Patty Blevins – What happened?
An incumbent State Senator isn’t supposed to lose. An incumbent President Pro Tempore of the State Senate really isn’t supposed to lose. It just doesn’t happen. So how did Lacey Lafferty’s lawyer, Anthony Delcollo (the guy had as the least likely of Dave Burris’ “fightin’ three young’uns” to win) knock off Blevins? Or, I guess you might ask, how did Blevins let the seat go?
I’m a lazy blogger who typically allows the commenters to fill in the blanks, so here is the quick take. Blevins lost big in the RD 4 and 21 parts of her district. How big? She underperformed Clinton by a mile in both.
What does it all mean? Did Blevins loose the eye of the tiger, like Rocky in Rocky 3? Or did people in that district simply start not liking her? To me, the numbers point to the latter. Blevins didn’t simply loosen her grip on a few voters and give a great candidate a shot. No. She pushed a bunch of voters into the arms of an okay candidate.
The bright side? Mike Matthews promised to run in 2020 to replace Del Collo.
When he thought there was no chance of it happening.
Such a sad loss, she is a great Senator and woman. I had heard her unfavorables were really high.
What caused it though? Did she stop doing constituent services? Did she drown a puppy for the hell of it?
Those numbers make clear that she must’ve pissed off some folks big-time. That an overwhelming majority would vote for Clinton and then flip to the R for State Senate is no accident. Her constituents wanted her out.
She was a better President Pro-Tem than she was a Senator before she got into leadership. Without her and Karen Peterson, the Senate will no longer be the place to look for progressive initiative. And Delcollo’s a doctrinaire conservative, with 2nd Amendment ‘rights’ at the top of his agenda.
It’s no better than 50-50 that the Senate remains D following the Special Election for BHL’s seat. Uh, unless Cathy Cloutier flips…
People are starting to get tired of the “Delaware Way”! More and more Republicans are going to start taking seats, away from the Dems in the state. Hopefully; in the next 8 years, someone will be an excellent candidate/challenger for the Governors position…….we can only hope.
I agree with you about ‘The Delaware Way’. It’s been an unofficial theme of this site since its inception. I think I also agree with you that, unless the D’s stop taking their marching orders from the Chamber of Commerce and the State Cops, an R could be elected governor despite the registration figures.
However, there HAD to be something specific about Blevins that caused people to flip so far down the ballot and by such margins. I’m working on it, but don’t have the answer(s) yet. I mean, McDowell, Sokola and Ennis all survived by relatively comfortable margins. Why Blevins?
OK, here’s what I’ve found out from one very good source, still working on others.
Of the GOP challengers, only Delcollo ran an unrelenting anti-establishment campaign. And Blevins did not keep the home fires burning, as she had become more of a Leg Hall pol than someone representing the district.
So, Anono’s right. It was a repudiation of the Delaware Way. In that sense, I think it’s similar to Dave Lawson defeating Nancy Cook, the Ultimate Political Insider, back in 2010.
I don’t know where her various EDs are, but I know a lot of her constituents were angry at her for not addressing problems with traffic through their neighborhoods. When I lived in her district, several years ago, I could never get a return call. That may still be an issue.
Maybe it was about some legislation passing for corporate crooks or the appointment of a judge
Hubris from Democrats largely. Look at how many people who voted for Obama also voted for Trump. There’s a message in those votes
Voters wanted change so badly they voted for a racist.
Trump, not Delcollo.
I heard from some of my neighbors that they liked his fresh ideas and wanted new blood. I guess its a case of familiarity breeding contempt. But I know most of the defectors put blame on her for not doing enough..which is bull as the issues they were complaining about were county code and policing issues. Obvs since she didn’t strap on a cape and throw the homeless out of their camps and wrangle up the druggies, that means she doesn’t care.
I never have had a single issue with her constituent services and I know she did a lot more than the naysayers think. These same people could never be bothered to attend community meetings, instead choosing to vetch on our fb page. Patti or Carling always showed up. But delcollo is just going to fix everything. They bought his shit hook, line and sinker.
I met him. For Christ sakes he had Greg Lavelle campaigning with him and was spreading the same old GOP talking points: too many regulations (couldn’t name one), high taxes, smaller gov, etc. Ugh.
That’s a good point about any “fresh face” Republican. It is all the same old “taxes are too high” nonsense. I’m not at all surprised Delcollo couldn’t name a regulation that needed cutting. For these guys it is all about being as vague as possible.
She forgot where she came from and pissed of to many constituents. Elsemere don’t take no S–t from nobody. The other side exploited that big time.
“Elsemere don’t take no S–t from nobody.”
That’s because it has such a large supply on its own.
How so? By putting up signs that said “<- Career Politician" next to hers? That doesn't seem like enough.
I have heard that he wasn’t actually identifying himself as a Republican. There were stories of him asking people to put his sign the front yard, not realizing that he was running against Blevins. When the Blevins camp showed up and questioned it, the homeowners were shocked. They didn’t realize that they were supporting her opponent. Perhaps the damage had already been done.
The guy is whisper campaign expert and he had a vicious hatchet guy. He did it one on one and small groups, He spread enough shit to fertilize all of Sussex for years:)
Patti really ticked off constituents when she stood with Jen Cohan of DelDOT and they diverted trucks through a different part of the district. There were News Journal stories on this community backlash. It’s a symptom of being in Dover too long. Lose touch with regular folks. ASHAME THE FOLKS WHO KNEW HER BEST AFTER 26 YEARS SENT HER PACKING!
She won the 13th, which encompasses elsmere. It could have had something to do with the 41/48 truck situation and there not being a dem on the ballot in the 21st as well.
Fwiw those trucks should be on 48. None of the houses are within 100 feet of the road. She made the right choice after a long open process.
Clinton, Carney, Rochster, Hall-Long and Navarro were all on the ballot. But I get your point. A State Rep race changes the dynamic.
The right choice doesn’t make it a less exploitable choice.
I’d heard about the traffic issue as well. Looks like Delcollo exploited it, and it sounds like he was an expert exploiter.
So the GOP has a fresh worm to bait its hook. Forget it, Jake — it’s Elsmeretown.
DelCollo totally exploited the traffic issue to victory. It came along at the right time, kind of like the Jim Comey letter. The diverted mack trucks went right through Patty’s living room on election day and flattened her prospects.
And if Earl Jacques is the candidate in the special, he will lose.
…is what a concern troll would say.
You asked a question I gave you an answer, Its your blog, cheers
White trash types already pay almost no federal income tax
@ mouse “White trash types already pay almost no federal income tax” This is your form of humor, correct.
AND hear you go. This is what people are tired of. THIS IS THE DELAWARE WAY AT IT’S BEST!
You get a school that has 20 million for renovation of Baynard Stadium, which under the city’s guidance had a section of the bleachers CONDEMNED.
A city that is over ruined with drugs.
And this is what you get…..”An effort led by state representative Charles Potter and his wife, City Treasurer-elect Velda Jones-Potter, suggested that this renovation could – and should – be funded by taxpayer dollars”
THE DELAWARE WAY AT ITS BEST. AND YOU LIBERALS WONDER WHY!
It’s neither a liberal nor a conservative argument. I could, for example, point to the millions handed to bleeping Chemours in order to keep the few remaining DuPont jobs here while not requiring them to clean up their toxic messes. Or, um, the failure to require the wealthy to pay their fair share. Or the tens of millions paid to corporations to either bring or keep jobs here with no transparency as to whether the cost/benefit analysis justifies the payout.
My point is that opposition to the Delaware Way should transcend ideological lines. People sick of the Delaware Way have lots in common regardless of political affiliation. The party that realizes this and acts upon this first will reap the political benefits.
Oh, and the Potters are sleazoids. Labeling them as ‘liberals’ is dishonest. Or perhaps you haven’t read this blog assiduously. Here’s but one example:
http://delawareliberal.net//2013/09/23/as-the-potters-field-turns/