Meet Your New State Legislators

I know, I know, election’s not until November.  However, there were several contested primaries, and the winners of many of those primaries face no opposition in November.  So, they’ll be on the payroll the day after the election.  Let’s take a look at them, accompanied by my occasionally trenchant analysis:

Senate District 2: Darius Brown won a four-way primary over Bobbie Cummings and twin miscreants Sam Guy and Herman Holloway, Jr.  It was probably the least bad result we could have hoped for.  Brown had previously worked as a legislative aide to Margaret Rose Henry and has been pretty much a constant candidate for office in recent years. He ran, and narrowly lost, to Velda Jones-Potter, for Wilmington Treasurer in 2016. In fairness, had Ken Matlusky not run and played the role of spoiler, he might have won. Also in fairness, Brown had no background in accounting, which Matlusky did. Senator Henry had decided that it was time for her to retire. She would have easily won reelection otherwise.  My question: Will Darius form a working coalition with Tizzy Lockman, Bryan Townsend, Dave Sokola and the one or two other progressive senators, or will he fall under the thrall of the ethically-bankrupt Nicole Poore?  I don’t know. Considering that Margaret was clearly not as engaged as in previous years, I call the Brown for Henry swap a push.

Senate District 3: Tizzy Lockman and Jordan Hines engaged in the kind of primary race that is all-too-rare. Next to no vitriol, very issues-oriented, and, I suspect, no lasting resentment. With Lockman’s victory, she will replace retiring Sen. Bob Marshall in Dover.  I make no secret of my fondness for Bob Marshall which, frankly, I did not expect when I started working for the Senate.  But when he got his teeth into an issue, he didn’t let go. I admire his legislative legacy.  And I appreciate his personal loyalty. Having said that, he became increasingly reactionary on criminal justice issues, and could not always be counted on when it came to reforming the corrections system.  Plus, with the notable exception of minimum wage, he became less energetic in his final term.  I fully expect Tizzy Lockman, even before her first day as a Senator, to be a force in the Democratic Senate Caucus. In fact, I’m counting on it. (Tizzy, please do whatever you can to get Sen. Poore out of leadership. She is corrupt. Thank you.)  The Lockman for Marshall swap is an upgrade.

Representative District 1: I was screaming bloody murder about the apparent failure to challenge the (there’s that phrase again) ethically-bankrupt Charles Potter.  The late entry of Nnamdi Chukwuocha into the race demonstrated that Potter was ripe to be taken. And taken he was. To the tune of about 60-40. Barring a three-way race for Treasurer, Velda is next. It’s not clear to me that Nnamdi will be a progressive stalwart in Dover, especially when it comes to corporate matters.  But I do believe that he will not be a transactional hand-out pol like Potter. Huge upgrade.

Representative District 3: OK, somebody has to say it: IMHO, Sherry Dorsey Walker is, at best, Lisa Blunt Rochester-Lite.  Her candidacy was a mish-mash of touchy-feely crap with her as her own heroine.  Just like her other two campaigns. Having said that, she appears dedicated to promoting juvenile justice reform and criminal justice reform in general. If that’s the case, perhaps she can help to fill the cavernous void left by the retirement of Rep. J. J. Johnson.  My take?: She’s always run like she wants to be somebody. Now that she’s been elected, let’s see if she wants to do something.  For now, a downgrade over the retiring Helene Keeley, who made some strategic mistakes while pushing legislative priorities, especially marijuana legalization, but whose heart was almost always in the right place.

Representative District 5: There was a time when Melanie George Smith was one of the best legislators in Dover. She pushed for criminal justice reform, opposed the death penalty, and was able to steer complex legislation through the General Assembly thanks to her legal acumen.  That time ended about two terms ago. Perhaps she was hedging her bets while seeking that judgeship. But she suddenly stopped pressing for criminal justice reform and she flipped her stance on the death penalty. In so doing, she no longer represented the district that she used to live in.  Her reluctant retirement paved the way for a three-way primary that was handily won by Kendra Johnson.  In a three-way race, she garnered almost 60% of the vote. Based on her background, she will be a forceful advocate for expanding community services to underserved populations.  She also has strongly supported public education.  I searched in vain for any mention of criminal justice reform in her literature and couldn’t find any mention. However, when contrasted with the final two terms of Melanie George Smith, this result can only be viewed as an upgrade.  Although… Melanie endorsed her, which indeed is a caveat. I’ll be watching.

Representative District 17:  Although I’ve long liked Mike Mulrooney, an unassuming pro-union state representative, Melissa Minor-Brown projects to be much more progressive on gun control issues and could well be a leader on criminal justice reform.  She won almost 57% of the vote in a three-way primary.  She’s also quite an accomplished professional in the nursing field, and should be an informed voice on healthcare issues.  I look for her to be an upgrade over Mulrooney, who retired this year, in this New Castle-area district.

Representative District 35: Marble-mouthed auctioneer (and farmer) Dave Wilson is running to replace retiring Sen. Majority Leader Gary Simpson.  Say what you will about Simpson, but Wilson is a huge downgrade. The D’s have a name on the ballot in Jim Purcell, but Wilson is headed to the Senate.  Hand-plucked-picked chicken farmer Jesse Vanderwende  defeated Robert Mitchell by a 58-42 margin in the primary to succeed Wilson.  There is no D challenger.  Vanderwende is much younger than the ol’ auctioneer, and, according to his website, he champions property rights. You all know what that means. He also capitalizes a lot of words that don’t call for capitalization. Vanderwende will almost certainly have a greater impact in the House R Caucus than Wilson. For better or worse.