1. Musical Chairs In Wilmington
Two new positions are open, but the names are old and…shopworn. With City Councilman Charles Potter running for Dennis P. Williams’ RD 1 seat, guess who has reemerged to seek Potter’s seat? I’ll give you a hint. He was once suspended from practicing law in the State of Delaware for 18 months. That’s right. Sam Guy. He’s ba-a-a-ck. Already filed for election. You may not want to eat before you go to his website. Not sure what my favorite excerpt is from the site, although I’m kinda partial to this one:
He is referred to by some as “JusticeDE” and “Governor” in recognition of his statewide efforts in support of justice, fairness, and equal opportunity, thus leading to the receipt of numerous awards.
(Parenthetical Aside: I am referred to by some as “John Holmes’ Bigger Brother”. Uh, except without that AIDS thingy.)
I remember Guy’s disastrous non-foray into redistricting when he promised that he would lead an effort to have the courts overturn Wayne Smith’s Picassoesque gerrymander of the State House of Representatives in 2002, and then proceeded to do…nothing. I also remember this. My favorite excerpt from this hearing for Guy’s reinstatement to the practice of law:
Initially we deemed it appropriate that the Petitioner be suspended for seven months. We note that he has, in fact, remained suspended for almost eighteen months. Almost all of the delay during the reinstatement process can be attributed to the Petitioner’s (Guy’s) own conduct.
There’s still time. Here’s hoping that someone, you know, good, will run for this seat.
In a surprise to me, City Council President Norman Griffiths announced that he would not seek reelection, nor would he seek election to any other office this cycle. For about 15 seconds, I was a kid again, excitedly wondering what new figure might emerge on Wilmington’s political landscape. And then, and then…this guy said that he was running. Look, I’ve got nothing against Theo Gregory, but, after 24 years on Council, what new thinking could he possibly bring to the table?
2. Wilmington Mayoral Town Hall Meeting
Memo to WDEL: I tried to find the link to your broadcast, but could not. I’d love to provide the link if it’s available…
I was not at the debate. However, I was at WDEL when the news department was cutting the sound bites for use. Rep. Dennis P. Williams appears to be running a traditional law and order campaign a la Frank Rizzo or Rudy Giuliani. Councilman Kevin Kelley is running a neighborhood-oriented campaign, and sounds like he can be a viable candidate. I was most surprised at the not-ready-for-prime-time performance of Bill Montgomery, Mayor Baker’s Chief of Staff. I like Bill Montgomery, I like him a lot. But he is (perhaps fatally as a candidate) burdened by the Baker legacy. If there is one thing that people don’t like about Mayor Baker, it’s his perceived arrogance. I thought that this was where Montgomery would strike out on his own. However, he criticized others for not recognizing the ‘slog’, his word, that’s required for the job. My initial response was, if you’ve been slogging for 11 years and this is as far as you’ve gotten, perhaps what’s needed is a different slogger altogether. The closest analogy I can conjure up for the spot that Montgomery finds himself in is that he’s Hubert Humphrey to Baker’s Lyndon Baines Johnson. And, to state the obvious, Humphrey was an immensely-gifted politician. Montgomery has yet to demonstrate that. The sum, part and parcel constituency for Rev. Derrick Johnson’s campaign appears to be the members of his congregation who papered the house. Bob Marshall was not there. And Scott Spencer was.
3. Andy Staton Running for Sussex County Senate Seat
Democrat Andy Staton is running full out for the new Sussex County State Senate District. With close-to-unanimous support from local and statewide Democratic leaders, and very strong support from House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, Staton has a great chance to be elected this year. Especially since R’s Glen Urquhart and Ernesto Lopez are involved in an R primary. While the two R’s have each promised to support each other, a bitter primary will do them no good. And it’s hard to imagine Urquhart running a ‘feel’-good’ primary against another R. Regardless, this is very important for the D’s. If they win this seat, it will effectively ensure continued D control of the State Senate. He’s already raised $20K, and I see no problem with him raising big bucks for this race.
4. Filing(s)
In addition to the Sam Guy filing, which actually took place last week, the only new candidate to file is Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden for the 2nd Representative District. You will recall that Bolden ended the Al/Hazel Plant dynasty by challenging Hazel Plant in a 2010 primary, and now appears firmly entrenched. The Plants had served in the House for 34 years, 24 for Al and 10 for Hazel.
BTW, The reason why there are so few filings is that, other than the Democratic Party in New Castle County, the county parties have yet to establish their filing fees. Without filing fees, there can be no filings.
Political Trivia: OK, political junkies, this should be an easy one. The Plant Dynasty was interrupted briefly in the 1990’s by a one-term state rep. Name that one-hit wonder.
Well, that’s it for this week. What did I miss?