The FINAL Delaware Occasional Political Weekly Of The Year!
After this, we go weekly…until we don’t. Meaning, maybe we have a political weekly this Friday, maybe we have one next Friday. Depends on how many stories/rumors we can gather, and how quickly.
1. BHL Opts To Brazen It Out. Her campaign touted two endorsements last week–Lumpy Carson and Kendra Johnson. Gotta love this:
Rep. Bill Carson, D-Smyrna, and Rep. Kendra Johnson, D-Bear, both endorsed the lieutenant governor, praising her strong character, good heart and experience as a public servant.
She wouldn’t roll out endorsements if she were planning to leave the race. Matt Meyer got one from Nnamdi Chukwuocha, begging the question: Can we please get someone else to run?
It’s been, what, about a month since John Carney canceled (or postponed) his fundraiser for BHL due to her suspension of her campaign. She has promised an audit of her campaign finances, which has not yet been forthcoming. Her treasurer, the one from Rhode Island well-versed in campaign finance compliance, not her unethical husband former treasurer, has left the campaign, leaving the treasurer’s role to someone on loan from Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro. Remember, kids, we didn’t suspend her campaign, we didn’t suspend the campaign while an audit was supposedly being conducted on her campaign reports dating back to at least 2015, she did. At this point, we don’t know if an ‘audit’ will be made public, we don’t know if an ‘audit’ has taken place, we don’t know who is supposedly doing the ‘audit’.
That was before Karl Baker’s story on the LLC being jointly run by BHL’s unethical husband and BHL’s former top aide. Her aide continued to work for her for something like 2 or 3 years after he started up the LLC with BHL’s unethical husband. You’ve all seen the responses on our blog. Three words: Shoot The Messenger.
I have some questions: Will BHL hold a press conference to answer questions about her campaign finances? Will she release the supposed audit? Will she answer questions about the LLC, and about whether she gains financially from it? Does John Carney still endorse her? Will he do that fundraiser for her if/when all the controversy has been whitewashed? Feel free to add your own.
2. Ladeez And Gentlemen: YOUR Rethug Candidate For Kent County Register Of Wills–
—Colin Bonini. Yup, when you’re lazy and you’ve gotten so used to feeding at the public trough and you need the money, why not run for a row office? The Bloviator has filed his committee for the seat, and it’s perfect for him. The clerks do all the work, he collects the paycheck. Betcha he can work from home. I mean, ‘work’ from home.
3. No Labels Party Files In Delaware. In the spirit of ‘unity’ (aka Chamber ‘centrists’) the treasurer is, suitably, Ben DuPont. You might enjoy his Wikipedia page, as it demonstrates just about how far (and no further) your last name can take you.
4. Tracey Miller To Kick Off Campaign This Sunday!: She’s running in RD 34 in Kent County to knock off undistinguished incumbent Lyndon Yearick. This should be a competitive race. Here’s part of what I wrote about this contest back in July:
The 34th RD is largely a suburban Kent County district running south from the Dover suburbs. Here is the map. The registration is 8189 D, 6100 R, 5560 I. As we know, as we move downstate, the registration totals provide a misleading picture when it comes to how people vote. In 2022, the D candidate in this district, Adewumni ‘Ade’ Kuforiji, got about 39% of the vote. He raised almost no money and ran a weak campaign. Still, Yearick got 60% of the vote.
However, there are reasons for optimism. Tracey Miller has already filed, meaning she’ll have the opportunity to run a real campaign instead of Ade’s invisible campaigns. She is not an unknown. She’s quite visible as the Director of Marketing & Community Engagement at Dedicated To Women, a health clinic in Dover. Based on this article, it looks like she might be able to build an effective grassroots campaign powered by high school students and activists. She’s also a member of the Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
She’s also the Vice-Chair of the Kent County Democrats and the RD Chair for the 34th. Meaning, she’s not likely to get ‘cut’ like some Democratic candidates and incumbents in recent and not-so-recent memory.
Here’s all the info on her kickoff event:
Why not donate today? If you’re in the vicinity of her event on Sunday, stop by and tell her that Delaware Liberal sent ya!
That’s all I’ve got. What’d I miss, and whaddaya think?
Tracey Miller! She’s amazing, and so is her wife Dr. Christie Miller, cherished OB/Gyn clinician here in Dover. I like hearing their names on the Delaware NPR station as longtime donors and great people. It helps that she’s also VERY involved in the local school district, Caesar Rodney, as their two kids go there. Most of the school district is in this RD. (I went there, but lived just west of 34.)
Her website is pretty fantastic compared to most candidates: https://www.miller4delaware.com/
Saw the the bit about the challenge to
Wilmington’s residency requirements. Of course, I think that if there were suitable applicants willing to do the job, they’d be hired already. Maybe relax the requirements for city employees excluding the police? They have their little cop city over in union park gardens so they have nothing to worry about.
The cops, of course, are already exempt from city residency.
I was canvassing for D’Shanna Neal in a small suburban community near the Amazon warehouse, and I SWEAR virtually every family had either a cop or a retired cop in it. I pulled the plug on my door-to-door and went elsewhere.
My understanding was that you had to be a city resident to get into WPD, but on my for a probationary period and then you can move out?
I know there is a colony of counties behind Conrad.
Yes, you can move out.
When I worked for the Senate, the issue was a hot one. One of my senators had asked me to sit in on a monthly(?) meeting between the delegation and then-Mayor Dennis Williams.
Sen. Bob Marshall, who opposed allowing cops to move out of the city,raised the issue with Williams. Instead of responding like, you know, a normal human being, Williams got up and said “You and me, Bobby, outside, right now. Let’s settle it man to man.”
Sen. Henry and I stared at the floor. Marshall defused the situation. But, man, Williams was an out-of-control hot-head. Got his way on the cops, though.
“The cops, of course, are already exempt from city residency.”
This is not accurate.
All city of Wilmington employees must live in the city within 6 months of being hired, for the first five years of employment.
After that they can live wherever they want.
The proposal is to abolish any form of residency whatsoever.
Correct. That’s what I meant to say, but didn’t say.
Thanks for correcting.
Also not to derail but the god damn the Jimmie Allen rehabilitation continues without abatement.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/10/03/country-star-jimmie-allen-wife-alexis-gale-announce-birth-third-child-cohen-ace-james/71041866007/?itm_medium=recirc&itm_source=taboola&itm_campaign=internal&itm_content=MobileBelowHomepageFeed-FeedRedesign
The local press are enablers, pure and simple.
Thanks so much for the shout out! I have a lot of work to do but I think I can beat the 8 yr incumbent. All are invited to my launch. I would like to hear from everyone not just folks from the 34th!
Again, thanks for the shout out.
Where do you find the info on who has filed. The Kent county recorder of deeds isn’t up until 2026. Seems awfully early for Bonini to file.
Jab, you’re right. It’s Register Of Wills. I’ll fix it.
I get the information from the State Department of Elections site.
I keep up to date in terms of finding out which committees have filed by:
1. going to the https://elections.delaware.gov site
2. clicking on the cfrs.elections.delaware.gov site on the bottom right corner of the page
3. clicking on ‘view committees’ on the Delaware Campaign Financing System page from the menu on the left.
4. clicking the ‘continue’ button; and
5. putting in the dates, including the most recent date, to see what committees have registered, where it reads ‘Registered Date Range’. So, if you put in 1/1/2023 in the ‘from’ box, and 10/17/2023 in the ‘to’ box, you’ll see all the committee that have registered this year. Committees that are already open need not re-register if they’re still active.
As of yet, you can’t file for the ballot, but you can see all the committees that have filed.
Thank, I was trying to find it. The election website is not the easiest to navigate
I know. Took me awhile to figure it out.
But once you do, it’s easy to check in every few days.
I think at this point BHL is trying to get by without actually having to release any kind of “audit,” keeping in mind that the one she promised is a fake one at best. She and her cronies, including that DC lobbyist hack, Roshan Patel, and her staff will go on pretending like nothing ever happened. I’m surprised and frankly pissed that The News Journal isn’t following up on the BHL issues as frequently or as thoroughly as they should.
Meredith Newman left for the Midwest, so they don’t have anyone in that slot right now.
Well thank the heavens for Karl Baker then.
Oh, no! She was their best reporter, IMO. She was also doing great work exposing nursing home abuses.