Political Malpractice and Betrayal
Today is Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The deadline for candidates to file their intentions to run for office is Friday, July 25, 2008. Two days away. 48 hours.
From the News Journal:
Sussex County Democrats have just been stabbed in the back by their three council members, and they have little time to remove the knife.
The three Democrats who control the Sussex County Council dropped a political bombshell Tuesday, announcing their joint retirements in a move that could dramatically change the face of county politics.
Councilmen Dale Dukes of Laurel, Lynn Rogers of Milton and Finley Jones of Greenwood said they would not run for re-election in November, a mere four days [sic] ahead of the filing deadline.
Their decisions open the door for Republicans to take hold of the five-member council for the first time in two decades.
“They basically handed us the reins,” said Republican Judson Bennett, a candidate for Rogers’ seat. “Unless we self-destruct from within, I think we’ll have a good opportunity.”
Only one council member seems to have a legitimate reason for stepping down, as Councilman Rogers said he needed to focus his time and energy on taking care of his wife, who was severely injured in a May horse-riding accident. That is perfectly understandable. Indeed, Sussex Democrats have been expecting his retirement. But the other two were surprising, and as far as I can tell, no mention of their possible retirement escaped the lips of Mr. Dukes and Mr. Jones at any point during the past year. The only reasons they give is that they wanted to spend more time with their families. That is all well and good, but if both were expecting or wanted to retire, they should have informed the Party long before hand so we could get good candidates to replace them. Especially when we control the council on a 3-2 margin. So that is a betrayal, and it is political malpractice at the same time.
Luckily, we do have some candidates that seem prepared to run. In the Second District, replacing Jones, we have former Georgetown Mayor Mike Wyatt running. Unfortunately Wyatt is coming off an electoral defeat this spring in his reelection bid for Mayor. In the Third District, replacing Rogers, would be civic activist Joan Deaver, founder of Citizens for a Better Sussex. We do not yet have a candidate for the first district.
No matter the horrible position the resignations put us in politically, this is an opportunity for better Democrats rather than more Democrats. Joan Deaver is most definitely a better Democrat.
I have worked with and known Joan Deaver for the past four years and she is a dynamo down in Sussex. Founder of Citizens for a Better Sussex, Joan has led many grassroots, civic efforts to improve life in Sussex County. She has been a strong voice on the environment, development, and lately on wind-power and open government. Joan deserves our support.
She has mine. I have to investigate this Wyatt character. I suspect he is a typical conservative Sussex Democrat, but who knows.
Jones, Rogers and Dukes were nothing more than rubber stamps for any and all development projects, regardless of merit or impact. In fact, all three had businesses that depended on development and they profited handsomely from it. While they may be dems, who cares. This is a huge break for Sussex County and responsible growth. They can’t leave their office fast enough
That is why I said this is an opportunity.
It’s actually disappointing that Jud and Joan are from the same district. If there was some magical way that they BOTH could serve on SusCo Council, that would be a boon to the citizens down there. It would not surprise me to see the both of them agree to that statement as well.
I’m just curious: who are you quoting above?
So, they all want to spend more time with their families, do they?
What a coincidence.
I suspect that there may be more about this to come.
I am also of mixed feelings about the Joan-Jud face-off. Both would be great for the area. I guess not having to primary for the general election will give Joan Deaver that much more money and time to take on Jud Bennett but he only lost by a few votes against the former incumbent the last time.
Mike….the News Journal. I forgot the link. I will edit the story.
Right after Ewing resigned, we heard whispers that Finley Jones may take a run at that 35th District seat, but couldn’t get him to confirm or deny it until the announcement on Tuesday.
I think Wyatt or Ricker would serve well in that 2nd Councilmanic District position. Oh, and a quick question: once the filing deadline passes, do the parties get a chance to nominate a candidate if they don’t have one?
No. The nominating conventions have past. At this point, if there is no candidate, there is no candidate.
I’m not positive about that DD. I have a very hazy memory of something like what Patrick Varine describes.
Jud lost by 3 votes last time. He also ran on a pro- growth, anti-environmental protection platform. He has changed his tune now, however.
I wonder where my boy Randy Nelson lives.
“Sussex County Democrats have just been stabbed in the back by their three council members, and they have little time to remove the knife.”
Is that quote from the News Journal? C’mon.
Varine: As the NJ reported, Jones was considering a run. He’d not committed either way, though.
DD (and J), after the deadline this week, either major party has up to some date, either end of August or early September (it’s on the COE website, tho) to place someone as a candidate. It happens almost each cycle, if not all the time.
Think of it as MLB’s trade deadline on the 31st. That’s the “last day” to trade (without waivers), but they really have until the end of August to make deals for their playoff rosters. It’s just that it gets a bit difficult after the first deadline.
Let us now pray for the Great Dave Burris to step up and manage the campaigns.
1. It will be like shooting last day filing Democratic fish in a barrel for the Republicans.
2. The real grass roots workers will have to take second seat to Dave when he pops back up soon. ( Although each candidate will have their own organization and volunteers ).
3. Dave will take all the credit and probably advise them to tie ANY Democrat (Even if the “D” lived in each respective district for only a year) to the incumbents who are not seeking re-election.
4. He won’t be able to resist.
If Jud has had an about face on growth then know that Joan is solid on protecting our resources. I guess if I lived there I’d go for Joan hands down…moot point.
I’m no Jud Bennett fan, but I have to disagree that he has changed his tune on development. This is exactly how he approached Rogers in 2004. Now whether he really means it or not…..
I suspect that the R’s will at least take control of the Council. Assuming that it is a 4-1 split, and the two winning R’s run on “smart growth” platforms, it will mean they could join with Cole, who has been the posterboy on Council for slowing development for years. My suspiscion is that these folks will change their tune when actually in office and so will Cole – a real estate agent who has profited from the Sussex County boom years as much as the sign guy, the metal guy and the lumber guy. It will no longer be in his interest to sit back and let the D’s be the whipping boys for “allowing all this growth to run rampant.”
Oh no, this is not only a devastation for the D’s in Sussex, but potentially for the R’s as well. It will be very very interesting to see how this plays out.