You knew this one was coming. Failure to field a progressive challenger in this district would be political malpractice.
The District. Perhaps no RD was made safer for D’s during the 2012 redistricting than the 32nd . It went from a swing-D district to a totally safe district.
The district encompasses basically the easternmost portions of Dover along with Little Creek (pronounced Little Crick) thrown in. Just click on the map to enlarge it.
The Incumbent: Other than the D after her name, Andria Bennett has very little going for her as an incumbent. She represents the Chamber of Commerce instead of her constituents. She has consistently voted to kill minimum wage legislation in Bryon Short’s Legislative Lapdog Committee. She singlehandedly ensured that income tax increases for Delaware’s wealthiest would not even be considered as part of the 2017 revenue package. Meaning, she ensured that $30 million would be cut from education funding and ensured that seniors in her district would experience service cuts as well. Not to mention a whole raft of other cuts. That’s what her vote against the Personal Income Tax legislation meant. She has few ties to the district, other than the fact that she married the incumbent state rep after having an affair with him. She became the state rep after he had to resign due to his second DUI arrest. Her roots are in New Castle, where her father, Rep. John Viola, resides. (Don’t worry, he’s the subject of an upcoming Mo’ Better Dems.) Oh, and the ‘Bennett’ name (you do know that former Rep. Brad Bennett’s dad was longtime Dover Rep. Ed Bennett, don’t you? That name is what he rode to victory.) has been more than a little tarnished over the past few years.
The Outlook: I don’t think that Andria Bennett can survive a Democratic primary. In fact, her electoral position is so precarious that she might not even run. The question becomes: Do we let Pete handpick her successor, or do we find someone dedicated to supporting traditional Democratic principles to run? Make no mistake: Pete’s probably more than a little PO’d at Bennett’s vote. You can bet that any candidate that he backs is one who will back him. In every way. Why not, instead, find someone to support a decent wage, protect services to the most vulnerable, fight for public education, and challenge the anti-democratic Democratic House leadership team?
That’s the gauntlet I’m throwing down. Either we find someone to represent Democratic (big D and small d) principles, or resign ourselves to another lackey who Speaker Pete can control.