The Katz/DeLuca Battle
We’ve been seeing articles for a month or so that Tony DeLuca’s leadership position was in jeopardy. People were privately and publicly griping about his role in the Delaware State University scholarship defeat. However, when Democrats had their caucus meeting, DeLuca was selected as the leader so I thought that was the end of it. Apparently it wasn’t. Senator Katz is challenging DeLuca for the Senate pro-tem position.
The stage is set for a bruising political battle Tuesday when Sen. Michael Katz will seek to topple Senate President Pro Tem Anthony DeLuca from his leadership position.
It’s a battle that pits Democrat against Democrat for the top Senate job, dividing the Senate’s majority party and placing the minority Republicans in the unaccustomed role of potential kingmaker.
If Katz can muster 11 votes — perhaps four votes from dissident Democrats and all seven Senate Republicans — DeLuca will lose his corner office, prime parking space and institutional power to a freshman senator elected just two years ago on a platform that included battling cronyism and special interests.
After the caucus vote that DeLuca won several other stories came out. One was about how DeLuca used funds to remodel Legislative Hall to remodel and expand his own office and to make it harder for people to talk to him. Then it was revealed that he had hired defeated Senator Nancy Cook.
So, a more progressive Senate leader could be put in place with the help of Republicans. Oh my beating political junkie heart! What’s in it for Republicans with this change? Katz says he wants to change the way the Senate is managed, which is probably appealing to Republicans in the minority party. Katz says this:
“Overall, I have a different philosophy in the approach, the vision and how the Senate should be managed,” Katz said, adding that “everyone should be empowered regardless of party.”
“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you represent Republicans, Democrats and independents and other parties and everybody’s a Delawarean. I’m relatively a nonpartisan individual,” he said.
This description of the difference between Katz and DeLuca really gets at the heart of what I think is important in politics right now. People are mad about the closed-door behind-the-scenes ways of doing politics. So many bills die in sessions and we never hear about it. It would be nice to have more transparency, if that is indeed what Katz intends. It’s also said that Katz is more of negotiator (which is bad now I keep hearing). So it really is a battle of old school vs. new school politicians. It should be very interesting. Politicians are not the most bold people, so a leadership challenge in the open like this is really rare.
What do you think? Will Katz succeed? Who do you think are the likely vote flippers. With Katz and Peterson, 2 more Democrats are needed. Who would it be?
Celia Cohen thinks (hopes?) that Dave Sokola could be driven to Dover in an Ambulance to vote for Katz. Who knows.
Assuming all the Republicans decide to screw someone who has been a friend to the Republicans, Katz still needs two (or three?) Dems.
Patricia M. Blevins NO
George H. Bunting ??
Brian J. Bushweller ??
Anthony J. DeLuca NO
Bruce C. Ennis ??
Bethany A. Hall-Long Probably No (unless it is a done deal) and Katz has five in the bag)
Margaret Rose Henry ??
Michael S. Katz YES
Robert I. Marshall ??
David B. McBride ??
Harris B. McDowell ??
Karen E. Peterson YES
David P. Sokola YES
Robert L. Venables ??
It is perhaps unfair to single out BHL as someone who would go along with the group. The fact is that it will nto be a close vote one way or the other. Whoever has the votes will win big, because nobody wants to end up on the wrong side.
In the NJ article it saud that Katz got 5 votes in the caucus vote. Those are the ones at play right now. I guess it depends on how scared of DeLuca they are.
The funny thing is that the outcome is probably already known.
It does seem sort of strange to me that there would be a couple of NJ articles and Celia Cohen writing about this for it to come to nothing.
I don’t think the Republicans are very unified. I see some Deluca friends on this list:
Colin R. J. Bonini
Joseph W. Booth
Catherine L. Cloutier
Dorinda A. “Dori” Connor
David G. Lawson
F. Gary Simpson
Liane M. Sorenson
Deluca only needs a couple of votes and he as been at this politics thing for a while. I think Karen P is very cagey. There is some downstream point to all of this that we not know about for a while.
So wait.
Mike Katz is trying to cooperate with Republicans and no one here is having the vapors? No rending of garments? No juvenile names? No accusations of selling out? No showy disappointments for lobbying or negotiating with Republicans? And look! There’s even vote counting going on here!
What is the world coming to.
BTW, I do endorse Katz trying for leadership, but I wish I knew more about what this: everyone should be empowered regardless of party means. Exactly. Because empowering today’s GOP doesn’t usually mean what you might want it to.
Busted! I’m not very consistent when it comes to crashing on the fainting couch. In this case I chalk it up to the fairly slim odds that I’m giving Katz.
BHL takes a walk, then comes back and says she was going to vote that way. Why do I hear conflicting things around Katz? I hear the job takes too much time from his high paying gig, then I hear he wants Senate Pro Tem. Clarify please.
An insidery conversation I had today revealed that no one really knows what is happening but that there is definately a whole lot of horse trading going on between the GOP and the HIGH DEMs about now. What will the GOP be guaranteed by the status quo DEMs for some DeLuca votes?
OTOH, the GOP is the party of glorified unity and Katz is a favored rep. and has worked hard for the old guard around Greenville who are mightily pissed with Pam Scott-Paul Clarky, Stoltz and Markell’s transportation agency.
Imagine if we got Katz in as Pro Tem and so a had good bit more of a fighting chance against the pay to play powers-as-usual.
Just a few more executive committee drawers opening and a few more debates considering the question before the countdown to midnight on the last day of session would be a huge victory for the public.
The risk, of course, is that the opposition loses and DeLuca goes on a revenge rampage.
Sokola gets kicked off the Education Committee and Delaware loses one it’s very best champions for schools and education. The Governor isn’t allowed to step in here because of separation of powers, but I can’t imagine this dynamic makes him very happy.
Peterson has been singing “Me and Bobby McGee” for so long that there is little DeLuca can do to her — freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
Katz is a freshman who hasn’t been given much love by DeLuca so, like Peterson, he’s got nothing to lose.
So one more D. Who among our fearless caucus would be willing to step up.
The fulcrum becomes whether Simson will deliver all seven R’s at the crucial moment. They have a history of promising and not delivering. Besides, it’s so much fun to churn up the D caucus and then make sure the progressives in the group have no voice on anything because Tony’s gone all scorched earth. It feeds right into the R agenda. Tony stays in power. The spineless/self-serving members of the D caucus stay in control of the committees, and anyone who might be counted on to make waves is parking at the Smyrna rest stop and hiking in to Leg Hall.
I’ll add to Auntie Dem’s observation that seven votes from the “R” side seems like the tough part. Does anyone really think that they are angry about Deluca splashing money around to remodel his office? Please. That is a gift to them. Also, Katz wants to change the way things work in the Senate. That sounds good, but how many Republicans want to change the way things work? Is the Delaware way suddenly so unpopular in Leg Hall?
Finally, I’d like to shoot up the R caucus with sodium pentathol and ask how many of them are clamouring for LESS partisanship. Partisanship is their oxygen.
what is Katz giving the R’s for their support? this may not be good either way it turns out…
I hear that DeLuca has said that Tom Sharp is his model of a leader. That alone should be enough to make progressives oppose him.
PDD endorsed Katz in his (victorious) 2008 campaign. DeLuca has been a serious hindrance to good government. As Senate Pro Tem, DeLuca would (continue to) serve DeLuca. As Senate Pro Tem, Katz would serve Delaware. The choice is clear.
How did House Bill 1 pass the senate in the last General Assembly? 11 courageous senators voted to suspect the rules and get the bill to the floor, despite DeLuca’s best efforts to let it die.
DeLuca has harmed the state long enough as the senate leader. He is past his expiration date.
Katz should be supported in his quest for Senate leadership.
I have already reached out to my senator, and asked them to support Katz. Have you?
This is not the first time such a challenge has taken place in recent memory. The ‘progressive’ (all things are relative) senators thought that they had the votes to elect the team of Blevins and Marshall (I know, I know) over Thurman Adams some eight years ago. And they had enough D votes, until Harris McDowell flipped and threw his support to Adams in exchange for the Senate Majority Whip position. McD’s rationale was that a coalition of R senators and the downstate D’s would unite to pick Adams as Pro-Tem regardless. Or a Rethug Pro-Tem. I could spend hours tearing apart that logic, but the bottom line is that he sold out.
While I have no clue what will happen, here’s what I think: There’s no way that BHL would go against DeLuca. Anyone who views her as a closet progressive is barking up the wrong eucalyptus. It is possible, however, that more than 5 D’s could be persuaded to support Katz.
Jason330’s list leaves a lot of questions, b/c there ARE a lot of questions. Potential yes votes could include Bunting, Bushweller, Ennis, Henry, and McBride. Ennis is in line for JFC, so he needs to make DAMN sure that he’s on the winning side. Henry also has a leadership position and/or a seat on a money committee to think about. McBride was on the losing side of the Adams vote and got busted from JFC to Sunset. I could see him supporting Katz. Doubt that Bushweller was thrilled w/DeLuca’s temporary derailing of the Inspire Scholarship Program. I’m guessing he’s for Katz. McDowell could be in play, if only for the possibility that he and Katz share potential common geographical areas for reapportionment. Otherwise, McDowell legit believes, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that DeLuca is a proponent of open government.
One imponderable is the Markell Administration. Minner and Brainard worked hard to make sure that Thurman was President Pro-Tem. While Markell may choose not to get involved, his behind-the-scenes hand could prove invaluable to Katz.
As to the R’s. What they’ve never really had was an opportunity to bring their own legislation to the floor, unless it was utterly meaningless. The D leadership has generally refused to have significant R senate bills ever see the light of day. If Katz promises that R bills will be considered in committee and will not be subject to desk drawer vetoes, he might, just might, be able to earn the needed R votes. Not likely, but not impossible.
You can bet that DeLuca, Sharp and Brainard are in a bunker somewhere figuring out how they can keep this thing locked. While they collectively may be the Forces of Evil, they know where the bodies are buried. Of course, DeLuca has some bodies, buried or very much alive, that could (and if need be, SHOULD) be brought into play as well.
Here’s what I don’t understand: Why Katz and not Karen? Why has she not chosen to be the challenger? I don’t know the answer, but I find it an intriguing question.
Finally, I agree with PBaumbach: If you haven’t contacted your senator, what are you waiting for?
I have a good excuse – my senator is DeLuca.
Finally, I’d like to shoot up the R caucus with sodium pentathol and ask how many of them are clamouring for LESS partisanship. Partisanship is their oxygen.–jason330
And the democrats (excluding Obama, who just caves in on a daily basis) differ from the R’s how?
Here is a tip. Next time when you comment, try to make sense.
jason330–
Please explain to me how D’s are LESS partisan than R’s?
Well for one, the Dems rarely line up completely along party lines when it comes time to cast their vote.
Consistently the Republican have… , which is why the past Congress was a disaster, even though the Democrats were just one vote shy of a plurality.
I would say that makes a good case for Republicans being more partisan than Dems.
Which makes sense. Democrats actually represent people. Republicans represent fairy tales
Contacting your Senator (sorry Unstable) would be nice. Typing up a proclamation asking that new leadership be placed at the head of the Senate, and signed by everyone you know, and sent… would be nicer…
This is actually one of those rare moments that can change a decade to come. People should be getting excited by this… It’s bigger than Katz/ DeLuca. It’s really WE, the People/ THESE GUYS
Auntie: With the very real failure of our school system especially here in NCC – under the NCLB and DSTP measurement mandates – the failing schools are by far the norm – what does that say about Dave Sokola’s record as a decades-long Education advocate??????
You can always tell when Nancy is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit–6 question marks. Now, THAT’s convincing!
SO TRUE: “There’s no way that BHL would go against DeLuca.”
Doubtful: That Markell is working for a Katz victory. No way, Jose. If the DelDOT shenanigans now under FBI scrutiny didn’t convince you all that Markell is old school old guard HIGH DEM protecorate I don’t know what will.
Katz will be going after transparency in the executive agencies because there is such a vital, vital need for that right now. Markell is in lockstep with DeLuca and the union-developer-campaign HIGH DEM machiner.
What is interesting is that Patti Blevins has found her inner progressive this year in sponsoring the bill for an independent committee to redistrict and in taking on Markell’s transportation department for their insanely irresponsible attititude to level of service and public quality of life expectations on our roadways not to mention her concern over her constituents who end up suffering the flooding storm waters from up-peidmont infill.
Basically the fight is on for who will pay for the infrastructure upgrades for necessary road/storm water facilities etc. for the development that’s coming.
The Coons-Clarky years allowed for unprecedented changes to the county code — laws often written by Pam Scott and other development attorneys for NCC Council — that now lets them and NCC land use planners circumvent our long-standing adequate facilities / concurrency of infrastructure laws.
Because of county government actions in the last 4 years – that includes you, Stephanie McClellan – developers who used to have to pay for the needed infrastructure upgrades to develop now may “bill” the state tax payers for the privilege, so to speak.
Katz and Blevins have been integral to the mounting dissent in the legislature to this point.
Also, the bond bill members have taken no liking to DelDOT’s implementing massive infrastructure projects like Rte. 301 being pushed now because of a Minner-era (2004) infrastructure agreement with Pam Scott and her client Jay Sonecha (City of Bayberry).
I can’s stress enough that the unholy RTTT and Markell’s ambition to national politics are a part of a toxic mix right now. DDOE and the state ed board are misbehaving and I level failed oversight charges right at Sokola’s feet.
Sorry. Say what you will ES, but Dave heralded the now-scorned DSTP and sat back while the Neighborhood Schools Act implementation destroyed a new generation of city kids stuck in impoverished elementary and still forced to be bused to failing suburban middle and high schools.
Today’s NYT: the GOP House will not let RTTT continue apace without some much-needed debate about the failures of NCLB and RTTT and the real problems in our education system. Obama’s RTTT is called NCLB on steroids for a reason.
here’s the text:
New Challenges for Obama’s Education Agenda in the Face of a G.O.P.-Led House
By SAM DILLON
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/us/politics/12education.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
WASHINGTON — For two years, backed by a friendly Congress and flush with federal stimulus money, President Obama’s administration enjoyed a relatively obstacle-free path for its education agenda, the focus of which is the $4 billion Race to the Top grant program.
But with Republican deficit hawks taking control of the House next month, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will no longer have billions of dollars to use at his discretion.
The administration is also having to recalibrate its goals for working with Congress to overhaul the main federal law on public schools. Fortunately for the administration, its ambitions for the law, the Bush-era No Child Left Behind effort, are shared by Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican who will be the chairman of the House education committee.
“It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to — everybody has complaints about N.C.L.B.,” said Mr. Kline, who would oversee any revision of the law by the House. “So we’d love to fix it.”
Mr. Kline and Mr. Duncan said in separate interviews that they had a good working relationship, and they appeared to agree on some major changes to the law, like overhauling its school accountability system.
Because it requires every student to be proficient in math and reading by 2014, the system has already labeled thousands of schools as failing, often because disabled students or recent immigrants have been unable to pass state tests.
“Unless we change the law, it’ll label every school in the country a failure, even though there are lots of phenomenal schools out there,” Mr. Duncan said.
Mr. Kline echoed those concerns. “We’ve got a law that’s out there affecting schools in a negative way,” he said. “So absolutely, the law’s accountability system will have to change.”
WHOA Nancy–that was a mouthful with “the very real failure of our school system…”. While I think Sokola may be getting bad counsel of late in regards to education, the propagation of the myth “our schools are failing” really undermines the incredible off radar, unmeasured, real progress going on. Students are succeeding, doing incredible things, and just because the state/feds want to come in and screw w/ the rubrics, and get hit pieces w/ the News Journal only deepens the hole education always had to dig out of.
And BTW Katz voted NOT to increase the impact fee on new homes built in Appo. to keep the rate par w/ the other NCC districts–great the district with the only space to grow and needs the buildings and we can’t get the same money. Now which Democrat is with the builders?
Also look to this investigation as another reason why a unity of purpose to change the senate leadership may well emerge to put Katz in place:
Delaware banks: Wilmington Trust sale: rumors, facts
Regulatory filings reveal more about bank’s downfall and its frantic search for a buyer
By ERIC RUTH
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101212/BUSINESS/12120323/1003/Wilmington+Trust+sale++rumors++facts
Joanne, I am not saying that ‘all kids, all teachers and all schools are failing’ but it is a very real circumstance that under the draconian measurements of NCLB, a myopia of testing requirements has shovel the exellence under the bus as a one-issue rule determinant.
Testing is now to determine a teacher’s value? A student’s potential etc. As an end all be all, testing is, as the article points out today but is well documented elsewhere, creating the aura of failure everywhere. And encouraging cheating to boot.
I recognize that I have been hard on Dave Sokola here and don’t mean to undercut the good. Sometimes this blog is the uber cheerleader to power while sweeping inconsistencies under the rug. Just wanted to point out that there is a valid alternative view.
I have spent the last three days going over the Dan Cruce-led witch hunt that he and the Charter School Accountability Committee plus DDOE, the Ed Secy and the State Board held against Moyer Academy. I have boxes of curriculum files, the transcripts of the hearings and meeting minutes and it isn’t pretty. Dan Cruce acted as “the closer” for Lowery and Markell in readiness for RTTT application in early 2009. They threw Moyer under the bus and it really stinks. I will be writing more.
Interesting point about the APPO vote.
Could it be that he didn’t think it was in the least bit fair to grant this to one district when all of the others are facing the same problem? Dare I use six exclams?? 🙂
This merits asking Mr. Katz about his reasoning behind the vote.
Especially in the face of Bruce Ennis, BHL, and Quinn Johnson requesting in person, and in letter (I was there to testify on behalf of the district if needed) the straining needs of the district to receive those impact fees. We would have been happy to match the other 4. We got zip. And the blowhard Rick Woodin went on and on how this would keep his construction folks out of work….oh please. You would have thought their houses brought the people in—not our school district sells their houses.
I have been booted from placing text on the Wilmington Trust article onto this thread twice now. WTF? It is also no longer accessible to me on the online post over there (page 4).
Page four goes into how Preston Schell and pals very likely set up a company [Marlin Distressed Opportunity Fund] to buy back their failing land speculation loans with Wilmington Trust at a fraction. Implying that he set up a company to repurchase after Wilmington Trust “approached him for permission to seek a buyer for one of his poorly performing loans, and he gave the bank the go-ahead”. …”reports linking him and Dover developer Michael Zimmerman to the $130.6 million in loans Wilmington Trust had packaged for resale were wildly exaggerated.”
…”I think there’s an awful lot of political influence that went into these loans,” [Sen.] Bunting said. “I feel very strongly there should be some answer to the public — what happened, who did it?”
Doesn’t matter, the Dems will continue to ruin the state.
“the Neighborhood Schools Act implementation destroyed a new generation of city kids stuck in impoverished elementary and still forced to be bused to failing suburban middle and high schools.”
Let me get this straight: The city schools are impoverished and the suburban schools suck. What alternative are you proposing?
“Doesn’t matter, the Dems will continue to ruin the state.”
Yes, heaven forbid we have a lower jobless rate than conservative paradises like South Carolina.
any word on Deluca vs Katz?
There may be a third alternative–and that’s that nobody has the votes right now. You could get a bunch of not votings, temporarily allow the previous leadership to run today’s session, and hash things out before the second Tuesday in January.
If the D’s aren’t all lined up, and if the R’s aren’t yet prepared to commit, I’d guess that that’s the most likely outcome today.
Let me get this straight: The city schools are impoverished and the suburban schools suck. What alternative are you proposing?
*
The city government took a lot of time and trouble to develop a report in response to the NSA for the city kids. Didn’t they have a right to the same as suburban kids would be getting under this act (North Star elementary for one). The report was ignored but it would have righted many of the problems the city schools suffered through the last decade. I am reading through it now.