Delaware’s Most Intriguing Legislative Races Of 2024: #3-RD 14

I’m not even sure how contested this race will be.  But the prospect of Marty Rendon replacing Former Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf in RD 14 excites me no end.

I grant you–some of my affinity stems from the fact that Rendon and I are the same age.  We both cut our teeth on, wait for it, the McGovern campaign.  Rendon has the kind of governmental and life experience that should make him an immediate leader in the Democratic Caucus.  Maybe even in, yes, leadership.

Time for a digression.  One of the reasons why progressives aren’t in leadership in the House is because there aren’t (m)any slam-dunk choices for leadership.  So much double dealing, weak challenger(s), and relatively new members who have not yet built up enough support.   Rendon could well be a catalyst for transitioning to progressive House leadership.  He is not an apprentice.  Just check out his background.  I can only cite some of the highlights from his remarkable career due to e-space limitations:

Marty attended Springfield Catholic Central High School, where he was Valedictorian of his class. During those years, he was attracted to the call of public service and the need to address the challenges of the times in matters such as civil rights, securing peace, protecting the environment, and advancing justice for all citizens. This led him to the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He spent his Junior Year at the University of Madrid and went on to get a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown Law Center.

Starting his Freshman Year at Georgetown, Marty began working part-time on Capitol Hill, securing his first job as a paid intern with Senator George McGovern (D-SD). After law school, he worked full-time as a Congressional aide over the course of two decades. Through those years, he served as Legislative Director to four Members of Congress and worked for eight years on the Associate Staff of the House Rules Committee.

He capped his career on Capitol Hill as Staff Director of the House Select Committee on Hunger. He oversaw the drafting of the “Freedom from Want Act,” a blueprint to fight hunger in the United States and around the world. As Staff Director, he traveled with the legislators to work to address human needs in places ranging from the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia to refugee camps in Sudan and Ethiopia.

He served as the principal House staff contact for Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors. He was called “the Congressional leader of East Timor efforts in the United States during the ‘long decade’ from 1979 to 1991.” Because of that work, he was invited to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in 1996 when two Timorese were honored.

After his years on Capitol Hill, Marty spent the next 25 years as Vice President for Public Policy and Advocacy for UNICEF USA. In running Congressional relations for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), he succeeded in getting Congress to approve the funding requested by UNICEF every year. Under his leadership, UNICEF received over $2.9 billion in regular resource contributions from the U.S. Government for its programs to save and improve the lives of the world’s children.

There’s more. Much more.  He’s been active in the fight for both racial and LGBTQ rights.  He built a house in Rehoboth in 2005, and he and his partner have resided there full-time since 2018 following his retirement from UNICEF USA.

As of now, he is the only announced candidate to replace the retiring Schwartzkopf.  In my experience, I have never seen a better-qualified candidate for the General Assembly.  I’ve met him, and he has the personality and energy to make an immediate mark in Dover.

The 14th RD in Suxco is solidly Democratic and increasingly progressive:  9692 D; 7022 R; 5543 I.  Based on election results, I suspect this is also the rare district where the I’s tend to vote more D instead of R.

Here is the district map.  The beaches and the beach-adjacent communities.  Who would have guessed that eastern Sussex could have a State Senator like Russ Huxtable and a State Rep like Marty Rendon? We’re halfway there.  We can finish the job in 2024.