General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 17, 2019
The Delaware ERA is now part of the Constitution, with the only opponents being the endangered species, aka The Angry White Guys From Lower Slower. That’s pretty much all that happened yesterday. See for yourself.
The decks have all virtually been swept clean for Gov. Carney’s State Of The State Address. With one exception. The Senate will consider the ‘mini-Bond Bill’, which reallocates resources from the Bond Bill that was passed back in June. More largesse for the Buccini/Pollin Arena, and a curious allocation through the secretive Delaware Strategic Fund. This allocation: “(A)uthorize funding from the Delaware Strategic Fund when interest earnings are not available for the New Castle County and Middletown Chamber of Commerce’s business incubators”. WTF is that? Can some legislators please introduce a bill removing the exemption from FOIA for this body that appropriates public funds? Regardless, it says all you need to know about the General Assembly that, come the end of January, Buccini/Pollin will have been the beneficiary of 2 of the 3 must-pass bills for the entire month.
We’ve already gotten a preview of some of what pass for ‘initiatives’ in Gov. Carney’s State of the State. A three-year program to provide more educational services to ‘English language learners and low income students’. It’s literally the least that Carney can do. Or thinks he can do in order to avoid the courts coming down on Delaware’s unbalanced education funding system. Me? I think the courts may well be our last best hope to force that statewide property reassessment that every elected pol has resolutely refused to even consider. Which could then lead to sufficient education funding.
We also know he’ll talk about electoral ‘reform’. Specifically, these three bills were introduced yesterday: HB 38 (Bentz), which ‘establishes in-person early voting beginning in ….2022’; HB 39 (Viola), which ‘provides for election day registration for presidential primary, primary, special, and general elections’; and HB 41 (Bolden), which ‘moves the date of primary elections for statewide office, county office, and municipal office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years)’.
I strongly support the first two bills, but I do not support moving the primaries to April. Moving the primaries to April merely limits the ability of challengers to meet voters face to face at the doors and/or to make their cases in grassroots primaries. Cold temperatures and limited daylight are obstacles for that kind of contact in a state where door-to-door is perhaps the most important means of reaching voters. Think of how much easier it would be for incumbents like, say, Chris Coons and John Carney. I think it would be particularly damaging to grassroots campaigns that need to build from the ground up. The cost savings are minimal, especially when you weigh the cost to democratic involvement.
What will once again be on display is this governor’s paucity of vision. He’d be the perfect governor if we really were in an economic straitjacket (well, he wouldn’t be, but stick with me here). When, however, he plays the roll of the guy tightening the straps on that straitjacket, he is simply playing to his base: The Delaware Chamber Of Commerce. Wonder if he’ll even mention the corrections crisis.
I would say that I’m prepared for Carney to prove me wrong, but I’m not.
Since I’ll (mercifully) be working during the speech, I would welcome analysis from any masochists who might be listening to his oratory.
Almost forgot…the Senate Energy Committee has returned.
See you Tuesday.
“(A)uthorize funding from the Delaware Strategic Fund when interest earnings are not available for the New Castle County and Middletown Chamber of Commerce’s business incubators”.
This sounds like – give more government funding to ncco specific “business development” projects that are also failing and prop them up even more with tax payer funds
Re: moving the primary, I’m not sure I agree. The argument against moving it earlier (from the electeds) has been that they can’t campaign while they are in session. The complaints are something like this:
Jan-June: “OMG, we are in session”
June-Aug: Summer vacation, no one will vote
September: Too close to the general
Someone will be unhappy no matter where we put it, but personally, I’d prefer to have my candidates for the general as early as possible to focus fire on Republicans.
When is his state of the state?
2PM today. Watch here:
https://governor.delaware.gov/state-of-the-state/
I, too, agree with the great and wise el sonambulo. It’s very good to me to have two good democrats have a brutal primary and then only have a month to campaign against the republican.
That sure worked out well for Gigi, didn’t it?
You can always find an anecdote to support a position. I could as well in citing the 12th RD.
My point is that an early primary makes it more difficult for insurgent candidacies.
There’s merit in both points you’re making here, but we’ve also heard countless times that incumbent state legislators oppose spring primaries because they’re in session, so don’t have time to go door to door.
If you accept the incumbents’ logic, spring would be a better time for the insurgents to make their cases. I guess, if you wanted proof, look at the 4th SD, where Laura Sturgeon was pounding the pavement in the spring while the Monsignor was making a fool of himself in Dover. Granted, that wasn’t a primary situation, but it shows that challengers shouldn’t be waiting until the Fourth of July to make their cases against incumbents.
More I think about it, the more I like keeping the Sept. primary date. Let them campaign in the summer, when the weather is better. Primary winners will have built up name recognition as they charge into a compressed two-month campaign against the incumbent. Run the race well, and you’ll do fine. And, for heaven’s sake, why would any sane person want to hear about legislative candidates campaigning in February and March for an April primary, then kicking into high gear in the fall for the general election? Geez, it’s the effing General Assembly, not the White House.
How is it that they can change primary dates, but to change the polling for school elections to the same day as the general is too costly?
What is to keep an insurgent candidate from starting earlier? And by the same logic, doesn’t a late primary make it harder to knock off an incumbent of the opposing party?
Arthur – The school board elections have a different electorate. One need not be a registered voter to vote in school board elections, for example. So it might require different sets of machines and possibly a different election officials.
LG: I think we’re working toward validating one of ElSom’s points about anecdotes: You can find anecdotal evidence to support whether an early or late primary benefits either the challenger or the incumbent. A date other than September might be better all around, but I don’t see anyone making a compelling argument for why change is essential.
Arthur: In his defense of the status quo, LG makes a valid point, because voting requirements are different for political seats and school boards. That being said, there’s no good reason why we shouldn’t at least THINK about changing the process for school board elections. However, this would require a big shakeup of the educational status quo because the number of board members and the areas they represent vary from district to district, and if there is any similarity between legislative election districts and school board election zones, it is purely coincidental.
This is a situation where interest in school elections would increase if they were aligned with political campaigns but there are so many differences between the two systems that it seems damn near impossible to make the change.
“By the same logic, doesn’t a late primary make it harder to knock off an incumbent of the opposing party?”
If every district general election were competitive that might be true, but in fact most are not.
I firmly agree with El Som, with an additional reason: The media no longer performs the function of informing people about the candidates, so door-to-door (and the poor substitute direct mail) is the only way to get your name out.
Which leads to…
“What is to keep an insurgent candidate from starting earlier? ”
The fact that you’d have to start the November a year before the general, when nobody is thinking about the election and everybody is busy with holiday stuff. In short, because it would be a gift to incumbents, who already have all the advantages they need.
Moving up state primary to April is just part of true incumbency protection program. The legislators are smart enough to know fewer challengers will emerge if they essentially have to start a year before the actual election (November) and be out on doors in frigid temps. Keep it in sep
MW – I didn’t think that I was defending the status quo on school board elections. I have, in fact, advocated for alignment of school board and partisan elections in the past. Just about the only major disagreement that John Kowalko and I have had was around that very issue.
Arthur’s question asked why it would cost MORE. I gave reasons why that might be so.
IMHO – I don’t think the date matters, and doesn’t help any candidates one way or the other. You want to win? Better start campaigning one year and 10 months before your election! The better candidates prevail no matter the date of the primary & no matter their primary situation. The only thing that catches incumbents in complacency & and righteousness. That issue caught LaVelle the and way it caught Blevins/DeLuca. You want to win? Stay relevant & energetic.
I think that an April primary might have proven to be an impediment to Townsend’s challenge of DeLuca. Knocking on doors the year BEFORE a primary is, IMHO, far less effective than reaching out during the primary season itself.
While I frankly don’t know whether an April primary would ultimately be ‘better’ or ‘worse’, I don’t think that the weight of the argument supports a change from the September date.
“The better candidates prevail no matter the date of the primary & no matter their primary situation. ”
Good grief. Interested in buying shares in a bridge? It’s in Brooklyn.
Good overview of yesterday’s speech here https://delawarestatenews.net/government/carney-outlines-plan-in-state-of-the-state/