Delaware Political Weekly: March 15-21, 2014
1. Ken Simpler Files as R Candidate for Treasurer.
And he’s the prototypical Republican candidate–circa 1980.
St. Andrews grad.
Princeton undergrad. MBA and JD from the University of Chicago.
Owner and CFO of Seaboard Hotels.
Previously Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group.
He and his wife are restoring a 200-acre farm near Newark.
Other than being born and raised in Rehoboth rather than Greenville, this is your traditional Republican candidate for office. Should Chip Flowers survive a Democratic primary, I just might vote for him. Simpler, I mean.
2. Sean Lynn Has (At Least) One Primary Opponent in the 31st RD.
You may recall that Sean Lynn sent out a release last week saying that…well, let’s just reprint the whole thing:
I received a very unusual call yesterday afternoon from my friend and colleague Darryl Scott. What I thought was to be a fairly routine conversation about a common issue facing the City of Dover or a project that Mr. Scott was working on and needed assistance with, was actually the disheartening news that he had decided not to seek reelection.
Darryl informed me that my name had been circulated as a potential candidate for his vacant seat.
I was too stunned at the time to say what I ought to have said, which was simply “thank you” for the thought, the call, and the confidence he had placed in me by including me in a small group of individuals that he felt comfortable carrying on the hard work he has performed for our district over the last several years. I rectified my omission last night by calling back and leaving him a voice mail simply expressing my gratitude.
After some long conversations with my wife, Alexis Richardson Lynn, and my family, together with my friends and colleagues at Baird Mandalas Brockstedt, I’ve decided to take up the challenge and run for Representative Scott’s seat, representing the 31st Legislative District.
I am very excited about this opportunity. Candidly, I didn’t sleep a wink last night trying to determine if this was the right path for my family and I. I think it is, and I hope you agree.
I would ask all of my neighbors and friends for their support in this endeavor. I could use a hand!
Thanks!
Now, he didn’t technically say that he had been endorsed by Scott. But people close to Scott were, to put it mildly, displeased with his implication. I was told that Scott had called several people to let them know of his decision and to let them know that he would not endorse anybody. So, Lynn’s in, but he unnecessarily ruffled some pretty important feathers in the manner that he entered the race. I was also told that there would be other challengers. And now we have one. His name is Ralph Taylor, Jr., and…I have no idea if he is a serious candidate. My search turned up…nothing. Who would like to fill in the blanks? BTW, I seriously doubt that there will only be two candidates in this primary.
3. We Have Filings
Newly-filed this week: Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (D-SD 2), Rep. Mike Mulrooney (D-RD 17), Ciro Poppiti (D-NCC Register of Wills), Councilwoman Lisa Diller (yay!) (D-NCC District 5).
this is your traditional Republican candidate for office. Should Chip Flowers survive a Democratic primary, I just might vote for him. Simpler, I mean.
I was just thinking If the Third Way candidate wins the treasurer’s primary, I might vote for Simpler. It’s good to hear we agree Simpler is an acceptable alternative.
Simpler is at least plausibly competent, until proven otherwise.
Chip’s been proven otherwise.
It would be nice to hear Simpler openly disavow Teabagism. I’m not holding my breath though.
Unless there are two Ken Simplers from Rehoboth, Delaware who attended Princeton in the late 1980’s, this is illuminating:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/26/nyregion/2-at-princeton-get-jail-terms-for-roles-in-pledge-drinking.html
I don’t have a problem necessarily with this. He drank. He hazed others to drink. He got in trouble. He was charged, tried, convicted and presumably he served his sentence and learned his lesson. He was in college. Youthful indiscretions and what not that I am sure he regrets today.
What I do have a problem with this the very different world these rich Republicans come from. Private Eating Clubs? What the fuck is that?
These eating clubs are a Princeton thing. Most Princeton upperclassmen belong to an eating club. It is not only food but a social bonding thing like a fraternity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_clubs_at_Princeton_University
It’s Princeton thing, although other universities have them as well. Sort of a coed social club. Not really haute bourgeoisie but certainly not proletarian. So maybe petite bourgeoisie. Anyway, the food is mostly mediocre (at least in my experience which is limited). It’s mostly about socializing.
Things that can ruin a poor person’s life are not even minor speed bumps for the wealthy.
I don’t get the brouhaha over Lynn’s announcement, or why it needed additional emphasis that Scott called “several” people. Doesn’t the announcement *explicitly* state that?
“… and the confidence he had placed in me by including me in a small group of individuals that he felt comfortable carrying on the hard work he has performed…”
All those people whose feathers were ruffled, did they just not read all the words? Did they get a different copy? How did that outrage go? “How dare he say that Rep. Scott called a small group of individuals to encourage them to run. I’ll have you know that Rep. Scott called SEVERAL individuals to encourage them to run.” Am I missing something?
I really hope that Nancy Wagner runs for the 31st again
Soooooo going to Princeton for this guy is a problem but the Third Way guy going to Yale is a reason to vote for him? I’m not really sure what the criticism is here.
IMO Simpler seems to be the only person actually qualified to do the job. And I’m a Democrat.
If the Yaley got caught up in drunken frat boy antics that lead to incarceration I wouldn’t vote him either.
El Som – thoughts on the Lynn overreaction?
Rep. Scott’s people believed that Lynn misrepresented any support that Scott might have for him. That was made clear to me. It was also made clear to me that this is not the first time they believed that Lynn had done something like this.
I guess we’ll just have to see whether it was an ‘overreaction’ or not. The primary will be the ultimate test.
Are any of Rep. Scott’s people on DL that can speak specifically to how/why this was interpreted as offensive? Seems to me that there has to be more to the story – taken ‘sola scriptura’, I don’t think the release has the implications that they’re claiming…
Chip Flowers is a disgrace and only in Delaware would this loser playboy have a decent chance of getting another position servicing the public…