Delaware Political Weekly: Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2023
1. Candidates Can Now File For The Ballot. Some Have.
We now have our first two official primaries for 2024: Karen Hartley Nagle vs. Marcus Henry for NCC Council President and George Smiley (Incumbent) vs. Michael A. Brown in NCC District 7. These are both Democratic primaries.
Some brief comments: Karen Hartley Nagle is unfit to hold any office, and certainly not one where she’d have as much access to money as NCC Executive. Having said that, it’s about time, if not past time, for Marcus Henry to stop his so-called listening tour, and share his vision of county government under his leadership. Who does he think he is–John Carney?
OMG! Michael Brown is that Michael Brown. The former token R on Wilmington City Council. He has the wholehearted endorsement of, wait for it, Karen Hartley Nagle. I’m no big fan of George Smiley but, um, no. Can’t wait for those financial reports so we can see who’s behind his candidacy. We’ll also be able to see who is behind KHN’s campaign. Gordon’s people? I don’t know, but perhaps you do.
For newbies, here’s how the filing process works. Everybody running for state and/or local office must file a committee with the Delaware Department of Elections. They must do this in order to be able to raise money. There is a separate step for getting on the ballot, which can only be done after the filing fees, which are set by the parties, are finalized. That happened just in the last couple of weeks, and people may now file for the ballot by paying that fee.
2. Sherry Dorsey Walker Is Officially On The Ballot. Filed her committee and also paid the filing fee this past week. While she is currently listed on the ballot for the General Election, that will change when other announced candidates also pay their filing fee for Lt. Governor. Other announced candidates include Kyle Evans Gay, Debbie Harrington, and David Graham.
3. Jea Street Files For NCC District 10. For reelection. I honestly wish he would file to run for office in the General Assembly. Nobody has called out the Kop Kabal more effectively. He also successfully worked to stop the massive expansion of the Minquadale landfill. A good public servant.
That’s all I’ve got. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
Does WFP have any viable candidates for county council? I feel like some school
Board races get more attention, yet so much underhanded stuff comes out of of council and it is due for reset.
Delaware WFP is more focused on legislative races, which I think is by far the higher priority. I think they, or at least some WFP members, supported Brandon Toole in his D council primary in 2022.
To my understanding, WFP will offer support to a candidate running for any office if the values line up. But they don’t actively seek the candidates for offices like county council
Good to know. I think county council operates in a sort of shadow governtment role; they rarely engage in the community when asked and I can’t think of any in recent memory that has a good idea or advanced any meaningful initiative. The bar seems so low that it might be a good first step for an up-and coming to get their name out there and disrupt the system
In many ways, they are a rubber-stamp, and often have to be, to proposals that have been fleshed out by County Planning and Land Use.
They have next to no involvement in the process until a rezoning ultimately makes its way to Council for approval.
NCC is currently the only dem party to set filing fees. Kent and Sussex have yet to do so, though I can’t imagine they’ll be much more or less than the GOP fees. I can imagine some interesting filings once those fees get set
Bethany –
60k
Tiktok.
She literally, LITERALLY, has revealed nothing about the audit and the reasons for it. Just a press release claiming that everything’s fine and that she’s going back to campaigning. No actual release of the audit, no transparency–just a vague promise that, when she ‘corrects’ her financial reports, we’ll find out, one by one. No appearance by Bethany and no opportunity to answer questions.
But she said everything’s fine, and we’re supposed to swallow it.
John Carney’s choice for Governor.
Let’s go Velda. Corrupt husband attacks don’t mean much when you’re protecting another corrupt husband. He just happens to be white so it’s ok.