Rep. Oberle Announces Retirement
Bill Oberle has decided not to run for re-election this year, bringing to an end a 34-year legislative career that has made him the longest-serving Republican in the Delaware General Assembly.
He made his plans official Tuesday evening by telling the other Republicans in the House of Representatives during a caucus meeting in Dover.
“You just know when it’s time. It feels right. I’m happy about it,” Oberle said.
Oberle, a 60-year-old retired DuPonter from a district south of Newark, is one of the oddities of politics as a pro-labor Republican.
That’s my district! This is very exciting!
Tags: Bill Oberle, Delaware Republicans, RD-24
I’m just wondering….Do you think this is a prelude to an announcement like, say, Oberle will be running for the US House of Representatives?
That’s an interesting idea but I really doubt it. I don’t think Oberle would have much better of chance against Carney that Cullis would but it would certainly be a different race!
No. He’s ready to go. He’s got a place at the beach, he doesn’t have any more burning political ambition, and the Rethugs would probably nominate a teabagger over a RINO like Oberle.
VERY good news for the D’s. Only the most royal of royal screw-ups could even give the R’s a fighting chance in this district. The 24th is one of the very few districts with a Democratic registration MAJORITY, not a plurality, but a majority. An unqualified generic name on the ballot almost took Oberle out last time. And there’s no R with anything close to Oberle’s popularity in the district. It’s up to the D’s to run a legit progressive in the district, no Tony DeLuca acolytes.
Looks like my #1 Most Vulnerable Rethug Target prediction has come true:
http://delawareliberal.net//2009/04/27/bulos-top-10-targets-for-2010-numero-uno/
Bill is a class act, I wish him the best.
However, this release was not a scoop but was well known.
Mike Protack
I would do what it took to keep him from going to congress.
I do thank him for his years of service.
Response to Prozac: These things (i.e. rumors) are never ‘well-known’ until they actually happen.
Charlie West commonly retired and unretired about 5 times every legislative session for about 20 years. Virtually everyone WANTED him to retire. Which is probably why he stayed.
Self-absorbed narcissists always have second thoughts about leaving the stage. Most legislators are self-absorbed narcissists, not unlike would-be officeholders like Prozac. Hence, it’s never fact until it’s official.