Delaware Category

Delaware Teacher Sorry After Mother Complains She Told Class Obama Is a ‘Scary’ Muslim

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A Delaware elementary school teacher has apologized to a local mother, her attorney says, after she and her daughters complained that the teacher told her fifth-grade class she would not vote for Barack Obama because he is a Muslim and “is scary.”

Dina Odetalla, who is Muslim, has a 10-year-old daughter in that class, and filed an internal complaint with Lord Baltimore Elementary School after she heard about the Obama comments, attorney Greg Varallo, a partner at the Wilmington firm Richards, Layton & Finger, told FOXNews.com on Wednesday.

Varallo called the remarks “unfortunate,” but said the matter is now “resolved.”

“There was a conference and there was an apology,” Varallo said.

Obama is a Christian and has been fighting rumors about Muslim ties throughout his campaign.

Varallo said an article Wednesday in The (Wilmington) News Journal that reported the state Human Relations Commission is investigating the matter is untrue. Varallo said the commission is actually investigating remarks allegedly made by a teacher at a different school where another one of Odetalla’s daughters attends. He said that case was spurred by remarks about the Prophet Muhammad that his client found offensive to Muslims.

He did not identify the teacher who made the remarks about Obama at Lord Baltimore Elementary School, but said he believes the teacher is still working at the school.

The comments were originally made public when the 10-year-old student’s older sisters in February wrote a letter to the editor, published in Delaware’s Cape Gazette, detailing the teacher’s political comments.

She reportedly made the remarks before a mock Super Tuesday primary on Feb. 5.

“Her teacher told the class that she is a Republican and that Barack Obama ‘believes in different things and is scary,’” the sisters, Fatima and Basima Abdelsalam, wrote in their letter.

Calling her remarks “dangerous and untrue,” they added: “We are American Muslim kids. We love our country … Kids are being taught hatred and fear of Muslims. Our sister was badly hurt by what was said in her classroom.”

The school district has released a statement saying it has conducted a thorough investigation. They too say they’ve resolved the issue after meeting with the mother and the teacher who allegedly made the comments.

A representative from the elementary school could not be reached for comment.

FOXNews.com’s Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

 

Super Tuesday Wins By Candidate and State

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REPUBLICANS

John McCain: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma

Mitt Romney: Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Utah

Mike Huckabee: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia

DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Barack Obama: Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Utah

STATE

Alabama: Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee

Alaska: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Arizona: Hillary Clinton, John McCain

Arkansas: Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee

California: Hillary Clinton, John McCain

Colorado: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Connecticut: Barack Obama, John McCain

Delaware: Barack Obama, John McCain

Georgia: Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee

Idaho (D): Barack Obama

Illinois: Barack Obama, John McCain

Kansas (D): Barack Obama

Massachusetts: Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney

Minnesota: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Missouri: Barack Obama, John McCain

Montana (R): Mitt Romney

New Jersey: Hillary Clinton, John McCain

New Mexico: TBD

New York: Hillary Clinton, John McCain

North Dakota: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

Oklahoma: Hillary Clinton, John McCain

Tennessee: Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee

Utah: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney

West Virginia (R): Mike Huckabee

John McCain and Barack Obama Win Delaware Primary

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Barack Obama and John McCain were the winners of Delaware’s primary elections on Tuesday.

Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race. With 81 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Obama had 51 percent of the vote — or 37,302 votes. Clinton had 45 percent of the vote, or 32,995 votes.

“There is one thing on this February night that we do not need the results to know: Our time has come,” Obama told cheering fans Tuesday night.

McCain beat Mitt Romney with 45 percent of the vote, or 21,390 votes, with 92 percent of precincts reporting. Romney wound up with 32 percent, or 15,435 votes.

“Tonight, I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front-runner,” McCain told a crowd of supporters Tuesday night. “And I don’t really mind it one bit.”

Mike Huckabee was in third with 15 percent, while Texas congressman Ron Paul had 4 percent.

Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, who dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, earned 3 percent of the vote in a show of support from his fellow Delawareans.

Obama’s victory came days after he drew a crowd estimated at 20,000 to a rally in downtown Wilmington. Clinton did not campaign in Delaware herself, relying instead on surrogates including daughter Chelsea, who visited the University of Delaware yesterday.

Romney, who visited the state in June for a fundraising event in Greenville, appeared in recent days to cede the state to McCain, who made a brief stop in Delaware later in the summer for his own fundraiser.

McCain’s victory in Delaware earns him the state’s 18 GOP delegates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Delaware Voters Cast Ballots in Super Tuesday Primary

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DOVER, Del. — Voting in Delaware’s Super Tuesday primary got off to a smooth start, although officials said some people were surprised to learn that they were shut out of the process.

State elections commissioner Elaine Manlove did say, however, that her office has received a few complaints from independent voters upset that they could not vote. Under Delaware law, only registered Republicans and registered Democrats are allowed to vote in their respective party’s primaries.

Of the six Democrats on the Delaware ballot, only two — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — are still in the race. Favorite son Sen. Joseph Biden, who remains at the top of the ballot, has urged voters to vote for a candidate still in the race.

Polls are open until 8 p.m.

Manlove said early turnout was steady. She expects turnout to exceed the 15 percent of voters who cast ballots in the 2004 Democratic primary.

Chelsea Clinton Campaigns in Delaware for Her Mom

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NEWARK, Del. — Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton stopped in Newark on Monday morning to campaign on behalf of her mother.

Clinton says she’s convinced her mom, Hillary Clinton, is the president for the grandkids that Chelsea says her mom hopes to have someday.

Hundreds of mostly college-age voters turned out for Chelsea’s appearance at the Trabant Center at the University of Delaware.

She answered questions from the audience about her mother’s position on issues such as the war in Iraq and the economy.

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