Delaware Political Weekly: Nov. 17-23, 2023
1. Jane Hovington To Carry D Banner In RD 37 Special Election. Despite Betsy Maron’s breathless prose, Hovington is a sacrificial lamb. Presumably offered up b/c nobody else stepped forward. A sample of the breathless prose:
I am so proud to announce that Jane Hovington has stepped up as the Democratic nominee for the upcoming Special Election in House District 37! It’s time to rally around a leader deeply committed to our values and the community’s progress.
Addressed, as is all correspondence I receive from the Delaware Democratic Committee, to “Kyle”.
The Special Election is on December 21. Hovington’s Republican opponent is Valerie Jones Giltner. Hovington previously ran against Brian Pettyjohn in SD 19. Pettyjohn won by about a 60-40 margin, which is about what I expect here. Hovington is the Suxco Democratic Chair. Sure would have been a nice time to give an up-and-comer a chance to get their feet wet. Especially since Ruth Briggs King had signaled months ago that she would step down when she moved. Didn’t happen.
2. Kevin Caneco Gearing Up For Rematch With Bill Bell? Sure looks that way. Caneco’s committee is still active, and he recently posted out the following:
Friends,
It seems warehouse plans are popping up everywhere in Southern New Castle County where green spaces once were. The latest is a project in Port Penn, where a mega warehouse would go in by the Frightland area on Route 13. This would cause increased traffic, pollution, and noise for our friends in Dutch Neck and Pine Valley, among other places in the area. That is why I was proud to speak in opposition to Ordinance 23-083 the other night at Port Penn Firehall. New Castle County ordinance would rezone 87 parcels, Port Penn residents gather to oppose | Delaware First Media (delawarepublic.org) Additionally, the Logistics Center Warehouse plan behind Bayberry is moving forward in a Land Use committee hearing this week. Enough is enough! I will be a strong voice in the County Council for SMART development, not rapid, irresponsible development. In order to do that, we need to win in 2024 and asking for your help today. Please consider donating today so we can defeat the rich interests trying to railroad the hard working folks of SNCC. Every dollar counts! Thank you!
Polytech High School senior Austin Auen says he’s taking advantage of the fact that there’s no minimum age limit for candidates seeking that office by announcing that he plans to challenge Democratic incumbent Karen Welden Stewart for her job in 2016 Democratic primary.
A business major at the Woodside school, Auen has been elected class treasurer and serves president of the school’s Business Professionals of America chapter, as well as its Distributive Education Clubs of America chapter. He’s also involved in numerous community events.
“I just like getting involved,” he said. “I’m a people person. I’m a big talker and any time I get a chance to sit down and talk, I’ll talk forever.
He didn’t run, though. Filed for Kent County Register Of Wills in 2019. Didn’t run then, either. Filed Certifications Of Intent to run for the Lake Forest School Board in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doesn’t appear to have run there, either. He’s now filed a committee to run as a D for the 33rd RD seat currently held by Charles Postles. I’ll take a closer look at this district if/when Auen files for the ballot. Until then, I see little reason to give this self-promoter more attention than he deserves. He currently has five ‘active’ committees, but has yet to run for anything. Talktalktalktalk.
4. Tim Sheldon Files For Reelection. For NCC CD 9. Democrat in a Democratic district.
That’s all I’ve got this week. (Hey, pretty damn good for a holiday week.) What’d I miss and whaddayathink?
Oh, I neglected to mention. According to the DELDEMS website, the chair for the 37th is vacant. Presumably b/c, Hovington, who has little luck recruiting Suxco candidates, has also been unable to find someone to run her home committee.
Annnd, this popped up in my wife’s e-mail yesterday. Addressed to me, of course:
“Happy Thanksgiving, Stephen!
If your family is anything like mine, today is filled with love, laughter, football, and WAY too much food.
This year, I have a lot to be thankful for, especially given all of the progress we’ve made in Delaware – from investing in education and family leave, to improving health care access and the wellness of our communities, and more.
I’m also thankful for you, Stephen. When I launched this campaign, I had no idea how incredible the outpouring of support would be. This team has blown me away with their belief in a better future for their communities and for Delaware.
Today, there’s a great deal to be thankful for, but there’s also a great deal of progress we still need to make. We can do anything in the First State we set our minds to. With compassion, with humility, and with purpose – we can make people’s lives better than they were yesterday.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for being on this team.
— Bethany Hall-Long”
A. I’m not on your team.
B. Is it just me, or is it less than likely that your Thanksgiving is filled with all the stuff you say it’s filled with?
Yes, there’s a DONATE button. Guess this is what you’ve gotta do when nobody’s writing the big checks anymore…
Got same email with same butchering of my name (joesph)
Note to Bethany ;
Hope you spent the money I gave you over the years well because you are not getting another dime!! I am so done with you!!!
Elsom mentioned this but I can’t wait until the fact that Val longhurst – on behalf of Bethany hall long – openly called Matt Meyer a member of the “Jew cult” to madinah anton Wilson (and I assume others).
It’s only a matter of time until the national media picks up on that. the terrible shape of the Democratic Party in 2024 in the home state of the sitting President of the United States. The establishment candidate for governor openly fleeing from serious accusations of financial crimes while the speaker of the house is openly lobbying for everyone to ignore it. While also throwing around anti semitic slurs about the other candidate for governor. Bethany is doing a great job of being a magnet for the worst people in the state. As she makes her descent off the cliff I for one am excited she is taking all of these assholes with her.
Hope everyone in the DL space had a wonderful thanksgiving! I certainly can understand why you would draw conclusions based on what information you had and that generally you don’t dig too much into Kent and Sussex politics. I respect the blog’s opinion of my intentions but wanted to clear a few things up:
a) I was a candidate for school board in all three years I filed certs of intention, if you look up the results you will see I was on the ballot.
b) the point of a candidate committee is to put out feelers to see if running for the office makes sense for the candidate. In 2020 it did not. So I didn’t.
c) I absolutely intend to announce and file within the next few weeks.
If the accusations against me are that I’m too willing to put myself forward for public service because I have seen the positive change a public servant can make? Well than I’m guilty.
I believe this district can be flipped and deserves a voice to start the conversations that haven’t yet been had. If anyone would like to discuss the district, the numbers, my platform, and my plan please reach out at 302-538-1342 or auenac@gmail.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
OK, I’ll bite. According to the Department of Elections, you raised $0.00 for your aborted run for Register Of Wills.
According to the Department of Elections, you didn’t file a committee when you were supposedly running for IC back in 2016.
Got your name in the paper, though.
According to the Department of Elections, there is no record of you having raised a penny for any of your supposed runs for the Lake Forest School Board. Plus, and this surprises me, I can find no archive of past school board elections. I would welcome your sharing those with us–the ones for which you were a candidate.
Perhaps those results will show us why you should be taken as a serious candidate.
You keep trying to allude to me getting my name in the paper as if I had some ulterior motives at the age of 18. It’s more simple than you care to see: I was naive, and highly engaged at the time. I don’t know many people who weren’t a little naive at 18… most citizens beg for 18 year olds to be involved. At the advice of some very wise people, I didn’t seek that office, I instead ran for school board that very year.
It can be every bit your intention not to take my candidacy seriously, but I have a solid team, I have started getting donations, and have been laying the groundwork for a solid campaign.
I will take your candidacy seriously when you give me reason to believe you’re a serious candidate.
Do you have those Lake Forest School Board election results to share?
5 active committees? That’s a lot of reporting…
It’s not 5 active committees, it’s three certificates of intention, because the filing rules for school board were different several years ago than they are now. It’s also one closed candidate committee, and an active committee for my current run.
Where are those Lake Forest School Board results?
Plus, regardless what you say, when you go to the Elections site, if you put ‘Auen’ in, as I just did again, five active committees pop up. Plus one closed committee.
You can do it yourself. So can everybody else.
None of this has to do with the current race I’m running in. If you care to chat about the issues that matter, you know how to reach me. Thank you.
The school board results are here: https://elections.delaware.gov/school/results.shtml. From the DOE homepage, click on “Election Results” and then scroll down to the “Previous Elections” header. Not too difficult.
Mr. Auen indeed ran in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
THANK you.
He lost in 2015, 421-94.
He lost in 2016, 167-47-22. He was the 22.
He lost in 2017, 294-220-59. He was the 59.
No wonder he didn’t want to post the results.
Until further notice, I see him as one of these serial candidates who runs b/c he can’t help himself. Never understood the pathology. Sometimes, though, these types get elected. Dennis E. Williams and Karen Weldin Stewart come to mind. Not that that’s a good thing…
I am very aware that election results are public and readily available to anyone who does a little work… I’m not ashamed to have entered the public arena to start a conversation… the voters just obviously thought differently.
I guess I can be thankful that this election won’t teeter on the thoughts of a blog writer :)) see you in November.
Exactly, Austin. DL is a bunch of has-beens and never-will-bes.
As I recall, Mr. Davis, your career as a candidate marks you as the latter. Name-calling doesn’t become you.
What I notice about these exchanges is that Mr. Auen says he wants to move forward but doesn’t say anything about issues, just takes exception to his characterization.
If you want to be taken seriously, say serious things. I don’t hold previous campaigns or poor results against a person, but they do demonstrate a failure to craft a winning message and therefore a need to do so.
Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Davis?
If issues were what was being brought up, I’d be happy to discuss issues. Feel free to ask me about any issues.
Then discuss them. Give your stump speech – within reason; the algorithm will spam it if it’s too long.
When someone runs for various offices in a short time frame, it makes it look like they just want an office, any office. Why do you want this one?
You’re an attorney now, ‘Esquire”?
Couldn’t find anything online.
Care to elucidate?
Takes one to know one, sport:)
So, what up and comer do you believe was held back so that Jane Hovington could run for the seat?
So, her job as County Chair, among other things, is/was to recruit people.
She’s been Chair for a long time. The 37th is her home RD. According to the DELDEMS site, she couldn’t even find someone to chair her own committee.
It’s not a matter of holding someone back, it’s being engaged enough to identify and convince people to become involved. She simply hasn’t been.
The rumor was that Sky Brady wanted to run for that seat. He’s very well-known and well liked, I know several Republicans who would have voted for him happily. Bottom line is that the 37th had potential.
Also, everyone in Sussex knew that Ruth Briggs-King was going to resign when her new house was done. And everyone in Sussex knew there would be a special election before January 1st. People were banging away at RBK on both local radio stations for months telling her to resign immediately instead of waiting for her new home to finish. Jane had several months to find a candidate. She should have had one ready to go the day RBK resigned.
The lady LOVES to see her name on the ballot! It was her election to lose and nobody is gonna mess that up for her! I revise my evaluation to worse than useless.
Mr. Brady doesn’t live in the 37th, he is in the 4th. Jane Hovington is not “a nice lady”; she acts like one to your face. She has done nothing to build a party. She had no involvement in the Democratic growth, including flipping two Republican seats last year, in eastern Sussex. She has totally alienated both the 14th and 20th RD committees, as well as the two large Democratic clubs- the Eastern Sussex Democrats and the Shore Democrats. Every dollar raised under her chairmanship has gone to support the county party headquarters (except for her own stipend of $200/month. That includes money raised from the county dinner, the annual Jamboree, and even candidate filing fees. Not one dollar has been spent in support of candidates for office. Add to all this Democratic values. Has she changed her long-held opposition to every LGBTQ rights bill ? Is she suddenly pro-women’s reproductive rights? Glad someone stepped up, but why wasn’t there a caucus of RD Democrats to select a candidate? That is the process used in the past for Special Elections-including special elections involving districts where she lives- the special to replace the late Senator Thurman Adams and then to replace Rep. Joe Booth, who won Adams’ senate seat. The latter was in the 37RD too.
Sky Brady is in the 37th House and the 19th Senate. He lives in Georgetown.
Can you tell us northerners something about Sky Brady?
He’s a beloved Sussex County DJ in his late 60s, and lots of fun at a party. People love him. I know zero about his politics.
Sorry. I thought “Sky” was a nickname for John Brady.
Sky is an acquaintance. I would characterize him as socially liberal and moderate otherwise and he is a great human:)
Fun fact very different guys but John and Sky Brady are good friends:).
Given the racial superiority and sense of entitlement expressed regularly by members of the 14th RD and Eastern Sussex Dems, as well as the people outside the district that they take advice from, you can’t blame Jane for steering clear.
I went to one 14 RD meeting and the chair was spewing about Jane asking for funds to keep the headquarters open. One of the 14 RD committee members said she was “tired of giving money to THOSE people “.
If that’s the things that are saying during those meetings and I were Jane, I’d avoid the 14 RD too.
Well, she’s steered clear of winning races, recruiting candidates and doing her job, so there’s that.
Many people have tried to recruit candidates in that district. There are no obvious better choices, and Jane might be able to win. She is very plugged into her community.
She’s the Sussex County D chair.
It’s her job. From what you wrote, she has basically stayed out of eastern Sussex due to ‘racial superiority and sense of entitlement’, whatever THAT means. Eastern Sussex is where the D’s are building a viable team. The rest of the county? Uh, no.
Bottom line: She hasn’t done her job.
Briggs-King stepping down was a huge gift to Democrats, especially considering the 37th is another big growth district in Sussex, so there are a lot of new voters. Was any attempt made to recruit candidates at all? I think that’s a valid question for Jane.
Let me add this, I know members of the 14th and I can’t, by any stretch of the imagination, believe they are racists. I’ve known the Chair of the 14th for many years and I’ve never heard him utter a racist word. And in the actual committee meeting? I just can’t see open racism occurring in a Democratic Committee meeting.
Sometimes, when someone says, “those people,” they aren’t talking about a race of people, they’re talking about the slackers and idiots who’ve been f*cking everything up.
By the way @Sussex Worker, if you are who I think you are, I don’t blame Jane for only being nice to your face.
Stay away from personal attacks, or you’ll be gone.
First/last warning.
Jane is a nice lady and as a chair she is a nice useless lady:)
Dear Bethany,
Give it up!!!! The only “Team Bethany” is the Lifeguard Olympic team!
Hi Joseoh,
Here at Team Bethany, we’ve set an ambitious fundraising goal – because we know the power of grassroots support, especially in a community-oriented state like ours.
That’s why we’re reaching out to you today to ask for a donation of any amount to help Bethany raise $10,000 before the month’s end.
We’re dedicated to making every dollar go as far as possible, because we’re powered by the generosity of everyday people who want to push Delaware ever-upwards. Your contributions go towards:
Pamphlets to hand out at community events
Snacks and water for canvassers
Yard signs
Bumper stickers
And more!
Joseoh, can we count on you to help us reach our fundraising goal?
$10
That’s at least FOUR e-blasts from her in the last week or so.
I think it’s the only way she can raise funds. I’m betting not much in the way of funds either.
I got two in my Inbox today (so far!). One is for a fundraiser at the Christiana Hilton. Hope her contract allows her to downsize on the room rental.
Is Carney’s name on that invite?
Shout out to Amanda Fries for shedding light on the most useless and toothless collection of Delaware Bureaucracies.
Let’s help Amanda continue to expose the stench!
Hey John C, have anything to say?
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/11/27/delaware-elections-leaders-can-enforce-finance-laws-rarely-do/71578872007/
Excited about the NCC Council news. Kevin has a good base of support below the canal – I believe he has been a big part of the group fighting Meyer’s middle-of-the-night land use changes.. I think the MOT Alliance? He is also Chair of one of the RDs down there. I think he will be able to exhibit enough early strength to force a retirement rather than a fight.
We’re beginning to get a pretty significant group of anti-rubber-stampers on Council, with Dee Durham, David Carter, and (hopefully) Brandon Toole. Kevin would be a huge upgrade over Bell, who has been in the developers’ pocket his whole tenure.