My Bottom Line on Karen Weldin Stewart
I’m not voting for her.
Some people who I respect are voting for her. That’s fine, they’ll vote for who they want to vote for. It is a free country.
I met KWS twice when she was running for National Committee Person and I didn’t like her. I don’t know what a National Committee person does, but Weldin Stewart struck me a s lightweight who would probably be in over her head in even the most blow-off party hack job.
Nothing I’ve heard during this campaign has disabused me of that first impression. It rubs me the wrong way that she is mobbed up with Harris McDowell, that she is using a (at least) 10 year old picture in her campaign material and that her campaign website is thin on biographical specifics.
But that is all just my gut speaking. I could quiet my doubts until today, when we found out that she mismanaged her own finances enough to wind up on the losing end of two lawsuits.
Will I vote for Brady? At this point, yes.
I know he is a Republican, but at least he is saying the right things about how the Insurance Commissioner needs to be an advocate for the little guy. At least he has a track record in elected office.
There is no doubt that Matt Denn raised the bar for this post. I get the sense that Brady, like Denn, would be his own man.
Of course I could be 100% wrong.
I’m with you.
I’m with you, too.
But not sure if I’ll vote for Brady or just not vote for anyone.
I think we need a “None of the Above” choice on the ballot.
My only caution about Brady is the GOP line on insurance seems to be orchestrated by Wayne Smith.
Letter today in WNJ:
As physicians in Brandywine Hundred, we are acutely aware of the shortcomings of the deregulated health care system. We see patients lose health insurance as they change jobs, then experience high costs and barriers due to pre-existing conditions. Most Americans are one major illness or injury away from bankruptcy.
The U.S. health care system is already by far the most unregulated and expensive of any major industrialized country. So when John McCain and Republican politicians push more deregulation as the cure for health care woes, it seems their ideology prevents them from seeing reality.
Delaware Senate Bill 6 is a modest step toward reforming the system. It would provide a purchasing pool for small businesses and families, which would reduce costs and cover more than 10,000 of the uninsured. Yet the Republican leadership of the state House killed this centrist legislation.
Like gubernatorial candidate Jack Markell, Democratic Rep. Bryon Short has made health care reform a top priority. Short’s opponent, Republican Jim Bowers, has close ties to Wayne Smith, who left his post as speaker of the Delaware House to work for a health lobbying firm. On behalf of our patients and all Delawareans, we will be voting for Short and Markell.
Deborah Zarek, M.D., David Donohue, M.D., Wilmington
~~~~~~~
I don’t see Brady doing the right thing and working for the right side of the issue, especially now that the GOP is spending so much money on him. He owes them not us. Wayne was at leg hall every single day last session floating the halls he once commanded as House leader. The GOP will be protecting their own pocket with Brady at the helm it will be insufferable.
Vote for no one I guess.
I think that much of KWS problems were health related debts. She needs to talk about it.
That’s a good point Nancy. If KWS has had troubles with health-related debt I think a lot of people would be able to relate to that. It would make her a powerful advocate. Her silence on the matter is telling to me. I really don’t understand the campaign she’s running at all.
“There is no doubt that Matt Denn raised the bar for this post. I get the sense that Brady, like Denn, would be his own man.”
Denn raised the bar for decency in government! But nice guy always don’t win! Wasn’t nice of him to insinuate Copeland was a baby killer
http://kilroysdelaware.blogspot.com/2008/10/did-matt-denn-calls-copeland-baby.html
Copeland exposes the fact then Denn took insurance money when he promised not to. Denn feels lawyers who represent the insurance industry aren’t the same! Sure Copeland has an interesting list of donors but Denn made a promise and broke the trust of the people. Denn’s negative campaigning which suggests Copeland is a baby killer is lowest of low! A man who proclaims he is all about children’s health shouldn’t be so spiteful. Copeland is a big guy and will work with the Markell-Copeland administration to find a place for Matt!
Jason honestly, step back forget you’re a democrat and look at the entire picture! Denn is saying nothing about open government or financial transparency of public education. He just talks about spending and program for which there is no money! I am for Markell because he will be the boss and it’s time we rid putting people in office that won’t keep the governor to task! Copeland will do that!
If her debts from 2002 to 2004 were health related, why did she spend the money on campaigning against Denn?
Kilroy, you are crazy. I can’t wait for this election to be over just so I don’t have to see your insane pro-Copeland cruft. Ugh. At least you found spell-check.
According to her campaign, the debts were not health related.
Maybe she’s sick of losing? Seems to be the Protack of the Dems.
Putting medical bills on your credit card is almost as bad as paying your mortgage with one.
How did she get this far?
As I stated before when I pointed out Weldin Stewart’s true employment history (or lack thereof), I have known her for many years and can assure you that her debts on which she defaulted, along with many other ones, are NOT health-related. KWS believes herself entitled to the “finer” things in life and has a pernicious shopping habit, all on credit. It’s a wonder she hasn’t crashed and burned completely with that before now. Good to see people are finally catching on to this phony.
H – paying your mortgage with a credit card can be useful, if you know how to do it.
liberalgeek
“Kilroy, you are crazy. I can’t wait for this election to be over just so I don’t have to see your insane pro-Copeland cruft.”
Not necessary pro-Copeland, it’s pro we need radical change! There’s too much bullshit political gridlock in Dover! Markell has “great” plans however, you know dam well there is no money! Markell-Denn will not break the gridlock! If so tell me how?
My vote is for Markell 100%! Denn doesn’t bring anything to the table Markell can’t do himself!
“At least you found spell-check.”
So hurt full! What next, you’re going to ban me for not being a Geek conformist! Just to let you know if Denn wins and I me if, I’ll give him 100% support? Will you do the same if Copeland wins and I me if?
I can understand if someone has health related debt – I have had that myself. However, looking at her financial records, she LOANED her campaign money – maybe that money would ahve been better of spent for the open bills. Running for public office is NOT an excuse for leaving your bills unpaid while spending money on advertisement and signs.
As for BRADy and the GOP – he doesn’t owe them a thing and he will stand upf or what he beleives in. The GOP knows that too. he has always run his own race his own way AND he has always run his elected offices his way.
I’m sorry folks, Republicans and the insurance industry have a long standing history of coziness and screw the consumer. KWS clearly knows about consumer’s problems, with credit, health issues, etc. I think she would start from a better place than Brady.
I find this funny. KWS can’t pay her bills, its the Republicans fault. How is her ineptitude someone else’s responsibility. Better yet, let’s put her on the couch and make sure she has no responsibility. Between her parents (whoa, maybe THEY were republicans) and the republicans, she is at fault for nothing and would be a great Insurance Commissioner.
Rebecca,
With all due respect, either you haven’t met Brady or you haven’t met KWS. Because, if you’ve met Brady, you’d know he’s infinitely more qualified and would follow in the footsteps of Matt Denn, who damn-near perfected the department. Likewise, if you’ve met KWS, you’d come away from the experience underwhelmed and with a distinct desire to hear more than the “umms” and “ahhs” she’s perfected at debates.
I said this two years ago about the Attorney General’s race. Like that office, this office SHOULD NOT BE PARTISAN. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican for these offices because it shouldn’t hinge on ideology. Rebecca, I implore you to look at the plans both candidates are putting forth. Then, remove the “R” and “D” from each and tell me which looks better.
KWS lied about her resume and has vastly overstated her qualifications for the job. She claimed she had worked as an insurance consultant for several state governments (Texas, PA, Ohio, among others), but upon further review not a single one of those state insurance offices had any documentation of her doing work for them. She also tried to cover up the fact that her most recent work was in a furniture store in Pennsylvania. This all came out in her primary against Denn; shockingly, Democrats seemed to have forgotten all of that this year.
She only won the primary because Gene Reed thought he didn’t have to campaign and didn’t think that taking money from insurance companies would piss off Democrats. Plus, she had the Working Families Party endorsement, giving her an unexpected boost in a muddled primary. Like him or not, at least Reed had over 20 years of insurance regulatory experience and was nationally recognized for his work.
Mike,
I’ll check it out.
But, my starting point is that whenever you’ve got Regulation and Republican in the same sentence you’ve got a give-away to big money interests. We’ve watched it happen for the past eight years. It’s still happening with the bank bail-out. In my gut I don’t trust them to guard the cookie jar.
Awful partisan of me, I know, but all I can go on is past performance.
Just about all the comments agree that Weldin Stewart is unqualified, a liar, and financially at best irresponsible. So without this stuff also being publicized on TV, the radio, and in newspapers before the election, the people who make up the 41-45% of voters polled who said they support her will probably vote for her. The question of how KWS was suddenly able to pay off a $10,000 Amex bill plus another $10,000 debt when she hasn’t held a job in a few years is a sign of things to come if she gets elected. I’m sure I don’t have to spell it out, so let’s get busy getting the information to the public.
The question of how KWS was suddenly able to pay off a $10,000 Amex bill plus another $10,000 debt when she hasn’t held a job in a few years is a sign of things to come if she gets elected.
I’m not saying KWS shouldn’t go under the bus… but a lot of DE politicians could not withstand the scrutiny of how they pay their debts, or how their lifestyles don’t seem to be supported by their incomes.
The health insurance industry lobbyists outnumber citizens 7 – 1. These lobbyists (like the Del. Chamber) are opposed to any real health insurance relief. They want to keep this dinosaur of a system in place. Ask the Medical Society what plan they support, ask your own doctor the next time you go…how much they have to pay in malpractice just to keep their doors open.
I don’t know if John Brady cares about the insurance companies or the health of Delaware’s citizens, I do know unless we get some new legislators in Dover, nothing is going to change. Our State is $300 million in debt. They are cutting medicaid programs right now. Its harder for new patients to get medicaid, and the cuts being imposed on the citizens many of whom have lost their jobs, (can’t pay the horrific Cobra payments) on their unemployment checks are willing more than ever to look at other options.
Anon, just because a lot of other politicians may not be able to withstand scrutiny doesn’t mean KWS should be allowed to get away with confirmed information that exposes her for what she is. She’s a known entity. Let’s not let her get into an office that would enable her to exploit it for her own purposes. Trust me, all she cares about is money and how to get it, and that’s about the extent of her limited intellectual capabilities.
Gabriel: do you know her? Personally? If not you are making up stuff. To say that “she would exploit the office for own purposes” is totally out of line. If you have any proof of that statement share or else admit “its your opinion”.
Anon3, Yes I do know KWS. How else would I have all this information. How about this: in 200o when she was running against Donna Williams, she said if she were elected she would soon live in a house worth many times that of the one on West 20th Street she claims is the address of her non-existing consulting business. To the question how she would manage that on the Insurance Commissioner’s salary she replied that “there are ways.” Is that enough for you?
Gabriel
*
yeesh, you are a card. I spoke with KWS today and she is not only going to be ‘talking’ in a WNJ article tomorrow, I suggested that she get on with Mike Matthews to state her case. It is a very interesting one. I just hope he plays fair and unbiased having made it known how much man-love he has for the ‘Big Guy’.
One thing I heard yesterday was a hoot: Brady had a sex shop of some kind in Sussex County. Must have been why he was the original subject of the pink postcard attacks. All them fundamentalists don’t take to…well, I should just stop now.
Nancy, you can believe what you want. I don’t deny KWS has a certain dubious charm that has a lot of people fooled, which is exactly what has gotten her this far. Your answer will come if (not when) she gets into office and you’ll wish you hadn’t been so gullible.
Nancy, maybe you should mention you’re not just a casual observer but KWS’s campaign manager or involved in her campaign in some other capacity. Puts your comments in a whole different light, doesn’t it. Give us a little credit here.
JOhn Brady has NEVER owned a sex shop or been partner in a sex shop in Sussex County or anywhere else. It would be great if you chedked out information you receive before you write your defamatory posts.
By the way, what you do sounds like gay bashing – oh to sink so low..then again, some people hit so low that nothing matters anymore – don’t they Nancy?
Riddle: What is Nancy Willings Favorite drink?
Answer: The next one
Nancy — You need to retract that, and soon.
“One thing I heard yesterday was a hoot: Brady had a sex shop of some kind in Sussex County. Must have been why he was the original subject of the pink postcard attacks.
My darling Nancy,
You have already demonstrated what a clueless asshat you are by supporting Baby Biden. This latest hallucination seals the deal.
“…well, I should just stop now.”
Considering it seems like only yesterday that you were posting about your own masturbatory fantasies and practices on DWA, you would appear have some advanced expertise in the use of *marital aids*…
Indeed, it’s time to put down the bottle, get a grip (pun intended) , and shut the fuck up.
Nancy, you of all people should be ashamed of yourself! It hurts alot of people when you spread baseless claims. John Brady is a honorable man and also one of the best elected officials in Sussex County. I have lived in Sussex all my life and have never seen anyone stoop so low to try and win an election. I am a democrat and will be voting for “THE BIG GUY”!
One of the best? Who is the best in your book out of curiosity?
Just sayin,
John Brady is very accesible and always willing to help when you need him. He volunteers at local events and will make a great Commish.
Donsilly — Brady once ran a campaign for a row office and won, only to turn around and eliminate the office as an elected position. That was an honorable thing to do. He regularly returns money back to the county.
He is actually THE best county elected official in Sussex, if not the state.
Even if someone owned a sex shop…who cares? IF (a big if, assuming your un-cited claim is true) Brady owned a sex shop, I’m not sure how it’s at all relevant unless he was hawking his wares to minors or something of that nature. It’s a position for insurance commish, not moral leader. I don’t care what anyone does in the privacy of their own bedroom with other consenting adults; if you do then you truly fail the most basic component of liberalism (not political, but philosophical).
I am not on Weldin Stewart’s campaign!
What I did hear is that Brady had a shop called Black Orchid in Rehoboth and that yup, he sold art and books and sex toys and such. Now, mind you, I would have to ask him if it were true because I only heard it from a Sussex Countian second hand. I don’t know why people are saying that it amounts to gay-bashing to have said that Brady ran a sex shop.
I heard something more relevant, though, to competance in running for IC and that was that he was put out of the public defender’s office….any truth to that rumor folks?
miscreant dear, fuck off!
Will, I put no judgement on anyone running a sex shop. But someone on the DTR staff told me that Brady was the target of the pink postcards years ago and I would guess that perhaps the fundies down in Christine O’Donnell-land had a problem with Brady’s running a sex shop.
My Brother-in-Law owns a chain of video stores and all but one has a huge porn section. I even pull one off the shelf on occasion.
Oh my…
Way to live up to your self-chosen nickname Nancy.
Sex shop? Now this guy sounds like a repub I could vote for! 🙂
Nancy,
You and the candidate you work for are both liars. Instead of smearing John Brady, why don’t you join KWS in the gutter where you both belong. Too bad that both of you had to crawl out of it for a time and demonstrate your truly ugly minds.
Nancy may not work for KWS’s campaign, but who I bet she is trying to get a job at the IC office after the elections? So if KWS doesn’t win, Nancy doesn’t get that job.
Is that Gerry Fulcher publishing as correctionofficer4brady? Just wondering.
No. No job in the IC office. I have a psych degree and if anything, I’d like to be employed working on developing policy related to re-entry of the addiction-related incarcerations of individuals who are unfortunately taking up our limited prison space.
Sex shop? Now this guy sounds like a repub I could vote for!
Hmm…note to self…this is how you turn anonone’s vote around…forget smoking anything…
Did anyone see on the mourningconstitution blog that KWS now blames her bad debts and judgments against her on 9/11??? She claims she worked for Marsh MacLennan (which she never did!) in NYC at the time but was given a day off and was therefore the only one of about 300 employees who was not killed in the attack. And the reason why she didn’t pay her debts is that she was mourning for 300 Marsh Mac workers of whom she didn’t know a single one because she never worked there, and that’s the reason why she couldn’t work and didn’t pay her debts. That is the most shameful and preposterous lie I have ever heard anyone come up with. It should sink this impostor’s campaign for good if it’s publicized as it should be.
She’ll probably win since the blue wave is going to be huge and people don’t pay much attention to down ticket races.
I’ll vote for Brady and hope that her Dem handlers will use he for good an not evil. (Yes, I’m talking to you Harris.)
I honestly don’t think it is about blaming problems on anybody. I suppose what bothers me so much is not the fact that KWS couldn’t pay her bills at some point — many of us have been in that boat — but the fact that she did not respond to the judgments and did not show up in court to defend herself.
What bothers me it that she is portraying herself as some kind of financial genius but couldn’t figure out how to get her own finances in order as little as 4 years ago.
What bugs me is that she has judgments against HER HERSELF – not the campaign – but lends her campaign more then 5K a few months after the judgment. Those 5K could have paid down her debt. Those 5K could have been offered to the company during the court proceedings to see if they will drop the case. If those were campaign moneyes paid by her herself — they should be on the campaign financial reports from back then. I want her to point them out to us.
And when KWS told Maria to go and look for something on her – why did she think that maria wouldn’t find that? Is she really that naive? And if yes, would we want someone that naive in office?
Yes, I am biased because I will vote for Brady, but I don’t like candidates who leave me with more questions then answers.
Nancy – if KWS would finally TALK to voters, there wouldn’t be so many question. Neither you nor her campaign manager should have to talk for her. She should be talking, but she isn’t. Doesn’t it make you angry to have to defend her and that she isn’t doing anything to help it?
..and no – I am not Gerry Fulcher
Nancy,
I am one of the unfortunate recipients of the pink postcards and John Brady was never mentioned on a pink postcard. You have gotten some bad info there.
“a pscyh degree” sounds like she needs one!
I do not know a whole lot about KWS… the only thing I will say is that I am not in love with the idea of someone who can not pay their bills being in a position to be able to take favors or money for influence…
Also, as someone who works in the financial services industry I know it would make it difficult for me to get another job if I had marks like that on my credit file…
I do know KWS and I am not voting for her. I use to like her as a person but don’t anymore, at least I’m honest. K has been removed from Democratic positions for lying about her age and background, she has lied about her resume, she has bankrupted her business for bad financial management (The
Red Pin Cushion), she was fired by DonnaLee Williams but refused to leave her job and hid behind political buddies, hasn’t been able to pay her mortage this year and has relied on “friends” to support her, and now we find out that not only did she have judgements entered against her they got the judgements because she ignored the companies who filed the cases and did not respond to the court. That is not someone who needs to be running this important office. She can’t keep a job and I’m not giving her this one to mess up. It is sad, she wants to be a Someone but has had to settle for being a Just Anybody. Please tell her by your vote she can’t realize her dreams on our payroll.
Well said, “someonewhodoesknowher”. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the voters will get all this information in time for the election.
KWS invoked 9/11 as a reason one of the debts wasn’t paid. If true, completely understandable.. but if not it is a complete insight into her soul as a human being.
Or lack thereof.
It doesn’t explain the other debt.. she stated that it was all campaign debt, about $9k at the time, which from nonpayment ballooned to $19k with late fees and so on. (how responsible is that?) loaning her campaign $5k might have been an attempt to pay the debt off, since it was supposedly campaign debt.
Her manager did also say that the debt in question will be paid off after this election… which tells me that maybe she ran this time to help herself get out of debt, not actually run for office.
..or maybe that was a side perk of running for an election, to get out of previous election debt. Maybe that is why she didn’t stress it, and pay for it in the four years it sat there while it more than doubled… she knew all along you fools who donated to her campaign were going to pay for it, who cares it the fees pile up?
Like I said before… How someone runs a campaign is insight into how they will run the office.
After 9/11, my main client went under and bailed out on a $12K payment to me… funny how “bankruptcy reform” didn’t cover corporate bankruptcies. I paid my AmEX card a few months late that year.
Brian, you’re sweet to give totally dishonest KWS the benefit of the doubt, but didn’t you read the post above yours by Gabriel yesterday afternoon that says KWS never worked for March MacLennan???? And if she never worked there, claiming to have been mourning 300 people there that she never knew who died on 9/11 and saying that kept her from working and paying her bills is just shameless. She oughta be kicked to the curb this very minute.
I need proof before I discount her employment there, fortunately, everything else in her statement concerning her defaults has been proven false, so the point is moot now.