There will be a progressive challenge to the directionless governorship of John Carney.
Looking at possible progressive primary challengers, you have to put Kerri Harris at the top of the list. She has a statewide profile and has stayed active up and down the state. She has kept her campaign peeps close, and she still has some Senate campaign debt to retire. It all adds up to Kerri Harris being the frontrunner to knock off the rudderless and widely disliked John Carney.
“Our elected officials are now trying to prove that they are truly the elected officials for the people. And that is something that they didn’t have to do before,” she said.
How worried should John Carney be?
He would be a fool to not be worried. He is frankly terrible. He hasn’t built any real base of support inside or outside of the party. If he sees Ken Simpler ramping up a campaign, all the alarm bells will be ringing on the 12th floor of 820 N. French Street. Will those alarm bells stir Carney to try and govern as a Democrat? Sadly, no. Because the alarms will be warning him about Ken Simpler, not Kerri Harris.
What does Simpler have to do with this?
There is no way Simpler runs if he thinks Carney is going to be the nominee. What would be the point of two centrists “budget smoothers” facing off against each other? If, however, he thinks Harris can pull off an upset, he would probably think he has an opening. He wouldn’t in a Presidential year, but he could be persuaded to try and win over some “dems” who think they have more in common with an Ivy League legacy millionaire than they have with someone who works for a living. Without hope (and his millions) what else does Simpler have?
