1. BREAKING NEWS!: Rich Krett Withdraws from NCC Executive Race; Dirty Tricks By Paul Clark the Cause?
This stinks big-time. Let me first post Krett’s withdrawal announcement:
MIDDLETOWN – Today I am reluctantly withdrawing from the race for New Castle County Executive. I have made my decision solely on what I believe to be in the best interests of the citizens of New Castle County and their county government based upon the following events.
On Wednesday, March 7th, I was informed by Greg Wilson, Paul Clark’s Acting Chief Administrative Officer, that my name was included as one of two alternate contacts on a federal grant application submitted by the New Castle County Department of Public Safety. This grant is earmarked to purchase a driving simulator for the Department of Public Safety to be used in the training of emergency responders throughout New Castle County. Based on the inclusion of my name in the grant application, which was done without my knowledge, Mr. Wilson informed me my candidacy may violate the Hatch Act.
After being notified of this potential issue, I immediately took steps to have my name removed from the grant application and sought the advice of the United States Office of Special Counsel.
I value my employment with New Castle County and I have worked hard for positive change in the New Castle County paramedic service for over two and a half decades. As many people know, I sought election to the office of New Castle County Executive on the promise that I would address the many serious issues confronting our county government and would do so in a manner that instills confidence in the citizens that their county government can run efficiently and honestly.
In this vein, I believe the issue created over the grant application by the Paul Clark administration would be a distraction, albeit a “politics as usual” type distraction, and detract from the serious issues this election should be about.
I will remain committed to New Castle County and its citizens. I will continue to serve honorably in my role as Assistant Chief of the New Castle County Paramedics and I remain dedicated to ensuring that we continue to provide the best service possible. Finally, I plan to remain an active voice in the community and a champion of ethical and responsible government.
This smacks of pure evil on the part of Paul Clark. Put the guy’s name on a Federal grant application w/o his knowledge, and then threaten him with a Hatch Act violation. I wish Krett would stand and fight, but people simply can’t afford to throw away their livelihoods, and I understand why he feels he can’t.
Nevertheless, Krett has performed an invaluable public service. If there was any lingering doubt, he has smoked out Paul Clark as the conscienceless lowlife that he is. I wish Rich Krett all the best, and hope that he will consider running for public office in the future.
2. Sen. George Bunting Retires; Seat Likely to go Republican
One of the reasons why this is big news is because it’s such a rarity when Senate seats are vacated by retirement. Death, yes. Being carted out of Leg Hall feet first, yes. Being defeated, exceedingly rare, but, as Nancy Cook found out, not unprecedented. This retirement is also big news b/c once this district flips, it’s not likely to flip back any time soon. If Rep. Gerald Hocker runs, it’s his, for all intents and purposes. This is not merely, or even primarily, a matter of registration and voter preferences. It’s also due to a longstanding failure of Sussex County Democratic leadership and a failure of the Senate Democratic Caucus to give even two shits about candidate recruitment/candidate training. Polly Mervine, anybody? That, in fact, is a classic example of how insular the vision of what passes for the Party in Sussex has been. If it wasn’t for Pete Schwartzkopf, who truly understands the necessity of candidate recruitment and training, and who really works at it, we’d be staring at an even vaster wasteland for D prospects in Sussex. A complete wasteland, in fact. And, when President Pro-Tempore Tony DeLuca views principled opponents like Bunting as tumors to be excised, and wields the redistricting pen like a scalpel, the surgery invariably leads to fewer D’s in the Senate.
3. A Good Week for Mitch Crane
As reported earlier this week, Vincent White withdrew from the Insurance Commissioner race and endorsed fellow Democrat Mitch Crane. For those concerned about a splintered primary leading to a KES renomination, this was good news for two reasons: (1) White outlined the foolhardiness of such an approach, and delivered an attack on Karen Weldin Stewart that laid out her stunning incompetence very effectively; and (2) this may have been somewhat overlooked, but this endorsement was engineered by the Crane campaign, who actually sent out the press release, and demonstrated real competence on the part of Crane’s campaign team. Needless to say, that bodes well for September if you are a Crane supporter. Crane also took part in a live interview with Delaware Liberal. Just watch it, and ask yourself whether you’d rather have Crane or Karen Weldin Stewart as IC. If you plan to vote in the primary, you really owe it to yourself. We are attempting to arrange for an interview with Paul Gallagher. Always better to hear directly from the candidates as opposed to merely their surrogates.
4. Counihan Files the Paperwork, Will Take on Cloutier
Chris Counihan may be the underdog, but his challenge to incumbent State Sen. Cathy Cloutier (R-Heatherbrooke) in the 5th District is indeed a winnable race. Especially since Cloutier has made so much over her support of gay rights only to be absent when supporters of equality needed her the most. Some of her most ardent supporters are now well aware of her (in)actions, and this could help Counihan build on his already competitive (mid-40’s %) strength from last time and win the seat. Once held, this seat is likely to remain a Democratic district, based on registration. And, D’s take note, this could be the seat that determines the balance of power in the State Senate.
Filings, We Have Filings
In addition to Chris Counihan, the following candidates filed for office this week: State Sen. Dave Sokola (D-8th District); State Senator Bruce Ennis (D-14th District); NCC Councilman David Tackett (11th District); and Wilmington Councilman Eric Robinson (3rd District).
That’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?