1. Gleanings From the Campaign Finance Reports.
Some stuff that hasn’t been reported that I find interesting. YMMV:
*The Rev. Chris Bullock has raised a pretty impressive amount of money, $42 K overall, with almost $16 K of it coming from contributions of $100 or less. That’s a lot of small contributions for a race this size. Renee Taschner has raised $22K. I admit I don’t know why I’ve seen nothing from the Bullock campaign, and have seen far more activity from Taschner. Maybe it’s just anecdotal, or maybe Bullock is focusing virtually all of his resources in Wilmington. I think that’d be a mistake, especially since he has the dollars to be competitive elsewhere. I don’t care how large the City vote is, it’s only about 11% or so of the county population.
*Cross the Burton/Longhurst race off of the ‘intriguing’ list. James Burton has raised $1150 dollars. Next.
*The Booth/Bodenweiser race doesn’t appear to be attracting big bucks. Bodie has lent his campaign $22 K, and Booth had raised about $20 K, but only a little over $7 K this year. I once again ask our Sussex spies: Is this race actually ‘low-key’? What’s goin’ on?
*The 6 SD race in eastern Sussex could well shatter the record for the most $$’s spent in a State Senate race. In fact, I predict it ultimately will. Staton, Lopez and Urquhart have raised and spent a lot already, and the ante will only be be upped in the general. BTW, Bob Frederick has only raised about $4500, almost all from family. No way he can compete with Andy Staton, who has raised, wait for it…$82K. Yikes! Staton’s also got lots of cash-on-hand.
*If money talks, then Bill Montgomery could still win the Mayoral primary. Already raised $62 K, almost twice as much as Kelley or Williams. However, he’s burned through his money quickly, so he’ll need refueling. BTW, Kelley and Williams have a much higher percentage of small contributions than Montgomery.
*Wow, Dennis Spivack has raised a nice sum of money, but appears to have pissed away even more than he raised on polling and professional consulting fees. How could he have raised over $40 K and wasted it like that? Here’s how: $12K for a pollster and $18,750 for ‘professional advisor costs’. Perhaps the pollster and advisor are recommending that he remain invisible…or maybe he’s polling for someone who can’t afford polling…strange stuff here.
*Sean Matthews has had little success in raising $$’s for his primary challenge of Rep. Dennis E. Williams in the 10th. Less than $3K in contributions and about $6K in loans. Williams has had an aggregate of about $30K available. Matthews should’ve waited.
2. You’re More Corrupt. No, YOU’RE More Corrupt.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Gordon and Paul Clark ‘debating’ each other. I’m voting for Shahan. He could be corrupt, for all I know. But Gordon and Clark have already proven to me that they are corrupt. BTW, WDEL, I searched for an audio link, but couldn’t find one. Please feel free to post it here. People deserve to hear this.
3. Is Williams Feeling the Heat?
It could well simply be supporters of other campaigns pumping up anecdotal stories, but we’re getting more reports of his temper showing through. Since the best coverage of the Wilmington mayoral race is being done right here at DL (here’s a great example), we can all follow along. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Williams ends up more closely tied to Baker due to his short fuse than Baker’s own chief of staff?
4.Poliquin Bows Out. Or So He Says.
Barred from practicing law this week, Ron Poliquin announced he was dropping out of the race for the 31st RD seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Darryl Scott. He is still officially listed as running and, as we know, nothing is ever certain in the Bizarro political universe of Kent County (*cough Andria Bennett cough*), but that’s what he said. Fortunately, “The Honorable” can always eke out a living in the squared circle in the game of human chess known as professional wrestling.
That’s it for this week. What did I miss and whaddayathink?