Delaware Political Weekly: Week Ending January 22, 2026

“We are kings of our bikes. So, we are again really lucky to live in Rehoboth, when we park a car, we have to get back into the car. We can hop on our bikes and our ritual is that we are always biking from our home to L(ewe)s. We do a little bit of walking around, a little bit of margarita, a little bit of good food – there’s amazing food then bike right back. So the ritual, on our bikes, every chance we can, any place we can go, and eliminate the cars.”–Dan Cruce. 

1. How Many Richards, Layton & Finger Attorneys Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?  I don’t know, but these are the RL & F lawyers who lit up Rep. Krista Griffith’s campaign finance report:

C. Stephen Bigler: $600

Robert Burns: $200

Susan Cohen: $300

Matthew Criscimagna: $150

Brock Czeschin: $400

Doneene Damon: $600

Daniel DeFranceschi: $300

Raymond J. DiCamillo: $600

Alexandra Ewing: $500

Kelly Farnan: $300

Steven Fineman: $300

Kevin Gallagher: $600

Paul Heath: $600

Tara Hoffner: $600

Travis Hunter: $600

Kenneth Jackman: $200

Kent Jordan: $600

Cory Kandestin: $100

Daniel Kaprow: $100

Bernard Kelley: $600

Rudolph Koch: $200

Mark Kurtz: $100

Kyle Lachmund: $600

Gregory Ladner: $400

Elisa Maas: $600

Brian Mammarella: $600

Katherine Mowry: $200

Jeffrey Moyer: $600

Stephanie Norman: $200

Joshua Novak: $600

Srinivas Raju: $600

Marcos Ramos: $600

Blake Rohrabacher: $600

Richard Rollo: $200

Brendan Schlauch: $300

Lisa Schmidt: $600

Eric Schwartzman: $100

Chad Shandler: $150

Russell Silberglied: $250

Robert Stern: $200

Amanda Steele: $300

Nathaniel Stuhlmiller: $600

Sarah Wagner: $600

John-Mark Zeberkiewicz: $500.

Remember, kids, Richards, Layton & Finger was the law firm expressly chosen by Elon Musk to push his legislation through the Delaware General Assembly.  Also remember that Krista Griffith called every single amendment to the bill an ‘unfriendly’ amendment, because they were deemed unfriendly by Musk and Zuckerberg.  This is merely a record of who Griffith sold out to, and how much she got in return.  From 44 attorneys, all from the same firm.  Remember whose interests she represented when her primary against Dr. Rob Bahnsen takes place.

2. Kira Alejandro: Remember The Name.  She is running for the 3rd NCC Council seat currently held by the odious Janet Kilpatrick.  Although she’s ‘only’ 30, I was blown away at her depth of knowledge into the dirty land use dealings that are going on in her district.  Stuff I knew nothing about.  She makes an appearance in this Spotlight Delaware article:

After years of trying to limit development, residents in the small community of Yorklyn successfully lobbied state environmental regulators to change an obscure piece of legislation that had allowed developers to skirt county land use authority in the area.

Before the change, any parcel of land within one segment of Delaware’s chateau country could have been incorporated into the broader Auburn Valley redevelopment project, bypassing New Castle County land use regulations in favor of more lax state oversight.

Oh, the ‘obscure piece of legislation’?  Word on the street is that one Deborah Hudson Capano snuck the language into a Bond Bill many moons ago.  But I digress:

Typically, land use decisions are made by Delaware counties and proposals go through multiple public forums before approval. But in the case of Yorklyn, those approvals have been signed behind closed doors, without community involvement.

In 2021, one of those state approvals sparked outrage among residents after they learned that a piece of forested land had been clear cut for a luxury townhouse development. Residents’ ire have continued in the years since.

Greg Patterson takes action:

Last week (June of 2023), DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson told Spotlight Delaware in an email that he requested the changes be made to the bond bill after hearing concerns from residents and local leaders “about DNREC’s role in the area in the future.”

Patterson also said DNREC told developers that a six-story residential project known as “Chatham Bay,” which would have brought 151 units to Yorklyn, would not be considered in its current state.

He didn’t provide a direct answer when asked if he anticipates returning that land to county authority before its April 2026 presentation to state lawmakers.

“DNREC anticipates the need for lengthy discussion with the New Castle County land use department — and almost certainly legal counsel as well — to determine how to return land use control in an orderly way, given activities that occurred during the exemption from the county process,” he said in an email.

Carlos Alejandro, a Yorklyn resident and advocate against the master plan, said in an email that he does not believe the state’s changes go far enough, though he did say that Patterson’s efforts are long overdue.

“The community of Yorklyn and our neighbors in Hockessin and Pennsylvania have been sidelined for years,” Alejandro said.

His daughter, Kira Alejandro, added that the community still intends to challenge the Auburn Valley projects because of their potential impact on local well water.

Kira argued the development plans would not adhere to New Castle County’s restrictions for the Cockeysville Water Resource Protection Area, which encompasses much of northern Delaware.

“We intend to push for answers as to why DNREC will not impose the [county’s] water resource protection restrictions on the master plan when the consequences could potentially impact everyone on well water in Yorklyn, Hockessin, and even parts of Chester County, Pa.,” Kira said in an email.

BTW, Kira stands in solidarity with Dave Carter’s push to regulate data centers.  It takes a lot to impress me after all these years.  After meeting with her last week, I can only say that I’ve rarely been so impressed with a candidate.  She’s just filed, I’ll provide links as soon as they’re available.

3.  Rep. Mara Gorman Running For Dave Sokola’s Senate Seat.  I don’t know if she had advanced notice.  There were questions about her legislative record, so I figured I’d share some of the key bills she’s sponsored in just over a year:

HB 182: Signed into law.  That’s more than a good start.

HB 154. Signed into law.

HB 142. Signed into law.

HB 150.  Out of committee.

HS1/HB 183.  Out of committee.  This is the bill requiring party primaries for special elections.

4.  Annd…, we have the first candidate to file for Mara Gorman’s House seat.  Her name is LuAnn D’Agostino, and Doug Manley from the Christina School Board is her Treasurer.  Seeing as how I knocked doors for Doug when he ran for the Board, I’m interested in the candidate.   Here’s her website.  Here’s some information on her background:

• Statewide Election Lead for Moms Demand Action

• Executive Board Member of Friends of Christina School District

• Education Portfolio Member/Chair for the League of Women Voters of Delaware Advocacy Corps

• Vice Chair of Democratic Representative District 22 and active member of RD23

• President of Cotswold Hills homeowners association and member of multiple local business and civic groups

She previously ran in RD 22 (before redistricting) in 2020, and lost to The Original Mike Smith, garnering about 37% of the vote then. 

5.  Michelle Wall, who is running as a D in the district currently held by R Kevin Hensley, has qualified for the ballot.

That’s all I’ve got this week (isn’t this enough?).

What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?