The Congressional Primary Lanes
A political party is generally made up of various ideological, geographical and demographic factions, and the candidate who best appeals to all of them, or is deemed acceptable by as many of those factions as possible, generally wins. But when a primary starts, it also is helpful to a primary candidate to start off with a base of support that he or she can build on.
Our Democratic Congressman since 2011, John Carney, is running for Governor, opening up his seat. And for the first time in many years, there is not an automatic heir to the position, a candidate that is seen as the “next in line.” So it is a wide open primary where everyone is jockeying for position.
We have three confirmed candidates already in: State Senator Bryan Townsend, State Representative Bryon Short, and former Secretary of Labor and CEO Lisa Blunt Rochester.
Sean Barney, the unsuccessful 2014 candidate for Treasurer, is considering the race as well, and if he does run, he will have the support of VoteVets, a politically active national veterans group.
“If Sean gets in, we will support him from day one because we believe he will win the race,” said Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of Portland, Oregon-based VoteVets. Barney [..] is an Iraq war veteran[.] Support from VoteVets likely would help Barney’s efforts. The group spent $4 million supporting and opposing candidates in the 2014 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions. VoteVets supported Barney’s campaign for treasurer.
Another candidate who I hear is getting into the race is former State Representative Dennis E. Williams, who was defeated in the 2014 Democratic Primary by current State Representative Sean Matthews. Wait… what? Yeah, I had the same reaction. Dennis Williams? Why? How?
You see the candidacies of Townsend, Short, Rochester and even Barney make sense politically at the start, because each has a base of support in the party. If you picture a primary race as a NASCAR race at Dover Downs, each party faction is actually a lane on the track that allows the candidate to get out in front and start running. Ideologically, Bryan Townsend is in the Progressive lane as the candidate of the Progressive faction of the party while Bryon Short is in the Carperdyne Systems lane as the candidate of the Carper-Markell-Corporate Democrat faction of the party. Lisa Blunt Rochester has well positioned demographically as she would be the first African American and first woman to win state-wide Federal office, plus she is from Wilmington with the Blunt family name. Sean Barney, if he runs, would have Veterans’ support.
What lane would Dennis E. Williams occupy? What party faction claims him as their own?
With the GOP in such a sorry state, all of these candidates could overlook the Dem primary base and start trying to sound like John Carney (Bi-partisanship Bitches!!). Even Townsend, I believe, could succumb to the siren call of the Delaware Way in this race.
The Delaware Way candidate is Short. But I can also see Rochester and Barney going the Delaware Way way. Townsend, though, I think will stick with what works for him.
Carperdyne Systems lane is going to get crowded.
The shame here is that we are talking about potentially four really good candidates running for the same position (which means that three of them will lose), while the NCC County Executive race is there for a one of these “clean” candidates to win.
What serious candidates are thinking of stepping up to run against G & G?
Four really good candidates? It’s a little early in the day for such heavy alcohol consumption.
Why not governor, for that matter. It is not Carney’s inherent “right” to be the candidate / governor.
LOL Geezer.
oops wrong thread.
The “Blunt family name” is not an advantage.
John Manifold, why not?
Geezer: #1 Its never too early for heavy alcohol consumption.
#2 the apparent current two candidates for NCC CE set the bar awfully low.
There are 3 candidates in the Carperdyne Systems lane. Barney was Carper’s Senate policy director, Short worked for Carper when he was Governor, and Rochester was in Carper’s cabinet.
1) Great name
2) That’s what I’m sayin’
@FMD: They don’t merely set the bar low. They dig it a ditch.