Matt Meyer Was Right. And, yes, insiders are putting their thumbs on the scale when it comes to the Special Elections:
Frustrations over political jockeying and an alleged lack of transparency have emerged among Wilmington-area Democrats in advance of a Monday vote of party insiders that will decide the candidates who will run in special elections early next year.
The field roughly divides between candidates who have worked within establishment Delaware politics – such as United Way executive Dan Cruce and former lawmaker Raymond Seigfried – and those who have sat farther away from the levers of power. Those include Shay Frisby, a state social services supervisor; Adriana Bohm, a sociology professor; and David Vagnoni, a Brandywine High School teacher.
Dwayne Bensing, a Democrat from Wilmington and legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, said the lack of transparency has sparked cynicism toward the party’s leadership. He said his preferred candidate – Bohm – hasn’t been given sufficient information about ways to contact voting members of the local party, putting her at a disadvantage.
“I don’t know if I could be any more cynical” about party leadership, he said.
Bohm declined to comment for this story.
Katherine Caudle, committee chair of the New Castle County Democrats, and Cassandra Marshall, chair of the Wilmington Democrats, did not respond to an emailed question about complaints from party members about transparency.
Spotlight Delaware has learned that a handful of influential Delawareans have been lobbying several of the dozens of Democratic Party precinct leaders who will attend the Monday event to decide on the candidates to run in the special election.
Among those doing the lobbying are Freel, Rep.-elect Melanie Ross Levin, and lobbyist Kim Gomes. (Doing Bobby Byrd’s bidding.)
In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, Freel said he has had several private conversations with the party’s local voting members about Cruce, who he supports among the field of seven vying for McBride’s seat.
Gomes – a partner in a state lobbying firm ByrdGomes – said she has called various party members to see where they stand on the special election candidates, stating that “anybody on the extremes is not going to be helpful.” (Translation: Delaware Way all the way.)
She said she is not being paid for her outreach, but noted that she represents clients from several industries and her “job is to advocate for their needs in the state of Delaware.”
She also said her preferred candidate to replace McBride is Cruce.
For the nomination to replace Gay in Senate District 5, Ross Levin said in an email to Spotlight Delaware that she has made calls to a few voting members to express support for Seigfried. She noted his previous experience in the legislature, saying “I know he’s ready to hit the ground running.” (Four years after having been soundly rejected by the Democratic voters in his district?? WTF does Melanie Ross Levin, who hasn’t even been sworn in, know? Nothing. Prediction: If Seigfried somehow wrangles the nomination, he could well lose to a Republican. Democratic voters have already soundly rejected him, R voters aren’t coming to save him. Not to mention, how many of these insiders are prepared to blitz the doors for the uncharismatic Seigfried in a snap election? I’m going with “None”.)
While such lobbying is unsurprising in advance of a nominating process, some critics have said the efforts only further the belief by some that the nominees are being selected by party leaders rather than party members.
Will Biden Pardon This Mississippi Miscreant?: A fascinating read that will make you even more depressed at what goes on behind the scenes. Oh, and will make you like the Bidens even less than you already do:
BOONEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI — In this sleepy county seat dotted with vacant brick storefronts, the immense estate that dominates the southern approach into town stands as a monument to legal savvy and political pull.
The property’s endless brick walls and winding footpaths represent the tangible fruits of decades of courtroom wrangling and backroom deal-making that made Joey Langston Booneville’s leading citizen — and a longtime political ally of the Biden family.
Now, the Langston family’s relationship with President Joe Biden could be the difference between freedom and incarceration for one of its members.
His ascent began in the 1990s, when he fell in with a loose-knit fraternity of larger-than-life Mississippi lawyers who cozied up to judges and legislators — including, most prominently, Joe Biden — while making a fortune in complex, politically sensitive lawsuits.
He forged a partnership with legendary tort lawyer Dickie Scruggs, a brother-in-law of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, positioned himself as Biden’s man in Mississippi, and became one of several members of his Southern legal crew to pursue business deals with Biden’s brother, Jim.
He then came back from a sensational case-rigging scandal and saw his eldest son, 39-year-old Keaton, establish another generation of Langstons in Booneville with a local pharmacy venture and a gated property of his own on the other side of town.
For his part, Keaton Langston made millions in health care and, working with his father, continued the tradition of doing business with Jim Biden.
Intrigued? I was. Lots more ethical misdeeds to follow. I led you to water. Now, drink.
Dog Bites Man: DeSantis ‘Hypocritical’. Schedules two special elections swiftly in contrast to delaying special elections in Democratic districts. This sums it up:
Analysts of Florida politics, meanwhile, say DeSantis’s maneuvering is nothing out of the ordinary.
“Throughout his tenure in office, to an extent during his first term but in particular after his re-election, he has really been a governor who has pushed the limits of his constitutional authority and power to try to promote both conservative policy priorities and also the fortunes of the Republican party more generally,” said Nicholas Seabrook, chair of the University of North Florida’s department of political science and public administration.
“He scheduled these elections essentially as soon as was possible under Florida law, so it’s hard not to look at that and conclude that, particularly given that the overall House majority was fairly narrow in both instances, a narrow Democratic majority coming out of the 2020 election, and an even narrower GOP majority coming out of 2024, that there’s an element of politics in the situation.
Did I mention that Lara Trump has resigned her position with the RNC to ‘consider’ a bid for the Senate seat that could be vacated by Mario Rubio? ‘Consider’ it a done deal:
“It is something I would seriously consider,” she told The Associated Press in an interview. “If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t know exactly what that would look like. And I certainly want to get all of the information possible if that is something that’s real for me. But yeah, I would 100% consider it.”
Millsboro To State: ‘We Fucked It Up, Now Help Us Unfuck It’. ‘We’, in this case being Suxco Council. But still:
MILLSBORO — Town officials will request state legislative support to address traffic volume they say has become a serious safety issue.
The concern — discussed during a Town Council meeting Monday — is the area of Plantation Lakes Boulevard and Godwin School Road on the west side of Millsboro. The location includes a busy stretch of Del. 24, compounded by hundreds of new town homes in Plantation Lakes’ South Shore, as well as road closures necessitated by the construction of the north Millsboro bypass.
Build hundreds of new townhomes, experience increased traffic volume. Who could possibly have predicted that?
We close on a proud personal note! My oldest daughter Cindy has become a nationally-certified math teacher after having successfully completed a year-long process that included portfolios, videos of classroom presentations, and successfully completing a rigorous and comprehensive national certification examination. When I congratulated her and suggested that now she could afford to take us out to dinner, she said that she instead plans to use her bump in salary to pay for the Trump tariffs.
What do you want to talk about?