The Senate Maps Are Here, And They’re SpecTACular
I’d expect nothing less from Dick Carter, Jesse Chadderdon, Valerie McCartan, Anthony Bernadzikowski and the Senate D leadership team.
Here are the big takeaways:
1. Darius Brown will not be happy. Oh, sure he has a district to run in. But it’s not really a Wilmington-centric district any more. He picks up a whole bunch of the northern portion of Marie Pinkney’s district, including West Minquadale, Wilmington Manor, and pretty much everything from I-295 south to Wilmington Manor, Collins Park, and beyond (all the way to Rt. 273). While I wish he’d picked up all of Minquadale (Tizzy Lockman picks up East Minquadale, where the trash pile is), he nevertheless will be forced to explain why he sided with Waste Management and Bobby Byrd over the people who live there. If, that is, he runs again. I think he’s toast. Sarah McBride’s district moves significantly south, and back into Wilmington, while Kyle Evans Gay picks up the northernmost Claymont areas in Sarah’s current district.
2. Bruce Ennis is retiring. There are major changes to his district, the main one being that the northwestern part of Kent County, all the way to the Maryland line, will now be in SD 14. While I don’t know for sure whether the district has been reshaped to benefit Jaci Hugg, who challenged Dave Lawson in 2020, I’d guess that that’s the case.
3. Sussex County will elect a D senator in 2022. SD 6, currently held by the retiring Ernie Lopez, has been burnished to a solid blue in redistricting. Also, SD 20 (Hocker) could be in play for the D’s, as it’s more compact than previously, and it takes in the southern part of coastal Sussex. Worth watching.
4. No districts got shifted. Sen. Sokola had said that Sussex was perhaps entitled to 1/2 a new district. But it didn’t happen. Good.
We’re gonna try to put up the map, but you can access them all right here:
Enjoy! And comment.
It looks like I’m in the 12th, so I am Nicole Poore’s constituent after all.
Delaware City remains in the 12th. So at least Poore will be held accountable by the voters there.
It looks like Mitch Crane is NOT in the proposed 6th Senate District.
A big ‘so what’ to that.
You know, since so many of our readers yesterday were clicking on pretty much everything we’d written about Kathy McGuiness over the years (none of it favorable, I’m proud to say), I went back to read what they were reading.
Mitch had a series of the most fawning and embarrassing Hymns Of Praise to Park City’s fave expatriate. Truly nauseating. He’s not a factor, was never gonna be a factor.
So who’s the favorite to win that seat now?
The D’s.
An important point: These are the DRAFT maps. The two public hearings next week are designed to seek public input. Such input can lead to changes in the proposal. So, if there’s something you don’t like, or just want to comment upon, here are your options, check out this website and sign up:
https://legis.delaware.gov/Redistricting
Sturgeon’s district change?
Those are some interesting configurations in Sussex. Lopez’s district doesn’t go near Georgetown now. Pettyjohn’s is concentrated around Georgetown and cuts out the western territory near Bridgeville (which may eliminate Polly’s ability to run again for her dad’s seat, if she’s still living there). Richardson’s district now appears far more hospitable to Tim Dukes (who lives and preaches in the south and west) than the Seaford-centric Bryant. By incorporating more of Milford and Bridgeville, Wilson’s could be more vulnerable to a challenge from someone with deeper ties to one of those towns, like Shupe.
This is just bullshit spitballing, of course. But it would be very sneaky of the Dems to put some ambitious GOP pols on a collision course.
What do you think of Hocker’s district? Can it be in play for the D’s?
On paper, you’d think the coastal area would be ripe for the plucking. But no, no chance unless a phenom arises. The Dems haven’t had a strong candidate from that corner of the county since George Bunting. The Milton-Lewes-Rehoboth area has a much larger liberal population than the Bethany-Fenwick area – plus just a larger population generally – and the bulk of Hocker’s district is more inland anyway. Hocker has the extra benefit of name recognition from his stores.