Delaware Political Weekly: April 12-18, 2024
1. BHL Finally On Ballot. Looks like it’s gonna be a three-way primary. Is anybody anywhere in a position to know going to provide the real information on all of BHL’s campaign finance screw-ups? Or is the Delaware Way just too dominant to ensure that the public’s right to know is less important than burying information about a candidate for governor? I have yet to confirm rumors that BHL will kick off her campaign by cutting ribbons in all 21 Senate districts up and down the state.
2. Doesn’t The Delaware Rethuglican Party Have Anything Better To Do With Its Money?
The Arizona, Delaware and Georgia Republican parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Kari Lake’s (R) fringe voting machines lawsuit, arguing that courts set too high of a standard for election challenges to proceed.
In their “friend of the court” brief filed Thursday, the trio of Republican parties is urging the court to hear Kari Lake and Mark Finchem’s conspiracy-laden challenge to the use of electronic voting machines in the state. Arguing that lower courts’ standards for election cases are too stringent and that it is “nearly impossible for anyone to challenge the manner in which any future election was conducted,” the state GOPs say the Supreme Court should take the case. They also encourage the Court to resolve the issue by the 2024 election.
Hey, sure beats recruiting and, uh, funding Rethug candidates here in Delaware. Although–do ya think a few shekels from this case might just find their way into the pockets of Julianne Murray, Esq.?
3. Changing Of The Guard In SD 18? I dunno. But the incumbent, mealy mush-mothed auctioneer David Wilson, has been around in Dover since 2008. Another R has filed a committee and has filed for the ballot–one Robert Lee Reed from Greenwood. Here’s all you need to know: He’s an ex-cop who was sheriff of Suxco for eight years. Looks more like a planned succession than a hostile takeover. What do my Sussex Spies know about this?
4. Filing(s): D Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Joanne Masten has filed for reelection.
That’s all I’ve got this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
Hall Long basically feels like Kathy McGuinness 2.0—just without the indictment (so far).
Let’s talk about Hall Long’s campaign—it’s a mess. Money issues aside, her team just doesn’t cut it. If she can’t manage a lt governor office I’m not sure how she can run a government. With Hall Long at the helm, it’s all chaos and no leadership. And her advisors? Is anyone under 70?—feels like they’re stuck in a time warp.
Maybe it’s time for folks like Matt Meyer or Colin O’Marra to shake things up. Right now, these campaigns are just not hitting the mark. Whether it’s lack of skill or effort, they’re really dropping the ball.
But what’s probably going to happen is she will limp along and run some sort of field program. And her opponents will run a field program with twice as many people and then beat the shit out of her on tv for a month. And she will lose and we will be done with her for good.
I can’t wait to see the debates. I think she’s going to be worse than even her toughest critics expect. From what I hear she is flubbing very basic questions about how the economy or government works.
And on the campaign finance side of things the woman writes too many texts and runs her mouth too much for their not to be something that will come out. Probably at a more appropriate time. Strategically it’s better to pop it when we get a little closer. I sure hope so.
If she cant competently deviate from saying “best place to live and work and raise a family” – which is probably one of the most meaningless and ineffective political slogans I’ve ever heard – she’s not going to win. And on that note, since she wants to talk about how she’s going to help everyone raise a family, perhaps she should start with her own home?
“Hall Long basically feels like Kathy McGuinness 2.0—just without the indictment (so far).”
^^^ like
BHL funding scandals are still inside baseball and not widely known, because she has avoided indictment and (mostly) kept it out of Delaware media. At any rate, national politics has numbed the public to this sort of scandal. So it is risky for opponents to openly go negative on this wonky issue.
I will add–if her sole qualification is that she served under John Carney, how does she explain away the utter incompetence of his Administration and the lack of even one cogent policy initiative? Other than budget-smoothing, that is.
She can very easily run the de government- carney’s done nothing so she can do the same. Seems to be a pretty simple job
It’s a simple job if you do nothing. I’ll give you one major example as to why it would be a disaster:
Legislators and educators have tried in vain to get Carney involved (or even interested) in education reform. The state has fallen far behind other states post-COVID when it comes to bringing students back up to speed.
Legislators like Laura Sturgeon have done a great job in providing incremental piecemeal improvements. However, only a Governor with at least a sentient administration can help carry out the kind of change that’s needed.
There is nothing–NOTHING–in BHL’s background or history to suggest that she’d even be an improvement over Carney on education. Other candidates are talking about it, some in great detail. BHL’s campaign, like Carney’s is issue-free. Other than “I’m a nurse”, which is hardly a substitute for “What are you going to do as Governor”?
What nonsense are you talking about? Surely the Wilmington Learning Collaborative, which Carney has been promoting since 2021, has achieved something by now, right?
… nothing?
Oh, dear.
You mean assembling another f*cking task force doesn’t actually lead to meaningful change?
Not without the Governor’s–what’s that word again–leadership.
COVID has little to do with the state of education in Delaware and Wilmington in particular. Efforts to get the state interested have failed time after time. The beginning of the 2015 Wilmington Education Advisory Committee report begins with a recitation of all the failed calls to action. Just in the 21st century those include; Neighborhood Schools Act required report “They Matter Most” issued in 2001; Vision 2015 from 2006; Hope Commission report also from 2006; Wilmington Education Task Force 2008; Mayor’s Youth, Education and Citizenship Strategic Plan 2013 and finally the WEAC. The foreword to the WEAC report is titled “Waiting is No Longer an Option” – but apparently it was.
The task group recommendations all fail because they attempt to include charter schools as part of the solution. When the problem is resegregation, charter schools are not the solution. They are the problem.
My gut tells me KMG may win the race in the 14th, and if Pete actually steps out and endorses her I think it’s over. Say what you will about Pete, but the 14th loves him. KMG’s announcement will undoubtedly tell us everything about who is and who isn’t in her corner.
Also, not in love with Claire’s last email push (yesterday) where she reminisces about her endorsements from Emily’s List and the SEIU, in 2014. Neither have endorsed her in this run as of today. Using 10-year-old endorsements in a fundraising email for this particular race is folly, since McGuiness has more recent endorsements from both organizations, and you know McGuiness will drive that point home.
Damn, this is going to be interesting.
Claire’s email about her 2014 engagements are even more meaningless when you realize most every one who worked on her 2014 campaign opposes her. She and KMcG both have significant baggage. That could allow Marty Rendon to win the Primary. He has no enemies
Actually, @Sussex Worker, that is empirically false. Many Claire for Delaware team members from 2014 are working on my current campaign. We kept in touch with most of our supporters over the past 10 years, and they strongly support me. Indeed, they are the ones who convinced me to run.
Sure, you can point to a handful of people who are still angry because I dared to support Pete’s primary challenger in 2016. I did so because Pete was for the death penalty, and Don was not. Like most Democrats, I oppose the death penalty, and I will never apologize for staying true to my principles.
KMG being viable sounds insane to me. Then I remember that SC gave that great Democrat …John Atkins.
Hooooooboy. Robert Reed was the original Constitutional Sheriff. He sparked a whole mess putting lights on his cars, resulting in a ruling against him from AG Jane Brady. If I recall correctly, he hired future sheriff Jeff Christopher, who took that extremist position even further. Reed’s return to politics and service in the Senate would be a goddamn clusterfuck. You think Lawson is a goon? Look out for Reed.
I devoutly hope this is not a planned succession. I don’t think Wilson leans that far right, but who knows these days.
SussexWatcher beat me to it with his description of the Robert Reed to Jeff Christopher “constitutional sheriff” era. They, Christopher more than Reed, believed they were the highest elected officials in the County and had the power to arrest even the President of the United States. I am not suprised Reed is looking to return to elected office-just the mention of Greenwood is a tip. He is aligned with the most right-wing of a right wing party. He is akin to County Council Woman Cindy Green, who refuses to file he conflict of interest form, and former county councilman Sam Wilson. Senator Dave Wilson became senator when he filed the same day then senator Gary Simpson announced his retirement. Then Milford Mayor Bryan Shupe was expected to run for the senate when the seat opened up. He ended up running for Dave Wilson’s House seat. Shupe is ambitions and popular. He is one of the handful of Republican state representatives who try to pass themselves off as “moderates”. I believe he will seek the senate seat if Wilson retires, and would win.
(Rubs hands together in gleeful anticipation…)
I have heard that Wilson indicated he was thinking about making this his last session at a regional meeting, so Bob Reed decided to jump the line and be the first in the race. I don’t think Wilson retires under these conditions; he wants to pick his successor and make sure they’re not from the Cindy Green Camp.
Everyone down here knows you’ve got the Cindy Green people v. the Dave Wilson people, and it gets very ugly and very dirty. Democrats don’t even factor into these races.
Hmmm, circular firing squad…I LIKE it!
Eric Morrison drew a primary challenger this week, Margie Lopez Waite. She is a founder of a dual language charter school.
https://visioncoalitionde.org/leadership/margie-lopez-waite/
Also, I hear that Britney Mumford spoke to a group this week and was outed as a big charter supporter. She is running for the Appoquinimink School Board.
https://delawarecan.org/about-us/staff-fellows/
Oh, that’s a shame about Britney. I knew her as a young woman many years ago. (Well, I guess she still is.)
I liked this interview she did with DETV some time ago: https://youtu.be/u5j1Um2zut0?si=Y_-FCvRAv4OirNYZ
Rewatch that video. Every time she says “reform”, insert “more charter schools” and I think you’ll see what I mean.
I’m sure she is very nice and we share a lot of views, but let’s not put a fox on henhouse duty.
That’s a shame. She canvased in my hood the other day and I liked her. Of course she didn’t say anything about charter schools.
Glad he has a challenger. During an education committee last week he said that there are many things listed as violent felonies that really aren’t violent. He went on to state which of these he didn’t think were violent crimes and he included among those which weren’t violent – racketeering, bestiality, gang membership, and then added that rape isn’t always violent and that sometimes its consensual, like when a 31 year old has sex with a 17 year old! This is reprehensible to try and condone or de-emphasize rape in any way. This is his believe and you can pull it up and hear it for yourself on the house ed committee recording. He has no place representing Delawareans with views like that.
Feel free to get your knickers in a twist, but pointing out that statutory rape is sometimes between consenting partners is not the same thing as “condoning or de-emphasizing rape.” Yours seems to me a rather over-the-top reaction, perhaps from someone looking for something to have an over-the-top reaction about.
wow, what a response – you have clearly never been the victim of sexual assault.
Rape is a crime of domination and exerting power and control over another. ALL rapes are violent whether it involves a minor child who is convinced that he or she is consenting to a much older adult or someone is forcibly assaulted. The act of Rape is ALWAYS a violent crime. I guess you were ok with his comment that beastiality wasn’t a violent crime as well?
Despite several people expressing their dismay and concern with his comments, we haven’t heard even a sliver of an apology or recognition that his words were inappropriate, wrong or offensive.
Hello? We don’t even know that he said what you said he said.
I’ll tell you what:
Post the alleged offending statements and then we’ll talk. Links are fine.
I mentioned that you could watch the video of the meeting yourself, but here is the link for those who haven’t looked at it.
https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00329/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20240422/75/4056
It was just after the 4:00 time stamp, maybe 4:05 or so for those that don’t want to have to watch the whole committee.
As for my status, I have been a KC Dem my entire life, which is longer than Rep. Morrison has been around.
Ah, so it’s impossible for a 17-year-old to have agency.
And you’re going to have to explain how bestiality is violent. As far as I’m aware, you’re free to kill a chicken, but if you fuck a chicken it’s a crime.
It sounds to me as if you’re just ginning up controversy so you can elect your charter school person. No sale.
Not to mention, just b/c you call yourself KCDem doesn’t mean you’re a, you know, Dem.
I was privileged to serve the people of Delaware for sixteen years as a State Representative. I took my obligation as an elected public servant very seriously and I believe I always served the best interests of Delaware’s families.
I have observed candidates for public office step forward, some successfully and some not, to offer their talents to represent the people of Delaware. There certainly have been many who have had the qualifications and attitudes to be good public servants. But occasionally one individual will stand out and rise above the others and display a distinct and unique propensity to embrace the obligations of public service.
I recognize this rare combination of honesty and commitment in Claire Snyder-Hall. I have known Claire Snyder-Hall for over a dozen years now and it’s safe to say I have rarely, if ever, met a more sensitive, qualified, and intelligent candidate for public office than Claire.
Claire Snyder-Hall has announced her candidacy for Delaware’s 14th District Representative seat and her accomplished history of community involvement and service to the public makes her the most qualified person to vie for that position.
Did anyone else see Melanie Ross Levin post her filing for the 10thRD with Our PAL Val at her side? I’m no Dennis E. Williams fan, but could it be anymore obvious that Melanie will be a pawn for Longhurst?
FUCK!!
No wonder she didn’t reply to my requests for an interview.
She’s been bought and paid for already. I hope someone other than that sicko Dennis E Williams is getting in the race.
Is Collin really running? He’s killing it at these forum but I can’t figure out what his strategy is. I saw him at the teachers forum and he absolutely killed it. I just can’t figure out the man’s strategy. He’s obviously smart, but does he not have anyone around him?