State profile: Delaware

Until 2000, Delaware had picked the winning president 12 times in a row and was thought one of the best indicators of how the country is thinking.

But in 2000 Delaware lost its bellwether status by voting heavily for Al Gore. It stayed with the Democrats in 2004 and it would be a major reversal if it voted for a Republican in 2008.

This is despite a strong tradition of two-party politics, a reflection of Delaware's wide spectrum of socio-economic groups. Democrats are particularly strong in Wilmington while the Republicans are dominant in the suburbs and the Delmarva Peninsula.

KEY FACTS Population: 853,476 (ranked 45 among states) Governor: Ruth Ann Minner (D) Electoral college votes: 3

Delaware is proud of the fact it was the first ex-colony to ratify the constitution, and calls itself the first state.

It is also one of the wealthiest states in the US. Much of the state's wealth belongs to the Du Pont family, whose businesses have generated a lot of Delaware's income over the last 200 years.

IN CONGRESS House of Representatives: 1 Republican Senate: 2 Democrat

In 1802 Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont built a gunpowder mill on the banks of Brandywine Creek that grew to be one of America's major munitions and chemical companies. For 30 years the company controlled General Motors and has since pioneered the manufacture of various synthetics and plastics.

VOTING RECORD 2004: Bush: 46%, Kerry 53% 2000: Bush 42%, Gore 55% 1996: Clinton 52%, Dole 37%

And Governor Pete Du Pont helped Delaware become an important finance centre in the 1980s by reforming and liberalising state banking laws. The newly-deregulated market encouraged banks from out of state to re-locate, and banking now employs many thousands of people in Delaware.

Approximately 60% of Fortune 500 companies and around half of the companies listed on the NYSE are incorporated here.

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