It’s Jason Hortiz in the 9th RD
Apparently the 9th RD Committee voted last night to nominate Jason Hortiz to replace Representative Rebecca Walker on the ballot. It would seem that the race came down to two former Republicans in past lives: the aforementioned Jason Hortiz, and Andye Daley, who once was Tom Kovach’s campaign manager. Without knowing how close the vote was, Andye Daley posted on Facebook last night that Jason had won.
Everyone I have heard from speak very well of both candidates, how each’s conversion from being a Republican was sincere, how each were good people, and how each were genuinely involved and interested in the 9th RD. I hope this is true, and I hope Mr. Hortiz turns out to be a good Democratic legislator should he win the election. When I first posted about this RD race in the 9th on Friday, about wondering if Mr. Hortiz still retained any Republican principles and wondering if we witnessing a repeat of the John Atkins affair in 2008 (where he was convinced to change parties and vote to put the Democrats in the majority, but otherwise he was and he voted as a Republican), I received some push back on the fact that the 9th RD was a conservative leaning district and that means we have to nominate a conservative.
To which I say, Bullshit. Sure, it is fine in the Democratic party to have certain differences of opinion on some issues. We will forgive someone who is pro-death penalty, as there is a geniune split of opinion on that issue. Gun control too. There is a genuine split on that issue too. But pro-choice, anti-discrimination, pro-marriage equality, etc.? If you in the 9th want someone nominated who wants to repeal Obamacare and impeach Obama, wants to cut taxes on the rich and cut spending everywhere in government, except for those farm subsidies of course, who thinks climate change is a hoax, etc, etc, well, how about you nominate the Republican candidate who has already been nominated.
Whether or not he’s a ‘good’ Democrat pretty much pales in contrast to the sleazy manner in which he got the nomination.
Total cynicism. “Becky, go ahead and file, then withdraw after the deadline. We don’t want the Great Unwashed deciding the nominee.”
Which is how Jason Hortiz becomes the ONLY Democrat voters in the 9th get to consider.
What a joke. Consider Carper, Gilligan foisting Atkins on us, and now this – being a Democrat in Delaware means nothing.
Correction – To be a registered Democrat in Delaware is to be a fucking idiot.
According to Speaker Schwartzkopf, whom I spoke with over the weekend concerning this whole ordeal, the reason for her withdrawal had to do with her new employer objecting to the hours she was spending on her General Assembly duties. Pete was as incredulous as I was in that reasoning, since the employer should have been well aware of the the number of hours a legislator spends in Dover during the final weeks of the session.
Why didn’t the committee consider Richard Griffiths?
Hey DD!
You really do need to talk to candidate Hortiz before you put words in his mouth. In your defense, some of your accusations have been circulating as rumors, probably started by his opponent, but there is no foundation for this. Talk to Hortiz and then let us know what you think.
I am calling bullshit on this anti-Hortiz thing.
There were two former Republicans (now Democrats) that threw their hat in the ring. Both are active in Democratic politics now and both are competent individuals (from personal interactions with both). The committee couldn’t select someone that didn’t express interest in the job (Griffiths told me a few weeks ago that he wasn’t planning to run for anything in the foreseeable future).
If you are dissatisfied with the choices and you live in the district, join the committee, get involved, put your hat in the ring. Quit cursing darkness if you refuse to switch on the light.
It wasn’t very long ago that we were high-fiving each other that Markell convinced a lot of R’s to switch parties to vote for him. Now, some of those people are running for office. It is a natural consequence.
I’m calling bullshit on this calling of bullshit. This was rigged. The guy is a George Bush voting Fraud-ocrat. I’m a hating hater and I’m gonna hate.
Rigged by whom, exactly? If there is someone that deserves scorn, it is probably Walker. She has thrown a lot of people under the bus here. I doubt that this was some grand conspiracy to defraud voters out of a choice.
Knowing the players involved fairly well, I would put my money on almost every one of them being in the dark about RW’s plans until after the filing deadline.
I agree that Walker acted cynically. As she did when she went back on her decision not to run in 2010.
If you like Hortiz, then I respect your judgement. You know that district very well.
But this whole thing of Walker filing during the last week, then withdrawing as soon as the deadline for others to file had passed, smells real bad. It’s almost impossible to believe that wasn’t orchestrated, and that others weren’t in on it.
What’s your take on that, LG?
I’ve been away during the whole thing, so my guesses are just that. The most simple explanation is that Walker thought that she could make the whole real-job situation work out and when she filed, someone called her into their office.
Are there people in the area that think they can play political games? Sure. But Dickie Burris and most of the rest of the people on the committee are reasonable people that lack (cue sinister music) AN AGENDA. Most of them are just trying to pick the person that will have the best chance of victory in November.
They can certainly be wrong, but I don’t think there was any malice. I don’t currently subscribe to any conspiracy theories about the whole situation. In my whole time on committees (two different committees in 5 or 6 years) I was never contacted by “high Dems” to influence my vote or to play any games. Usually that stuff backfires, I would guess.
“… someone called her into their office.”
Doesn’t pass the sniff test. What employer would not love to have an employee in the State House?
“Most of them are just trying to pick the person that will have the best chance of victory in November.”
That’s probably true. Since Scheisskopf appears to have no Democratic core values and considers Atkins a Democrat in good standing, he has no criteria other than electability.
Actually, an employer that, you know, likes to have you doing your job from January to July. Being a legislator in Delaware doesn’t pay enough for it to be a full-time job. It is one of the reasons that it is peopled by self-employed people and retired cops.
According to a friend on FB that knows Hortiz and his employer, it is going to be a point of friction for Hortiz if he wins. It would be a point of friction for me if I ran for office and I bet it would be a point of friction for anyone that lives somewhere between “hourly role-playing employee” and “officer-level employee”.
While the Germanofile in me likes the moniker that you have chosen for Pete, I would be surprised if he spoke to anyone on the committee other than Walker (when she called him).
Here is my prediction – Hortiz is going to be much more conservative than the district and will – without a doubt – vote with Atkins more than with Paul Baumbach. (But the only vote that matters to Scheisskopf is the vote he has now locked down for his speakership.)
Being a registered Democrat in Delaware is to be a sucker. I guess I’m just sick of it. I’m going to go on being a hater, and probably an independent, until proven wrong.
And which of the two Republican-turned-Democratic candidates do you think would have voted like Baumbach? Or is there an imaginary candidate that didn’t throw their hat in the ring that would have made you feel less like a sucker?
Nope.
We have such a low bar for what it means to be a Democrat now that it literally means nothing. That’s all I’m saying. I’m a sucker, I suppose, because I think “Democrat” should mean something.
It does. But that assumption also relies on people like Paul Baumbach, Brian Townsend and John Kowalko to stand up and suffer the slings and arrows of being a candidate. In the 9th, two people did so.
In the situation that the committee found themselves in, I think they have behaved reasonably. It would have been better if there was a primary and the candidates could have duked it out in the court of public opinion, but that wasn’t an option (thanks to Becky Walker).
If you want a liberal Democrat in the 9th, find them. This race is now a toss-up in my opinion. If you start your search now, they can be well-positioned if Hortiz loses in November.
Honestly, I didn’t think Becky would leave for a decade or more, so to have a political position in Middletown open up for an up-and-coming Democrat is rare. If the liberal multitude in the 9th were politically active, I bet they would have had a good shot at the ballot this time around.
Ok so this is what I’ve learned. And I’m pretty excited Abt the fact that Hortiz is running. #1 he’s been deeply involved in the party since 2007. He was with Ennis when he went from house to senate, Hall-long when she went from house to senate and was very involved with Rep Walker. #2. From people I know down here who are involved in the community with him they tell me he is undoubtably a strong supporter of marriage equality, anti gender discrimination etc and women’s rights to choose. They also say there’s no chance we get him to get on board with the repeal because he is pro death penalty. However….a somewhat big however…. He has apparently said openly if we do not have the appropriate drugs to carry out the execution (I’m assuming that means the sedation and actual final drug that ends the life) than he wouldn’t rule out suspending the death penalty for a full review to make sure it isn’t cruel and unusual. I can live with the death pen but from what I’m hearing people are actually excited Abt him running.
From people I know down here who are involved in the community with him they tell me he is undoubtably a strong supporter of marriage equality, anti gender discrimination etc and women’s rights to choose.
GAA-AAAH!! (tears remaining hair out)
Democrats need to find a new litmus test. What about jobs, infrastructure spending, taxation, regulatory oversight, and labor policy?
In spite of being a Dick Cathcart protégé, I hear that he is opposed to punching babies. That’s something.
Bursting bubbles…BHL admitted to have started making calls to the committee weeks ago for Hortiz. So that pretty much blows the “high dem” cover and finger pointing at Walker for what happened in the 9th. The timing is too suspicious. The timeline doesn’t hold. Come on!
Handpicked and promised. I will blow a gasket if Hortiz ends up with a state job because he has to quit BoA this winter – but then, isn’t there a law now in place to prevent that?
Auntie Dem – why can’t Jason Hortiz speak for himself – give us his answers to DE DEM’s questions. You, Tim and LG seem to know him pretty well. Can’t someone get HIS responses on the record?
Hey Nancy,
You are too right. Hortiz should speak for himself and I’ve been told that he plans to contact DD soon. I hope he does and sets the record straight.