Back in November of last year on Daily Delaware, I wrote about the 62 District Strategy. Like our presidential nominee, I completely stole that phrase from Howard Dean and modified it. As someone famous once said, half of life is just showing up. And in politics, it is three-fourths. Thus, it is maddening whenever we fail as Democrats to contest a district seat. Why would we ever want to allow a Republican to run unopposed anywhere? For it is essentially giving them a free pass.
Well, the obvious answers are 1) campaigns cost money and require a significant committment from the candidate; and 2) some districts are drawn so hopelessly Republican that it is hard to even find viable candidates in the district to run. Valid reasons, yes, but it still angers me when I see a district devoid of a Democratic challenger, for I feel as if democracy is denied the citizens of that district, and our better Democratic ideas will go unheard.
So, how are we doing in regards to the 62 District Strategy? Well, first, let’s look at the job in front of us in the Senate. There are 10 Senate races this year. We Democrats control the Senate by 5 votes, 13 to 8.
Senate (Republican-held seats in Red, Democratic seats in Blue)
Open Seat (4th-Greenville, Fairfax, Hockessin) (Copeland is running for Lt. Gov.)
Liane M. Sorenson (6th-Newark)
Open Seat (10th-Glasgow) (Amick is retiring)
Colin R. J. Bonini (16th-Dover South)
Open Seat (17th-Dover North) (Still is retiring)
F. Gary Simpson (18th-Milford, Lewes)
Anthony DeLuca (11th-Christina)
Margaret Rose Henry (2nd-Wilmington East)
Robert Marshall (3rd-Wilmington West)
Robert Venables (21st-Laurel)
None of our seats are competitive. Indeed, some may be unopposed, for the Republicans did not oppose Sens. Henry, Marshall or DeLuca in 2004, while Sen. Venables defeated Republican Rep. Daniel Short, 60% to 40%.
Therefore, in the Senate, we are playing offense in protecting our majority. The Republicans have no hope of picking up seats. However, it would appear that we are not challenging for Charlie Copeland’s seat once again, like we did in 2004. This year, we have three Republicans vying for the seat in the primary: Rich Abbott, John Clatworthy, and Michael Fleming. I am not sure why we are ceding this district, for the registration numbers are not as ominous as you might think for Greenville and Hockessin. As of June 1, there are 30,989 voters in the 4th Senatorial District, 34% of whom are registered Democrats, 42% Republicans, and 24% other. Sure, the GOP has the advantage, but it is not insurmountable. Hell, if I still lived there, I would run.
The good news is that we are challenging Liane Sorenson, whose 6th Senatorial District is definitely trending Democratic (D 38; R 35; O 27). The problem is that we have two Democratic candidates in the primary: John Mackenzie and Mike Terranova.
In the 10th Senatorial District, with Amick retiring, we have Rep. Bethany Hall-Long running while the Republicans have yet to find a candidate. Thus, at this moment, we are guaranteed a pickup. It was a close election in 2004, with Amick being reeelected with only 55% of the vote. WIth registration numbers in the Democrats’ favor, if the Republicans do contest this race, I would still say the district now leans Democratic.
In the 16th, we have former Secretary of Labor Harold Stafford challenging Sen. Bonini. The registration numbers in this district are nearly equal, and Bonini was reelected in 2004 with 69% of the vote. We got a good challenger, and hopefully this race will be competitive.
In the 17th, we have Sen. Still retiring. In 2004, he was barely reelected with 51% of the vote. This district is the most Democratic of all the Republican held seats up this year. Forty-five percent of the registered voters in the 17th are Democrats. We have in our corner former Public Safety Secretary Brian Bushweller, and the GOP has former Dover Mayor Jim “Hutch” Hutchinson.
I have not heard if we have a candidate in the 18th to challenge Senator Simpson. So, with respect to the 62nd District Strategy, out of 6 GOP seats up for election, it appears we will fail to field a candidate in one district, maybe 2. Good, not great.
Tomorrow, I will talk about the House.