Delaware Political Weekly: March 31-April 6, 2012

That was quite the week.

1. Sen. Liane Sorenson Announces She Will Not Seek Reelection.

I wrote that this virtually guarantees that the D’s will retain control of the Senate by at least a 12-9 margin. What has dawned on me since is that there is the very real possibility, even as early as this year, more likely within the next four years, that there may be no Republican state senators from New Castle County. With Sorenson retiring, there are only two incumbents: Senators Dori Connor and Cathy Cloutier. Connor is in an overwhelmingly D district, and word is that she only wants to run for another two-year term anyway. How Democratic, you might ask? How does 18,542  registered D’s and 7,456 registered R’s sound to you? As discussed last week, Cloutier faces both a viable Democratic challenger in Chris Counihan and a possible primary challenger in Judy Travis. In response to the inevitable question, yes, I am both self-referential and self-reverential. Wouldn’t you be if you were me? Within four years, the only possible R seat could well be one currently held by the Democrats–if Greg Lavelle can knock off Michael Katz. Which will not be a cakewalk. Speaking of which…

2. Bad Form By Sen. Michael Katz.

You may have missed this Dialogue Delaware note from last week, but it’s my job to not miss such things:

Well, OK, I couldn’t find it. Bleeping News-Journal. But I remember it. In his quest to win reelection, Katz has hired someone to do opposition research on his opponent, Rep. Greg Lavelle. Nothing wrong with that, all’s fair in love and politics. What’s wrong, I mean really wrong, is that the Katz campaign has tried to force the Office of the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to gather all sorts of information on Lavelle’s voting history, his statements on the floor, and legislation he has sponsored. That, to put it mildly, is wrong. This is not a FOIA issue. All of this information is readily available. Does it take some time to go through the roll calls, the sponsor reports, House journals, etc.? Of course. But the information is easy to access if you know how to access it. Almost all of it, if not all, is available on line. And Michael Katz has hired someone to do this! The two busiest people in Dover are Rich Puffer, Chief Clerk for the House, and Bernard Brady, Secretary of the Senate. More than anyone, they make sure that their respective branches function efficiently on a day-to-day basis. They work in a non-partisan manner, and are highly respected by members of all the respective caucuses. Senator Katz: You are wrong to try to get the Chief Clerk to do the job you are paying someone else to do. If the person you’ve hired doesn’t know how to get the information, hire someone else. I’m available, for example. And I could use the money…lots of money.

3. Former Rep. Shirley Price Seeks Return to Dover.

Shirley Price and John Schroeder were two very good Democratic reps who were effectively gerrymandered out of their districts in the 2002 redistricting. The popular Price was not able to overcome the registration edge in her redrawn district, and lost to Gerald Hocker. Wayne Smith was able to get rid of the two D’s by drawing districts in western and central Sussex that almost, but not quite, fell below the legal minus 5% population deviation from the permissible standard while pumping up the corresponding population in D districts to the max. As reported by Delaware Dem, Price now has the chance to recapture her old 38th District seat again. She has announced that she is running. If R Sussex County Councilman George Cole does not make the race, she could well be the favorite. Glad to see her back in the game.

4. Rep. Biff Lee Announces His Retirement.

Said he would have run if someone hadn’t decided to run against him. Which says it all. He would have won, he just didn’t even want to work for it. 22 years in the General Assembly following a career as a state cop. Pensions have him set for life. Didn’t do much of anything. The Democrat who has filed is Ray Adkins, who seems to be a combination realtor/small business owner with some ties to Sen. Bob Venables. Who knows? Maybe he was running this year to set himself up as Venables’ possible successor in two years. Adkins opponent? Laurel pastor Tim Dukes, who says that “family, life, and freedom are essential in serving the 40th District.” Okey-doke. Dukes’ church’s Greatest Hits include ‘The Rapture’ and ‘The Millenialists’ Thousand Year Reign of Christ’. Check it out here.

5. Developments in Wilmington Mayoral and Council Races.

Citing possible Hatch Act issues, Bill Montgomery, Mayor James Baker’s Chief of Staff, announced yesterday that he will resign his post to focus full-time on running for mayor. To campaign for mayor, it would have been impractical for Montgomery to remain in the COS position much longer anyway. Especially since it would continue to tie him directly to Mayor Baker.

In addition, both Dennis P. Williams and Kevin Kelley officially filed to join Montgomery in the mayoral primary this week. As of this week, we also have two primaries for Wilmington councilmanic races.  Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha has filed in the 1st Councilmanic District, setting up a primary with Sam Guy.  Chukwuocha was until recently the director of the Kingswood Community Center. John Erikson has filed in the 7th Councilmanic District, setting up a primary with former Wilmington policeman Robert A. Williams. A quick search didn’t turn up any public information on Erikson. So…help me out here.

6. Charles Paradee to Take On Lincoln Willis.

While I wish that this had happened two years ago, I am psyched that Paradee has decided to run again. You may recall that Paradee almost knocked off Pam Thornburg in this Kent County  29th District back in 2008. In fact, initial results indicated that he had. Willis has established himself more effectively than most during his first two years, IMHO. However, this has all the earmarks of a competitive race. This oughtta be fun.

7. DeLuca Makes It Official.

The primary is on. President Pro-Tempore Tony DeLuca has filed for reelection, and will face Bryan Townsend in one of this year’s most intriguing primaries.

8. Protack Files. Dog Bites Man.

This time, he’s filed for New Castle County President, where, unless primaried, he will serve as the sacrificial lamb against whomever emerges from a Democratic primary contest. I like the fact that he is both an embarrassment to, and a thorn in the side of, the Delaware Rethuglican Party. That’s what happens in a party without viable candidates.

9. Filings, We Have Filings.

Incumbent Rep. Debbie Hudson (R-12th District); Democrat David Ellis (D-22nd), where he’ll presumably take on either Joe Miro or Nick Manolakos , two R’s who have been gerrymandered into the same solidly Republican district; incumbent Wilmington Councilman-At-Large Justen Wright; Georgette E. Williams, for Kent County Comptroller; and Sen. Bob Venables (D-21st District).

When it comes to candidate recruitment and incumbent retirements, this was close to a dream week for Democrats and an ongoing nightmare for the R’s.

That’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?