OK, I’m cheating here a little. Melanie Smith and her husband have purchased a house outside of her RD. It is an open secret that she plans to leave the General Assembly at the end of her term. She sought a judgeship, but was rebuffed by the Nominating Committee. However, even had she chosen to stay in Dover, a progressive challenger would have been welcome. Yes, she was highly competent. Yes, she accomplished quite a bit when it came to criminal justice reform, to name but one issue. Yes, she was great on equality issues. But she also benefited greatly from her insider status, especially with her deals with Pete Schwartzkopf. And, especially in the last couple of years, Democratic constituencies suffered as she voted the Chamber line and backed Pete Schwartzkopf’s leadership. As Chair of the Joint Finance Committee, Smith did not hesitate to bring the hammer down on education, seniors, and health care during this year’s budget deliberations. She backed elimination of the Estate Tax and flipped from sponsoring death penalty abolition to supporting the death penalty.
The District: RD 5 was created specifically for Melanie, thanks to Bob Gilligan (Lonnie George’s co-henchperson at Del Tech). During the aughts, the district was shaped like a barbell, in blatant violation of redistricting standards. But the R’s didn’t object b/c putting all those D’s in George’s district helped protect R seats in NCC (yes, they held several seats in that general area at the time, including those of Terry Spence, Bruce Reynolds and Rich Davis and even Jeff Mack). Post-2012, the district is only slightly less barbellian than before:
CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE
The district is overwhelmingly Democratic, with registration figures of 10,706 D; 2,076 R; and 3,113 I. Did I say ‘overwhelmingly’? The proper word is ‘obscenely’. The very idea that a blatantly gerrymandered district like this was crafted for Lonnie George’s daughter to the detriment of other D legislators (and prospective D legislators) is political malpractice. This is not a City of Wilmington district. This is a district that was cut-and-pasted together to benefit just one person. In fact, if you look back to the 2002 through 2011 period, every single adjacent RD was held by a Republican. So, Melanie got her seat and the D’s had to wait to finally get their majority in 2008.
Prospects: No Republican can win in this district, it’s as simple as that. It’s a vacant seat come 2018, and it is imperative that someone who does not march to the tune of the Chamber of Commerce, Pete Schwartzkopf and Richards, Layton & Finger (Melanie’s entrenched law firm, it’s where Pete DuPont hung his shingle) occupies this seat. Someone who supports a minimum wage, someone who believes that Delaware’s wealthiest must pay their fair share, someone who believes that health care is a right, not a privilege, someone who believes that public education is essential in a democracy. You know, traditional Democratic priorities. Whoever wins this seat can likely occupy it for a long time. Progressives: Do not let this opportunity pass!