The Delaware GOP convention is this weekend and the two frontrunners for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat are running hard. Sussex Developer Glenn Urquhart is playing the Jamaica card on Michelle Rollins:
Last year she wrote a letter to the editor of a Jamaican newspaper encouraging the government of the Caribbean island nation to develop its financial-services sector to compete with countries such as the Cayman Islands.
One of her main primary opponents, developer Glen Urquhart, says her advocacy is a sign of where Rollins’ “true loyalties lie: offshore and not in Delaware.”“Delaware has banking interests; Jamaica has banking interests,” Urquhart told The Hill. “Would any of Mrs. Rollins’ Jamaican interests compete with Delaware’s major banking industry?
“She’s a pretty big player there,” he said. “There are fair and open questions. I think it’s up to her to explain to the voters how extensive her holdings are.”
Rollins has an explanation for the letter she wrote, she says she was asked to do it:
Rollins says she wasn’t advocating that Jamaica adopt a similar tax structure to that of the Cayman Islands, where many corporations are headquartered to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
“The government was looking, like many countries, to [get] into the financial-services industry,” she said. “It creates jobs; it’s good for the economy. And they called us and asked us if we would encourage that through a letter to the editor.”
I do think that Rollins’s ties to Jamaica will become a campaign issue for the general election but this is a twist. Urquhart is accusing Rollins of favoring Jamaica’s financial industry over Delaware’s. So, do you think this attack will have traction with the Delaware GOP convention delegates?