Delaware Cattle Call [2012]
“It is far too early for me to tell you who the statewide candidates are. We are looking at these things. We’re all focused on one thing — ending one-party rule in Delaware.” So said new Republican state chair John Sigler to Celia Cohen last month. Is it me, or is it kind of embarrassing for a major party state chair to refer to his state as a one party state, and his party is not the one party to which he refers. With absolutely no respect to John Sigler, it is not too early. It is getting too late for the state GOP. To beat Jack Markell and Tom Carper they will need millions of dollars, for each race. And the conundrum for the Delaware Republican Party is that the only candidates who can win their primaries and rake in national money are unelectable Teabaggers like Christine O’Donnell.
Who are the possibilities? Below I rate the possible opposition from most probable to less.
GOVERNOR–Jack Markell. Governor Markell will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. Former Speaker Terry Spence
2. Former Senator and failed 2008 Republican Lt. Gov. Nominee Charlie Copeland
3. Failed 2010 Republican congressional candidate Michele Rollins
LT. GOVERNOR–Matt Denn.. Lt. Governor Denn will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. Sussex County Council President Vance Phillips
U.S. SENATE–Tom Carper. Sen. Carper will run for reelection. Last year, there were rumors that he might retire and the Dems would run Beau Biden. But it looks like there was nothing to that.
Republican Opposition?
1. Teabagger Queen Christine O’Donnell again
2. Kevin Wade
3. Glenn Urquhart (only if Christine doesn’t run)
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE–John Carney. Congressman Carney will run for reelection.
Republican Opposition?
1. New Castle County Council President Tom Kovach
2. Glenn Urquhart
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER–Karen Weldin Stewart. Commissioner Stewart will run for reelection, but if she is smart, she will retire.
Democratic Primary Opposition? Mitch Crane! Thank God for Mitch Crane. Republican Opposition? Any one? Bueller? Bueller?
Once I get my head wrapped around the new districts in redistricting, I will put up a post regarding the candidates for the General Assembly. Remember, in the election after the census and redistricting, all 62 legislators from the House and Senate run. So everyone is on the ballot this year, well, not the Auditor, Treasurer and the Attorney General, but everyone else.
Mike Castle is tanned and rested.
Some guy suggested in an LTE last month that the House elect Mike Castle to be Speaker, claiming that the Constitution does not require the Speaker to be an incumbent House member.
Let’s start in on a discussion about the primary against Paul Clark for the Executive’s seat in NCC. He is actively gutting the Planning Board of its thoughtful and experienced members etc. What a mess.
The GOP recently said their dark horse for any and all positions statewide is Tom Kovach. He is a nice guy but I am not particularly impressed by watching him in action as NCC President. But I would vote for him for County Exec. though if Clark ends up in the General.
puck…
That is true. The Speaker of the U.S. House does not have to be an elected Representative.
Nancy…
I have a feeling Kovach will run against Clark for county exec, and that his name is being rumored for Congress and other positions just so that the GOP looks like they have more sane options than just Urquhart and O’Donnell.
As for primarying Clark, who besides Bill Dunn will do it?
It looks like it will be former Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart. This incomplete audit of the Insurance Department is amazing. Beau Biden needs to follow up on this …
http://resolutedetermination.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dept-of-insurance-final-audit-wagner-stewart-2011.pdf
Without a sex scandal, a GOP candidate must be left-leaning in order to get elected in a statewide race in Delaware. The Upper New Castle County voter population is just too big. And they’re 90% Union Dems and Welfare Dems. From Dover south it’s a whole ‘nother story. There just are not enough of us to even come close when the upstate Dems hit the polls.
The Upper New Castle County voter population is just too big. And they’re 90% Union Dems and Welfare Dems.
uh, Del – Sussex receives more government payments to individuals per capita than New Castle. Not to mention the farm subsidies. When austerity comes, nobody will be more surprised than Sussex conservatives. Just saying.
and
The Upper New Castle County voter population is just too big.
WTF?
Good stuff, DD.
Except after cutting his deal with Tiny Tony DeLuca, there’s no way that Bloviator Bonini gives up his senate district.
Keep in mind that all 21 districts have elections in the year after redistricting. Bonini ain’t giving that up for a race he can’t win.
Jim Van Houten is a Republican candidate for Insurance Commissioner and I hear one other name looking at a run or a return to the house.
E.S. is a correct that Senator Bonini will likely keep his seat not risk it on a long shot race.
Thank God for Mitch my ass, he gave $1,200 to Republican John Brady in the 2008 General Election as a Democrat and as Chairman of an RD.
I only give to Democrats and to those who support Democrats. Crane has no loyalty to the Party he serves and now wants our support. Looks to me like all he wanted was a job.
Oh, Anon, many Democrats supported and voted for John Brady in 2008, who has since become a Democrat. Many of us realized then how horrible KWS would be.
Anon = sock puppet. If you only voted for Dems that only gave to Dems, you;d probably only have yourself to vote for (that is if you’re even a Dem).
And Van Houten is a fraud. He lied about guarding General of the Army Omar Bradley to puff up his credentials with the teabagging gun crowd.
Brady became a democrat because he lost and then ran as a democrat and lost. There’s the kind of republican that warrants a democratic committee person contributing the maximum $1200 contribution. I believe the party rules call for the removal from office of any democratic committee person who contributes or inany way supports a republican.To review the bidding, we have one democratic candidate who contributed $1200 to the republican running for Ins. Commissioner and the other who took an illegal $10000 loan 6 weeks after the election which she pocketed. Hopefully another democrat will run
Surely, Mike Protack will be running for something in 2012. It’s an election year, after all. And bears do crap in the woods.
Sillypuss – Brady had been a Democrat for a long time before switching to the GOP. After the 2008 election, he realized that the GOP, especially in Sussex, was turning bat-shit crazy and that there was no room for him, so he came back home to the Dems. And as the GOP nominee for IC, he had the likes of Sam Wilson running around and calling him a faggot and that anyone who supported him was going to burn in Hell. So tell me, what party do you think John should be in?
BTW – I’ve also contributed to GOP candidates and I was a founder of Democrats for Anderson in Colorado in 1980 and a sitting member of the state party central committee.
Here are some facts:
Mitch has never been a chair of a RD.
The Democratic Party rules do not require a committeeperson to support the Dem ticket. Mitch checked that before he did what he did. As parliamentarian for the Sussex Dems, he certainly knows the rules.
Mitch has always put principles before party and he supported Brady, who is a friend of many of us, based on principle. His principles made him a Democrat, not the other way around.
And I even voted for him after trashing him on this blog.
Come on MJ play nice. name calling demeans your position. I’d venture a guess that Brady’s version of political musical chairs had little to do with the lack of enlightenment on sexual discrimination by the republican party but more to do with the fact thathe just wanted a good job. but this all begs the question “Why did he first switch to the republican party in the first place?”Brady is a political (either party and in fact working families party in the last election)hack that has always had his lips locked around the public tit.
Sysyphus and Anon,
This is DelawareLiberal.net not Deldems.org
Despite the R next to his name, I’d argue that John Brady was the more liberal candidate in the 2008 General election for IC. His 5 point plan: http://www.communitypub.com/politics/x1197760701/Profile-John-Brady-R-for-insurance-commissioner
….included a promise to raise awareness among Delaware families about the Federal CHIP program. I can’t imagine many Republicans today promoting federal welfare programs, which is probably one of the reasons that John, as MJ pointed out, has since left the party.
As for your argument that Mitch is somehow disqualified because he supported a Republican for the office in 08, you yourself have called KWS corrupt. Therefore, someone who supported an R candidate in order to purge a corrupt D candidate should hardly be vilified. Instead, I hope Mitch is successful where Brady wasn’t, and we can restore some sanity to that office.
While you have every right to vote straight ticket D every election, I prefer to vote for the person with more integrity, and whose views of the office line up more with my own, whether they be an R or a D.
Actually Sissyfits, Brady became an R because Tom “Holier than thou, now a great “friend” of the Gay community” Asshole Crapper told him he was “morally unfit” for a Demo nominatiion. Why don’t you do a lip lock on a gas pipe , idiot:)
As for UCBF’NS, or whatever, I don’t know who Tom “Holier than though, now a great “friend” of the Gay community” Asshole Crapper is, or for that matter where your anger issues stem from, but I’ll try to look them up in the Yellow Book, not that other book.
TOM CRAPPER Numb nuts are you Tha f’n slow:)?
Tom Crapper, still not ringing a bell. I know a Tom Carper.
Also, not really sure why you feel the need to use code names for everyone. It’s kind of weird. That is, unless you’re either an international espionage extraordinaire or you’re in 4th grade.
And your mother named you DEidealist???? Wow, Asswipe of the week material:)
Game, set, and match to DEIdealist!
UcantbeFnserious is moderated. The kid needs to come down off whatever drugs he or she is on and clean his or her act up.
UCBFS – it was actually asshat, not ass wipe. Now go away and soil someone else sandbox. You add nothing to the conversation here.
Now that that’s over and done with, anyone care to talk about the 2012 races?
We’re actually watching to see how the Sussex County Council redraws the district lines. Many of us fear that Sam, Vance and the other good old boys will push Joan Deaver into George Cole’s district, thus forcing her out of office.
Well, Russ Melrath did reasonably well against Cole in 2010, and he was an unknown. Deaver should be competitive.
But Cole won’t be up until 2014, so if they move her into his district, she’s out of office.
Russ ran a great race with little money and getting into it at the end of August. If memory serves me correctly, he didn’t decide to run until the day of the Sussex Jamboree. He made Cole actually campaign.
If re-districting moves Cole’s district (the 4th) totally south of Indian River Inlet then Joan won’t be in it. However some of maps have Cole retaining part of Rehoboth . It will be harder to beat Cole next time if he “wants” it ,but it is possible.
Capes – are you referring to the LWV map? If County Council accepts that, then Joan is safe.
Cohen dismisses Spence with a sniff: http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/8-11spence.asp
@ anon–
Cohen is right to dismiss Spence. He’s a 2 time loser in his home district. He has absolutely NO chance in a statewide race.
All that has to be done to push Joan into Cole’s district is to move the line north by a couple hundred feet. She lives right on the edge.
But we’ll know in two weeks, anyway.
n