In late spring of 1994, Herman Holloway, Sr., the avuncular dean of the Delaware State Senate, passed away. The Democrats, not exactly staring at an A-list of potential candidates, chose Herman ‘The Lesser’ Holloway, Jr. to run. Holloway had previously been forced to vacate his State Representative seat due to having been convicted of an ‘infamous crime’ (he was replaced by Jim Sills). Upon appeal, and with the assistance of then-Attorney General Charles Oberly, the crime was determined to be a misdemeanor, and the Lesser was back in the political game. By 1992, when Sills was elected Mayor, the Lesser was back in the Delaware General Assembly.
And, following his father’s death, who could be better situated to win this seat with a 3-1 (or maybe more) Democratic edge? The answer: Anybody else. The Beast Who Slumbers had to ‘volunteer’ for his campaign. He saw the Lesser basically not knock on a single door; leave a debate early because of a ‘prior engagement’ (‘I’ve gotta book’); spend most of his days grubbing for money that never seemed to find its way into campaign lit or anything else; and act like he knew it all, a veritable James Carville.
By contrast, the R’s threw a ‘Hail, Mary’, recruited an eminently-credible (and registered D) candidate in Margaret Rose Henry, and put lots of money and elbow grease behind her candidacy. In a special election marked by exceedingly-low turnout, Henry won, and it was on merit.
Without the concerted and well-crafted efforts by the R’s, who, at the time were a much more moderate lot, Henry could not have won. However, the D’s LOST this election as well. The reasons why may sound familiar.
1. The beloved Herman Holloway, Sr. had grown increasingly out of touch with his district. He had not had a challenger of any note in some time and, in fact, had flirted with a run for (‘bulo thinks) City Council President because he was tired of driving back and forth to Dover. He also had no functional organization to speak of.
2. Any residual sympathy that might accrue to the son did not exist. People know the Lesser as an operator, someone who ran the “Martin Luther King Center”, basically a redundant ‘pass-through’ to state agencies, and funded itself largely due the largesse of his father, who served on the Joint Finance Committee and sent money his way. Not to mention that the oleaginous Lesser never hesitated to primary anyone if Danny Rappa came a’callin’ cash in hand. He had enemies.
3. His blatant unwillingness to even put in minimal effort turned off anyone associated with his campaign, most of whom would rather have been anywhere else in the first place.
4. In a Special Election, people have to be inspired to come out. They’ll only vote if it’s someone they want to vote for. That person wasn’t Herman Holloway Jr.
Nor was it Polly Adams Mervine.
In fairness to her, she had a much tougher district to run in. However, the factors leading to her landslide defeat are virtually identical to the Holloway race.
1. While Adams may have still been ‘in touch’ with a certain percentage of his district (a) it had steadily diminished; and (b) within the Democratic Party, people had chafed at his autocratic and exclusionary style.
2. Whatever residual sympathy (and there was some) for Mervine evaporated after the ‘do-over’ vote for the nomination. Regardless of the reasons, Mervine could not escape the perception that some heavy-handed tactics from the Adams forces were behind it.
3. While Mervine might have made an effort to campaign, she never made an effort to understand even the most basic issues she would have to face in Dover. Or, if she did, she was dumber than a rock (she’s not). That came across both in her lit and in the candidates’ forums. Such lack of effort comes across as insulting to would-be voters.
4. In a Special Election, people have to be inspired to come out. In a Special Election this lopsided, and in a district with party registration this closely divided, R’s were inspired to support Booth, and a large proportion of D’s were inspired to drive a stake through the heart of the Adams legacy of entitlement.
Polly Adams Mervine now joins Herman Holloway Jr. as the most disastrous (would-be) heirs to political dynasties in recent Delaware history.
And it is on merit.