OK, I’m not gonna run through all 41 house races. I’m not that sadistic, and I would hope that you’re not that masochistic. I’ll just cover the ones that interest me as of this moment:
RD 2: Will self-dealer Stephanie Bolden retire, or will she for once face a decent challenger?
RD 3: Likely of interest only if Bethany Hall-Long doesn’t run for reelection for Lt. Governor. Remember who finished second in that race? No, it wasn’t Park City Kathy, it was Sherry Dorsey Walker.
RD 4: Listed only b/c Gerald Brady is such a mess.
RD 7: Ray Seigfried won a splintered D primary with only 28.71% of the vote. Two more progressive candidates split the lion’s share of the remaining vote. If Ray moves a bit to the left of where he stood in the primary, he’ll likely be OK. Otherwise, a primary would certainly be warranted.
RD 10: Of interest only if Sean Matthews runs for State Senate. My choice for his successor should Sean challenge Cathy Cloutier? Anybody but Dennis Williams. BTW, I went back to 2016 and checked. Sean Matthews beat Dennis E. by better than a 3-1 margin. The people who know him best don’t want anything to do with the guy.
RD 13: I include this only b/c Larry Mitchell was made part of the leadership team this year. That often is a precursor to a retirement. Or…say, is he in DelCollo’s senate district?
RD 21: Slimy Mike Ramone needs to go. Hopefully, Stephanie Barry runs again. Clearly a major target for the D’s.
RD 22: A rerun in 2020? Gigi Gonzalez is in good position to flip the 2018 result against Michael Smith. I will be following Smith’s legislative actions closely. The question is: How far away from the Rethugs can he get w/o pissing off his own party? He’s kind-of straitjacketed. How he navigates the little wiggle room that he has will likely determine whether he’s one and done or not.
RD 26: Melissa Minor-Brown set the standard when she announced a primary challenge to Mike Mulrooney and made clear that she was a serious candidate. John Viola is a lightweight who worked with Tony DeLuca at the Department of Labor. He MUST BE PRIMARIED. I believe that he will slink into retirement on his own rather than face a serious challenger. Mo’ Better Democrats. Make it happen.
RD 28: Of (marginal) interest only if Lumpy Carson seeks retiring Bruce Ennis’ senate seat.
NCC Executive: I don’t see a serious challenger to Matt Meyer, who has really grown in the job, IMHO. Unless something opens up that intrigues Meyer, the only question is whether the R’s will bother to field a challenger. Which reminds me: Is there still an NCC Republican Party structure with, you know, real people running it?
President of NCC Council: Will there even be an elected President of New Castle County by 2020? I think there should be, but there’s no guarantee that there will be. The only concern is that the current incompetent and unstable County Council President could survive in a splintered primary. She’s such damaged goods, however, that I don’t think that would happen. The race could attract a rogue’s gallery of wannabes though.
Not gonna bother with all the NCC row offices or councilmanic races. Except for this one:
Council District 12: If the area of NCC below the Canal is underserved, it stands to reason that the council members just aren’t providing sufficient service. The voters wised up and elected David Carter in 2018. Bill Bell is poised to follow William Powers into involuntary retirement. Who will emerge to provide that immediate upgrade to County Council?
Mayor Of Wilmington: Will we learn from history? Only a distinct minority of voters preferred Mike Purzycki for mayor in the Democratic primary. However, there were too many black candidates, and Purzycki barely edged out Eugene Young in that splintered primary. If history doesn’t repeat itself, Mayor Mike will only serve one term. Purzycki stands only for downtown development, nothing more. Of course, what Purzycki does stand for ensures the increasing gentrification of the city. He’s essentially Ed Rendell without the savvy. This is a race where I hope that the nascent grassroots movements can coalesce around one challenger.
Wilmington City Council: My vote for the most dysfunctional elected political body in Delaware. I don’t know enough to know who all the self-dealers are and who are the stalwarts who genuinely care about the city and the districts that they represent. I already know that Sam Guy doesn’t care about anybody but himself, and I know that Hanifa Shabazz consistently gives off an odor of amorality. Again, I hope that the grassroots can identify and help elect people committed to public service. As it stands, City Council needs an enema, and some of the council members serve as enemas of the people. Did I get that right?
Wilmington City Treasurer: It simply can’t be asking too much for someone who (a) has a respected fiscal background and (b) isn’t named Potter to run for Treasurer, can it?
That’s the lay of the land as I see it. What do you think?