Delaware Political Weekly: March 16-22, 2018

1.  Two More For RD 16.  One candidate, Jakim Mohammed, filed this week for the race to succeed retiring Rep. J. J. Johnson. I like him, perhaps the only ex-cop I would consider supporting. Why? Because he challenges the way that police interact with the black community (I’m using ‘interact’ as a euphemism here). He’s a bit of a rabble rouser, and Dover needs a few more rabble rousers. The other guy? Shades of Sam Guy!  This other candidate announced his intention to run…on a Facebook post promoting an event for retiring Sen. Margaret Rose Henry.  Talk about self-absorbed:

After much thought and discussion with my family and friends, I’m announcing today that I’m running for DE. State Representative for the 16th District.

This would be another opportunity for me, a thoughtful, passionate and experienced community leader, to work for the men and women of the 16th district on the issues that matter to them.

The follow-up comment from another person says it all:

As much as I love you please use a new post for this and not take away from this event.

Guy’s name is Phil Gross. Gross sums it up. Classless. Franklin Cooke and Linwood Jackson had previously filed.

2. Joe Daigle Files In 7th RD, At Least One More Candidate Likely To Enter Race.  Daigle had been running to succeed Rep. Bryon Short in 2016 while Short was running for Congress.  Daigle stepped aside (or was stepped on) when Short dropped out of the congressional race and dropped back in to the state rep race.  Only former Rep. Dave Brady stayed in, and Short defeated Brady by a 2 to 1 margin. Ray Seigfried of Arden has spoken to D leadership in the 7th,  and is likely to run.  I’ve known Ray a long time and his candidacy would be most welcome.  He currently chairs the Arden Community Planning Committee, he has a long record of civic involvement, and he’s a rarity in Arden–a calming influence who gets things done without causing acrimony.  Unless you’ve been to an Arden town meeting, you wouldn’t understand what I mean.  He’s not your typical politician in that he’s thoughtful, quiet, and a great listener. He’s also demonstrated his skill at constituent service as he’s helped many in the community (including my wife and I) in addressing problems. While I want to know more about some of his issue positions, I know that he would be an effective advocate for the district and an engaged legislator.

3. Pistol Pete Gets Challenger.  The same challenger as last time.  Jim DeMartino.  If you subscribe to the ‘sometimes you add by subtracting’ philosophy (I do), it’d be great if he could take out Pete Schwartzkopf in November. However, Schwartzkopf won that first matchup by a 64-36 margin.  Sussex Spies: Any chance that it could be different this time?

4. Lisa Diller Files For Reelection. One of our best, one of the few who had the guts to stand up to Tom Gordon.

That’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?