Delaware Political Weekly: July 5-11, 2024
1. Delaware Democratic Party Marches Towards Irrelevancy. Proving once and for all that Betsy Maron is the John Carney of Party chairs. She learned nothing from her dad’s decision to place the heavy hands of labor on the scales on behalf of then-candidate Carney. Carney’s campaign proved to be as devoid of substance as his time in office has been, and he lost to Jack Markell. Learning nothing from that embarrassment, Maron and the party hacks have endorsed Bethany Hall-Long for Governor. You just have to love their statement of endorsement:
“Bethany Hall-Long has been a dedicated partner to the Delaware Democratic Party for nearly three decades,” said State Party Chair, Betsy Maron. “From her years on her local district committee to her work in the General Assembly, Delaware Democrats have long had an advocate in Bethany. She has spent her career leading on issues like education, women’s reproductive rights, and mental health. She understands the needs of Delawareans in every corner of the state. Bethany is ready to make Delaware the best place to live, work, and raise a family on day one.”
Translation: She’s been a reliable Party hack for 30 years. Tell me where and how she’s been a leader on education and reproductive rights. Words, we’re talking words. Empty words. The Party is now officially dedicated to dragging her unethical carcass across the finish line. Pathetic.
I think that, all things being equal (except when opposing a Democrat who has been convicted), the Party has demonstrated that it should stay out of this endorsement business. As much as I love Kyle Evans Gay (a volunteer since her first campaign, I have her sign on our lawn), why endorse her over two other qualified candidates? Just let the primary voters decide. But endorsing someone who, if we had a real system of justice in Delaware, would almost certainly be under indictment, displays a rot at the core of the Delaware Democratic Party. And Eric Raser-Schramm ain’t coming through the door this time.
2. Deadline For Candidates To Withdraw Is Today At 4:30. At least, if they want their money back. Doesn’t look like Collin O’Mara will be leaving the race. I mean, officially. There’s no campaign without a candidate, and O’Mara sightings have been notably difficult to come by. Yes, they’re looking for a new campaign manager as Andrew O’Donnell is no longer in that position although he’s purportedly still ‘with’ the campaign. Yes, I’ve been told that exciting things are coming from the campaign. But they’ve already frittered away at least a month and a half since the Working Families Party endorsement event, and that’s time and momentum that can’t be regained. As to the deadline, you generally see one or two no-hopers bow out. We’ll keep an eye out.
3. Personal To Jason Hoover: What the Fuck Is Your Problem? OK, kids, here’s the background. Jason Hoover is one of the five D candidates seeking the position of NCC Council President. Our local RD committee heard from all five at a Virtual Candidates’ Town Hall in May. We were very impressed with both Jason and Val Gould. The other three? Not so much. During his presentation, Hoover said that he was the only candidate who has disavowed taking campaign contributions from developers. Almost immediately after the event, I was informed that Val Gould had made a similar pledge. We heard from both Jason and Val at a recent Arden Town meeting. This time, although armed with the information that both he and Val were not accepting campaign contributions from developers, Hoover repeated his claim, despite knowing it to be false. This week at a meeting of the RD 5 Democratic Committee, Hoover did it again, only to be called out by Val Gould on his, um, prevarication. So, Jason, please come on here and explain why you persist in spreading a lie about an opponent that you know to be a lie. It’s just weird. And not helpful to your candidacy.
4. Rethugs Get Candidate For NCC County Council. While the candidate filing deadline has passed, the two major parties can still file candidates for vacancies on the ballot (but not for primaries). Enter Melissa Brayman, who the R’s have filed as their candidate for NCC Council President. I have no idea why she wasn’t filed for the County Executive spot, as putative R candidate Carter Hill dropped out of that race in April. Brayman works for the Chamber of Commerce, so I imagine refusing funds from developers is out of the question.
5. Final Political Weekly. Oh, we’ll still be doing loads of political coverage. Starting (maybe) next week, we look at this cycle’s most intriguing primaries. Plus, we’ll keep an eye out for the stray indictment or two.
That’s all I’ve got this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
Omarra is really puzzling to me. I’m not sure what he’s doing but I’m starting to think he’s doing this on Bethany’s behalf. I’m not sure why else he would be embarrassing himself in this way.
Did the party release the votes? I’d be curious to see who voted for Bethany’s endorsement. I want to know who not to support in the future.
Can one of the people closer to the party advise on that? Liberalgeek?
I did not attend the State Exec meeting, however, if it was a voice vote, the votes may not have been recorded individually. I know that in NCC it was a roll call. In my RD it was a voice vote. Both votes were overwhelming in the recommendation to endorse BHL.
As I have noted before, Matt has done almost nothing to convince active party members that he should get the endorsement. I don’t believe that he has been very supportive of the party GOTV program (Coordinated Campaign) and he actively supported Republican Bob Weiner over Dem challenger Dee Durham in 2018.
I’m not sure why the Dems would have supported him with that record. He really looks like he is running against the party (which is a valid strategy), but I wouldn’t be surprised by a Governor Meyer that supports a “nice Republican” like Mike Smith or Kevin Hensley. Hopefully they are both involuntarily retired this year.
Man Geek. You’ve really strayed from the light of God. I’d hope the party would weigh the significant moral and ethical and criminal lapses of hall long. But i guess that doesn’t matter as long as someone shows up to kneel before these mighty RDs.
You guys are a joke. And actively damaging to the progressive cause in this state. Luckily you’re also totally irrelevant and I think an endorsement from the party – especially this one- is going to do more harm than good.
Best of luck with hall long though. She’ll need some character witnesses and sounds like you’ll be there with your kneepads firmly affixed.
“This state”? You post from New Jersey.
This is just silliness. Matt has other priorities than getting the endorsement, obviously. The value of the endorsement is essentially nil at this point. But here you are with mock indignation at some miscarriage of justice. Someone get the fainting couch.
There are so many comparisons to Markell/Carney, but everyone is missing the lesson there, neither was particularly successful. At least BHL has had experience in the House and Senate and built relationships. She has ended up on the right side of almost all issues, even if she was cagey before her vote(s).
Yeah, it’s the relationships she’s built that we don’t know about that trouble me. And she ended up on the right side of issues because she’s a weathervane.
Geek–why did the Party decide to endorse at all?
Particularly in light of the ethical and perhaps legal questions facing BHL?
Strikes me as a blow on behalf of the Delaware Way. Granted, as inflicted by the hand of Montgomery Burns, but still.
There are always endorsement votes. Sometimes the motion to vote on is “No endorsement” and it passes. In my RD, that is what happened for NCC Pres. The motion to recommend to endorse Matt Meyer in my RD didn’t even get a second, so it wasn’t considered.
For the record, BHL and CO’M both live in my RD. BHL is an ex-officio member. If CO’M was shorter, no one on the RD could probably pick him out of a lineup.
I made the point up a few comments ago that the reward for getting the endorsement is basically nil. I pushed very hard for that personally and was successful. In 2008, when Carney got the nod from the party, it would have cut off access to party organizing tools for Markell (I don’t know that Markell was using them).
These days, it’s bragging rights of dubious value. That’s it. Think of it as a straw poll. Some work really hard for it, some don’t see the value. But, generally speaking, it reflects on the organization of campaigns. Some are so clueless that they don’t know that RDs exist, some are like your experience with KHN, some make a point of introducing themselves to these super-voters and some think it is all kabuki theater.
I’m agnostic to the concept, but if a group doesn’t want to endorse, they just have to vote against endorsements. Too many think that abstaining means that you don’t want to endorse. It’s not. That’s equivalent to staying home on election day.
Our committee voted only to endorse Marcus Henry and Kyle.
While I agree that the value of the endorsement is almost nil, the Party opting to do this puts the Party in a bad light, IMO.
For example, a question that I have is what resources will the Party devote to those they’ve endorsed? Money? Coordinated campaign activities? Mailers?
Zip. To my knowledge, the only assistance that has been given by the party before the primary (since 2017) is what it did to assist Lydia York against McGuiness.
(I was in the odd position of advocating against that assistance, albeit weakly)
Your omarra joke has saved you.
But in all sincerity – it’s really disappointing that the party would feel the need to endorse here. I get what you’re saying and Bethany certainly is more of a “party person” than Matt but the fact that you all were willing to overlook the incredibly troubling facts around her political and official conduct is really concerning. Really concerning. The Democratic AG (as democrat as they come in my book) is the one who brought to light the most serious problems that have come up with Bethany. More than half the GA hasn’t endorsed her and that speaks volumes. Very clearly she is not the Democratic party’s candidate. Those members represent many more people than whoever gathers for these meetings.
Does the party not believe Jennings? I’d like you to say that. Did you vote for Bethany?
To my knowledge, Jennings has publicly done one thing. That is a letter to the Opioid board (whatever they are called) asking that payments be halted until a review can be made of the way grants are awarded. That isn’t an indictment, an accusation or a conviction.
The rest is AFAIK, conjecture. There has been no statement that BHL is under investigation.
So it is not unreasonable to assume that this is a lot of smoke (and a bit of spousal incompetence) and that the AG is also behaving reasonably.
I can understand why people aren’t convinced and don’t support BHL, I really do. Maybe MM is your guy. He’s not mine because I saw him actively support Republicans when a progressive Democrat was challenging said Republican. I also saw the lack of participation by MM in the Coordinated Campaign that is designed to GOTV for all Democratic candidates. I want a Dem Governor that is going to support Dem candidates and Dem goals. I haven’t seen it from MM yet.
What’s your favorite policy proposal that Bethany has put out? I want a strong Democratic Governor too and I would love to know what you’re most excited about as she’s laid out her blueprint for governing.
Sorry I know this isn’t fair and I’m bullying you now. I’m glad you came here to actually answer questions. It’s much more than any other “leaders” of the party would ever think of doing. Apologies. You don’t need to answer that question. You and I and everyone else knows that she doesn’t have any clue. Not sure how you can judge a good dem. I guess as long as they come and kiss the ass of self appointed “leaders” in RDs. Pretty pathetic and sad that this is what our party has turned out to be. Utter failure.
While nobody needs to come to the Geek’s defense, I’ll do it anyway. He was a GREAT County Chair. Like Erik Raser-Schramm, he was all about welcoming and inclusiveness.
That time was a bright spot for the Party, and played a key role in enabling progressives to access political office. I see what’s happening now as a reversion to times past, which is why it’s a good thing we have the Working Families Party to more than pick up the slack…even if this Collin O’Mara thing goes belly-up.
For the record, this statement is not me or anyone I associate with taking a side, but I do find it funny that you say Meyer is willing to work with “nice republicans” like Mike Smith when thus far he’s the only gubernatorial candidate who has maxed out to Monica Beard’s campaign, and did so almost as soon as she opened her committee up in June of 2023 (His mother made a max donation as well, though that won’t be on the record until October)
I’m not siding with Meyer here, all I’m saying is that thus far he and Sarah McBride have been the most vocal supporters of Monica Beard and of trying to expand the Democratic majority in the General Assembly.
If BHL, O’Mara or anyone else for that matter is interested in strengthening the Democratic Party here in Delaware, I think it’s incumbent upon them to show support for the Democratic nominee for RD22, the only RD north of the canal to have a Republican incumbent, and as of the filing deadline that is Monica Beard.
Donations (whether max or not, I won’t judge) can be made here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/friends-of-monica-beard-1
How much did he donate to Luann D’Agostino? Or Guillermina Gonzales?
Could it be that he has had a change of heart? Or could it be that he is running for governor?
I mean, ok? Am I weird for thinking it’s good that candidates running for statewide office want to invest in downballot races? Even with the most cynical read of his motives, his ambition is working towards helping the party, which should be applauded and other candidates should be encouraged to follow suit.
I suppose an interesting thought experiment for any intrepid DL commenter/poster would be to crawl through Guillermina’s and Luann’s finance reports and see who is currently running that donated to one or both of them in their races. Whom amongst our candidates is filled with noble virtue, donating all these years out of love of party? And whom among them are sinners who donate only when their ambition drives them to seek higher office?
Or maybe candidates should just donate to Monica. I’m more than happy to shut up after that.
It’s weak sauce, Joshua. Geek is a good guy but he’s Baghdad Bob at this point. Party appartchik.
Hypothetically, Geek, if you saw more serious legal action. Or, evidence. Would you withdraw your support? Would you urge the party to rescind its endorsement?
Doesn’t change the facts: Meyer is backed by and has backed Republicans. Your answer to that?
My answer to that is I’d be able to have a better understanding of who Bethany supports if you could trust her campaign finance reports. Sadly you can’t. So I have no idea what she does with her money – other than write checks to herself and maybe use it to buy section 8 housing.
But if you want to have a discussion about who is a better party Democrat. It’s definitely Bethany. If you want to talk about who has actually laid out a progressive Democratic plan for governing – and who has evidenced it by actually governing – that’s Matt.
In other words, you won’t answer it. So noted.
When Matt wins, I’m assuming he’s going to govern as he has and as he promises. That’s what I’m going off of. If that turns out to be incorrct then he should have his feet held to the fire. I don’t know – nor care – about the high school politics of some dumb county council race no one cares about. But it’s a typical BHL argument – sophistication rivaling that of a middle school cafeteria debate. The small group of party people are in a total echo chamber and it shows in this campaign.
I know I see Bethany locking arms with Val. I’d love to ask Nick … who is Val is helping and supporting. I suspect Mike because Val knows any more progressive democrat legislators who enter the chamber are voting her ass out.
I think Alan Levin is pretty terrible, to be clear. But I’ll take that over the monsters around Bethany. Including the Republicans supporting her.
I wouldn’t describe the way he has governed as progressive, and I wouldn’t describe the people backing him as progressive. So your personal beliefs are just that. They do nothing to change the minds of people who don’t want the Alan Levin (formerly Mike Castle) Republicans taking over the Republican Party, which is a legitimate concern. Add those people to the OG Democrats and you can win primary elections over progressives.
To be clear, it’s ripe for taking over, because the people running it are below mediocre, and I think a lot of people will agree with you, that competent GOP-lite is preferable to grifty Democratic self-servers. But I see no reason for your confidence that he will govern progressively.
Also, too … “Democrat legislators”? That’s Republican usage. Maybe a tell?
Who would take a job as a campaign manager with O’Mara’s sinking ship of a “campaign” with two months to go until the primary that he is sure to lose at this point? What a joke. It’s safe to say he got in the race to help Bethany out and fooled us all.
I wouldn’t say “us all.”
Here’s what I think happened: Omara did this at the behest of the establishment who want to make sure BHL Is governor. He swindled and conned his way into the working families party endorsement in order to prevent their resources and volunteers from going to Meyer.
Have you ever listened to a stump speech by Omara? He basically shits on the last 8 years of Carney/Hall Long.
Hard to see Omara as any type of plant or his message be way different
Saying everything he should say if he wants to split the progressive vote and take away from Meyer
He’s not going to get enough of anything to do anything in this race. Even if instagram posts are mostly him looking sad and alone. It’s bizarre. I thought this guy was a genius sophisticate?he just seems like a weirdo.
“Hard to see Omara as any type of plant or his message be way different”
That’s some sophisticated take right there. Yeah, he wouldn’t say anything he didn’t mean. If he was looking to bamboozle people he’d say exactly what he really means.
Most candidates spend the first months of a campaign raising money and meeting with RD committees and other interest groups. That is what all three gubernatorial candidates have done. In Sussex, all 3 have spoken at the meetings of the organized RDs, as well as the Eastern Sussex Democratic Club and the Shore Democrats. It is only after the filing deadline that you will see properly-funded Primary election candidates start their mailings and going on TV and radio (for the really well funded).
As to the State Democratic Party endorsements, I understand that the members from Sussex abstained because there was not proper notice so that the RDs and the subdivision committees could make and transmit recommendations. It was a pre-planned fix- like they did in 2008 for Carney.
Yeah, we had pretty short notice in NCC as well. But it was up to the county D officials to make sure the committees knew what those deadlines were, not the state party.
As to O’Mara, he’s missed a lot of events where voters, among others, are present. Regardless of how you feel about BHL or Meyer, you see them there. You see their attendance chronicled on their websites. If diaper duty is keeping O’Mara off the trail, he might want to wash his hands (using lots of sanitizer) of this whole campaign thing.
New Castle County did not have short notice. I am looking at the minutes from March 27th of the NCC Exec Committee meeting (emailed to RD chairs on April 3 and again on April 17). The Chair’s report features (in bold type) that if your RD wants to recommend statewide candidates for endorsement, please do so no later than May 31st.
It is always possible that your RD Chair missed the Mar 27 meeting (I believe she, like I, was excused). But this timeline has been discussed since the first of the year. And at worst, your RD chair would have had almost 60 days to get it on the agenda for your RD.
So Council President looks like this:
Hoover= repeated liar
Williams = FOP guy
Johns= Mutiple loser
Frankel= Who knows?
This leaves Val Gould with a great resume, solid campaign and impressive message.
The choice is clear, vote Val!
I am now a Val supporter, and I recognize it’s an uphill battle. One that they can win, but one that won’t be easy.
However, I’ve now met two candidates who I see as legit potential change agents: Val Gould and Branden Fletcher Dominguez. Delaware NEEDS people like them.
I almost choked when I read this. Then I realized which Val you were talking about!
Yeah, not THAT Val. Kamela Smith all the way!
Anyone else notice the concerning Facebook post from Delaware afl cio president about “wanting to thin out rats” ? His posts have become just down right bizarre in the last few years. I guess that’s better than his anti semetic ones?
Someone once said … not all BHL supporters in the party are racists.
But all the racists in the party are Bethany supporters.
I’m pretty sure it was you who said that. And I seriously doubt its truth. An awful lot of Republicans now register as Democrats so they can vote for their ilk in the primaries. And they’re supporting Meyer.
“Time to thin out rats and people that sit and think that I don’t know they should be sent away. Hiding and gather info to twist it their way. Bye bye”
What a creep. He sounds like a school shooter.
Hi El, I hear your concerns and understand why you would be upset after hearing those claims. I usually don’t partake in online forum debates, however, I do understand how misinformation can spread, and because of this I feel it’s my duty to correct the record.
My core belief is that the community’s best interests are compromised when councilmembers vote on development matters while being funded by developers. This long-standing practice needs to change. In my opinion, this is not just another issue; it’s a fundamental requirement for fair representation upon which all other issues are built. Addressing this concern is central to my campaign, and I am deeply committed to it. Setting the standard of rejecting the influence of developer money is not a box you check – it’s a powerful statement that needs to be shouted from the rooftops
Until recently, my statement had always been that “I’m the *only* candidate to have *publicly* pledged to reject developer money”. It’s a fair claim because I can’t see if others have taken developer money or not until the campaign finance deadlines, however, I can see if other candidates are actively rejecting it. Val did in fact mention they’re rejecting developer money at the 8th/9th RD forum in the beginning of June. I was excited to hear about this news and eagerly awaited a public announcement. It never came.
At the next forum I made the same accurate claim. After all, if you weren’t one of the 25 people in the room in Middletown at the last 8th/9th RD forum, how would you know about Val’s pledge? Weeks later and still no public announcement.
Just before the 5th RD forum, Val made their first Facebook post about not taking developer money. A facebook post isn’t quite the public announcement I hoped this issue deserved, but it was a good start. Since that post I changed my claim. I said in the next forum “I’m the *first* candidate in this race to reject developer money and the *loudest* voice in rejecting it”. Another fair claim. After all, I’ve made multiple videos about this topic and have posted the “no developer money” notice all over my website and all over my campaign materials.
My statement at the 5th RD forum was both accurate and fair, so I believe whoever informed you of anything different must have misheard. If it were Val, I understand why they misheard because they were plugged in via speakerphone. I am always careful with my words and have taken pains to only speak truthfully.
Immediately after the 5th RD forum I spoke to Val’s campaign manager. I explained my reasoning; if a developer were to try to donate to Val’s campaign, they’d have no way of knowing their check would be rejected because it’s not written anywhere on the website, not even on the donation page. She agreed. We also talked about how this is more than just not being beholden to developers, it’s about publicizing this fact so we can set a new standard of how campaigns are run and funded. She agreed to that as well. I told her I hoped all of my opponents joined me in being this vocal. She said she’d talk to Val about this.
Publicly pledging to represent our constituents with clean money is exactly that: a pledge that needs to be done so publicly – at every opportunity. Making this statement so loudly changes the norm and brings this critical problem into the public consciousness to set a precedent for a new wave of clean candidates.
I encourage you to look through Val’s website and social media for yourself and see if this critical message of rejecting developer money comes through strongly enough. I want to be clear, this is not an attack on Val – it is me holding them accountable to our shared values. I hope they do the same for me. I believe we have a lot of similarities in our platforms and I hope we continue to move the needle on critical issues that will improve our county governance.
I hope you’ll consider this new information and I thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight. I would appreciate it if we could keep our discourse civil. I welcome questions and criticisms but let’s do so while maintaining the respect and dignity each of us deserves.
Jason Hoover
So she didn’t meet a standard that you made up whole cloth – she didn’t reject it strongly enough.
Your explanation says a lot.
***They
You knew at least as early as the Arden Town Meeting that Val Gould had publicly rejected developers’ money. Yet, you persisted–at at least three other public forums and on your website.
This sorta legalistic defense is disappointing. If you’re gonna set yourself up as a different kind of candidate, you need to behave like a different kind of candidate.
It’s been stated in the donation link created when Val announced their run, in multiple social media posts, and in emails and texts to supporters that they don’t take corporate or PAC money.
You deleted your blog post in June after Val confronted you directly, and yet you still continue to lie and distort. It’s pathetic.
These are the resources I consulted when I made my statements. It’s possible I missed something. I still don’t see anything on here.
Website: https://www.valgould.com/
Donation link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/friends-of-val-gould-1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gouldforncc/ (before June 25th)
Brochure
El, your timeline is off. And I believe I didn’t see you at any of these events so I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from.
Arden town hall – June 24th
Val’s first public announcement – June 25th (see their facebook page)
Val did not announce rejecting developer money at the Arden town hall – I have the recording if you’d like to hear it. My website has only ever said I do not accept developer money and makes no statements about anyone else.
My statements have nothing to do with Val so let’s stop making it about them. I looked at everyone’s materials and I was the only one to publicly pledge to reject developer money. I don’t consider a comment in a closed forum an official public pledge (especially considering the video was posted without audio). Again, I ask, how would the public know if they weren’t in that room? It sounds like you and I may have different ideas of what a public pledge is, which is fine, but I reject the notion that my statements are some sort of attack on any candidate in this race.
Jason
The 8&9th RD had a live stream of the forum where Val plainly tells you that they are not taking developer money.
On June 20th, you created a blog post directly comparing yourself with the other candidates. Beyond stating that Val was “compromised” you lied that they have no government experience.
On June 22nd, you were directly confronted about your lie, and deleted the post.
And multiple times after repeated the lie.
We have screenshots. Try harder.
Let the dude keep talking😎. He’s in a hole and using a power shovel to continue to dig!
Jason, I get information from people who were at those meetings.
And I was AT THE Arden Town Meeting where you made the claim that both you and I knew to be false.
And you haven’t claimed that you didn’t misrepresent her position on not taking developer money at the other two forums, something you surely would have done if you had been misquoted.
It’s really telling that when he makes a statement you don’t like, you blast him. And when he removes that statement, you blast him for removing it. It’s what you call a Kafka trap, and it’s very common among folks in this circle, especially Jordyn Pusey and El. There’s literally nothing he could do to to win your support, because that was never on the table to begin with.
You’re not holding Val accountable to any of the things Jason just listed here. I went through all Val’s materials and found what he’s saying is true. Val did not publicly announce their refusal of developer money until very recently, and that’s exactly what Mr. Hoover is calling out. It’s not a “legalistic” view (and not an excuse to lie, as you are so set in spinning it), it’s a fact. Clearly developer money is an important topic here for Hoover’s campaign, and he’s saying Val isn’t going far enough. A statement in a closed door meeting, is not, in fact, a public pledge.
I don’t really understand the vitriol here other than to assume these folks feel as though attacking Jason is the only way Val can win their seat. El and Jordyn are not representing my interests as a voter, they’re spreading hate to lengthen the divide between their chosen candidate and their biggest threat. I’ve seen both of them repeatedly attack, bully, and troll their way to relevance through blogs like this one, and it’s very troubling that they have such a voice in local politics (more troubling to me that they are so closely associated with Val).
Let me say this: El and Jordyn Pusey are Facebook friends with Val, and involved in Val’s campaign, while the rest of us are not.
Mr. Hoover, best of luck. I’ll be watching with interest. But not in this forum — it’s a dead end. I have yet to see conduct here that doesn’t boil my blood, and I’m done giving it unearned credence. I suggest you do the same.
You know where Jason learned that Val wouldn’t accept developer money? From Val. When he subsequently says that he’s the only one who doesn’t accept developer money, he says it knowing it’s not true.
Uh, I’m not a Facebook friend with Val or anybody else for that matter. Not on Facebook. Why do you feel the need to lie about something like that?
I am not ‘involved’ in Val’s campaign. Yes, I now support them. And just made a contribution. Did not support them when both Jason and Val spoke at our 7th RD Virtual Town Hall. Liked both Jason and Val, not the other candidates. Advocated to our committee that we not endorse in that race. We didn’t.
It was Jason’s behavior, particularly the lying, that made the decision easy for me. As I wrote, he made his campaign less credible by persisting in lying.
Don’t blame me for pointing it out.
I really wish y’all realized how childish this sounds. “I was here first.” “No you weren’t.” So they’re both not talking developer money. I don’t care who was there first.
I have yet to see or hear any accusations or allegations that Bethany Hall-Long has misappropriated or misdirected Opioid Funds to specific agencies or groups. I have yet to see or hear that BHL has any such authority to solely determine where such funding would or should go. I have not seen any allegations or accusations made by AG Kathy Jennings that BHL has engaged in such behavior. I have not seen or heard any allegations or accusations that the AG and the Lieutenant Governor, as Co-Chairs of the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission, have illegally or unethically distributed funds to potential campaign donors or for their own personal interests.
None of the “legitimate” reporting on this matter has made those accusations nor have they offered any evidence to support such speculation.
If anyone feels the need to reject/oppose a candidate for any public office because of their own beliefs that there have been corrupt activities, incompetencies or even criminally liabilities associated with that candidate then they are certainly entitled to that judgement and decision.
If anyone chooses to make such a decision, it does not entitle them to present rumors or unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations as factual.
Finally, if anyone chooses to conduct themselves in such a fashion, it does not (and never will) entitle them to presume or assume who anyone else chooses to support or oppose (or vote for) nor for what reasons they have chosen to do so.
I, personally, have not ceded my rights to my personal (and private) opinions and thoughts of who I will support, oppose and vote for. I can say, with certainty, that no one on any blog site is “entitled” to demand my positions or opinions on individuals or their behaviors. I can also say, unequivocally, that misinterpreting and misrepresenting facts to the extent that has happened here is “RUMOR MONGERING” and “NOT” factual.
Rep. (retired) John Kowalko
Uh, John? Bethany and HER peeps control the disbursement of the funds. Kathy Jennings has no such authority.
Have you bothered to even READ Karl Baker’s story about the funds that went to that Kent County group which was IMMEDIATELY followed by a max gift from the organization’s fundraiser?
I’m not responsible for what you haven’t read. If you choose not to read stories from award-winning reporters that engage in facts, then your ignorance is, at least this time, deliberate.
I don’t know what the fuck you owe Bethany and/or what she has on you, but you are using a standard here that you haven’t applied anywhere else.
I’m sick of your screeds. You cut and paste the same shit about how Bullock and Geisenberger belong in jail with NO PROOF WHATSOEVER as to what crimes they’ve allegedly committed to send them there which, BTW, is no defense of those two and/or Carney. It’s clear that whatever capacity for original thought you might have at one point had, you are now only capable of recycling screeds. Over and over again.
You have now ignored a shitload of documented FACTS about Bethany Hall Long. That is a FACT, not rumor. Why don’t you come clean and tell us what it took this time to once again sell out your, pardon the expression, principles? Rhetorical question. You’re not, nor have you ever been, capable of admitting that you’ve been wrong.
Have said repeatedly that Bullock and Geisenberger should be removed from their positions of influential capacities in assuring that taxpayer money should be given to the richest corporations in the world. Don’t recall suggesting imprisonment. Not “cut and pasting” my own statements and “factual” assertions that the focus on funding hundreds of millions to Wilmington will be Carney’s promo that he has earned the Mayor’s office. Bought and paid for by Delaware taxpayers. Once more you have failed to comprehend what I have written and chosen to lash out like the petulant child you have become. Rep. Kowalko
Here’s what you wrote:
“Creation of an independent Office of Inspector General would be the first logical step to investigate this “Delaware Way” criminal enterprise aided and abetted by Secretary of State Bullock and Secretary of Finance Geisenberger in criminal conspiracy with Wilmington’s Mayor to be John Carney.”
So, to be fair, you didn’t say they should be in jail–you just said they were part of a criminal enterprise. Without any pesky facts to support your statement.
I agree with what you wrote about the Bond Bill. It’s why somebody, oh wait, that was ME, I wrote about the story.
Which doesn’t explain why you express such fealty to BHL, who is the Carney-endorsed candidate AND who has factually-proven campaign finance issues.
You won’t either. Your posting here is your ‘Get off my lawn’ equivalent. So here’s where we are–you’ll get no more screeds here until or unless you explain WHY you support BHL. Which is OK, you post your shit everywhere. We just happen to be in a position where we’re not starved for content. More specifically, YOUR content.