appeared on Fox News, MSNBC and C-Span as a representative of SALT.

In February 2003 Christine O'Donnell moved to Delaware to work for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a non-profit conservative publisher of educational materials and bought a house in Wilmington.

Christine O'Donnell said ISI's actions caused her mental anguish and were a consequence of "ISI's conservative beliefs".

Christine O'Donnell dropped the suit in 2008, stating she could no longer afford an attorney.

Christine O'Donnell founded the Catholic Advocacy Network and again began making media appearances.

Christine O'Donnell ran in the Republican primary for the 2006 US Senate election in Delaware.

Christine O'Donnell said China was plotting to take over the United States, and that she had classified information which supported her claim.

Christine O'Donnell became the nominee of the Republican Party for the United States Senate in 2008 after defeating businessman Tim Smith at the May 3,2008 state party convention with more than 60 percent of the GOP delegate vote.

Christine O'Donnell's candidacy was endorsed by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, former Delaware Governor Pierre DuPont, and conservative writer and policy advocate David Horowitz.

Christine O'Donnell questioned Biden's dual campaigns, claiming that serving his constituents was not important to him and criticizing his unwillingness to participate in debates and candidate forums.

Opinion polling during the race showed that Christine O'Donnell trailed Biden by a two-to-one margin.

Christine O'Donnell's campaign ended the 2008 fiscal year $19,656.29 in debt.

In December 2008, Christine O'Donnell announced that she would run for US Senate again in 2010.

Christine O'Donnell said that her biggest mistake in her earlier campaigns was not having enough funds.

On March 10,2010, Christine O'Donnell officially announced her candidacy before a small group of supporters at University of Delaware's Wilmington campus.

Christine O'Donnell responded by saying the attacks on her finances were an insult to Delaware voters.

Christine O'Donnell attempted to distance herself from the claim, stating that the consulting firm was no longer working for her campaign.

Christine O'Donnell's responses consisted of correcting the information, brushing it aside, or downplaying the discrepancies.

Christine O'Donnell won the September 14,2010, primary election by six percentage points over Castle, garnering more than 30,000 votes altogether, and becoming the eighth Tea Party-backed candidate to oust a GOP establishment candidate in a 2010 primary contest.

Christine O'Donnell was endorsed by the Susan B Anthony List and the Family Research Council.

Christine O'Donnell delivered a speech to the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC, on September 17,2010, saying that anti-American elites were trying to marginalize mainstream, core conservatives.

Also, in a 2005 lawsuit, Christine O'Donnell had claimed her employer broke its promise to give her time to pursue a master's degree at Princeton, forcing her to drop out of attending non-degree courses there.

Journalists confirmed that Christine O'Donnell was never officially enrolled in the university and only took non-degree courses at Princeton, as she had claimed.

Christine O'Donnell later said that the ad backfired and focused attention on her decade-old statement.

In 2016, a judge ruled that Christine O'Donnell violated federal law by using campaign funds to pay her personal rent and utility bills in 2010.

Christine O'Donnell drew a blank and asked co-moderator Nancy Karibjanian to name one for her, which Karibjanian refused to do.

Christine O'Donnell was asked whether she supported the repeal of the Fourteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Amendments to the US Constitution.

Christine O'Donnell knew that the Seventeenth Amendment concerned the direct election of US senators by popular vote and said she would not repeal it, but could not recall the other two.

Christine O'Donnell stated that if elected to the Senate, she would base her political actions on the Constitution rather than her personal beliefs.

Christine O'Donnell has identified herself as a member of the "values movement", and supports government restrictions on abortion care.

Christine O'Donnell opposes human embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and research into cloning monkey embryos.

Christine O'Donnell has vowed that she will never vote to increase taxes.

Christine O'Donnell has supported a balanced budget amendment, opposed Congressional earmarks, and supported a simplification of the tax code.

Christine O'Donnell has said that Democrats have prevented the US from attaining energy independence by curtailing the drilling of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

Christine O'Donnell has supported the building of more refineries, as well as the use of Delaware's agricultural products in gasoline.

Christine O'Donnell stated that if elected to the US Senate, her first priority would be to vote to repeal the Obamacare legislation enacted by Congress in 2010.

Christine O'Donnell has favored increasing penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Christine O'Donnell has supported raising the age for receiving Social Security benefits.

In reply to a 2010 question as to whether she would support Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the Republican leader of the Senate, Christine O'Donnell shrugged and said, "I wouldn't not support him".

In December 2010, O'Donnell announced the formation of a political action committee called "ChristinePAC" to address health care and tax issues.

In 2011, Christine O'Donnell published Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes To Make America Great Again.

Christine O'Donnell stated that she could not tolerate Trump as a Republican presidential nominee, accused him of "inciting riots", and added that she could not understand why evangelical leaders supported him.

In October 2007 Christine O'Donnell stopped paying the mortgage of her Wilmington house and the mortgage company obtained a judgment against her in the spring of 2008 for $90,000.

The day Christine O'Donnell filed to run for Senate, her tax records were accessed by a Delaware state employee.

Christine O'Donnell posted documents on her website showing that the lien was a mistake, as the audit was not yet complete and there was not yet any final determination of whether she owed any further taxes or not, and noted that the IRS agent handling the matter claimed he was perplexed by the agency's actions.

In November 2014, the IRS placed another lien on Christine O'Donnell's accounts, claiming she owed $30,000 from a house transaction.

Christine O'Donnell disputed the lien, and was informed it was an error, and her account would be restored.

Originally a political liberal who believed in abortion rights, Christine O'Donnell has said she experienced an epiphany at age 21 when she saw graphic descriptions and pictures in medical journals of how an abortion is performed.

In 2010, Christine O'Donnell stated that she was open to attending both Catholic and Protestant services.