El Somnambulo Goes Over The Campaign Finance Reports So That You Don’t Have To

As usual, this will be a post-in-progress.  I will continue to update is as the finance reports roll in, the deadline for submissions being January 20.

I will post the most recent updates at the top as I see new ones.

Kevin Hensley closed out 2025 with $49K in his campaign account.  He will not go gently into that good night.  One can only hope that he will not drive inebriatedly into that good night.

That exercise in checking out the Richards, Layton & Finger attorneys who contributed to Krista Griffith sure came in handy.  You will find several of the same attorneys on the campaign finance report for–wait for it–Speaker Of The House Mimi Minor-Brown.  Hey, when your puppet shuts down debate on the Musk-pass bill, that’s the least you can do.  The Speaker closes out the year with about $41K in her war chest.  BTW, check out her expenditures.  Yes, she can pretty much spend the money as she sees fit.  Sure looks like she spent a lot of it on–herself.

Holy bleep! AG Kathy Jennings raised $214K this year. I’m calling it–Jennings coasts to a third term.

Holy bleep!  Kyle Evans Gay raised over $122K this year.   She’s not up for reelection until 2028.  I’m calling it–Delaware’s next Governor, perhaps in 2032, perhaps earlier.

The Senate R PAC raised $24K in 2025,  $20K of which came from Richards, Layton & Finger. 

The Wilmington City Committee has over $74K available.  The donations are from all over the Democratic political spectrum. None of it, though, from John Carney.

The Democratic State Committee has–not much money.  As in, just over $9K in the bank.

Sen. Dave Sokola, who is retiring, has about $44K in his campaign committee coffers.  He’s been notably generous with contributions to other campaigns.  I look for that to continue.

Remember all those addiction center donations to The Original Mike Smith?  Well, there’s a Delaware’s Future PAC that received contributions from two of the same addiction centers, along with $1K from Colin Bonini and, wait for it, $10K from the ‘Republican State Leadership Committee’ based in Washington D. C. 

D State Rep. Kim Williams (RD 19) raised $13.5K in 2025, spent a little over $13K, and has about $38K in her war chest.

State Sen. Eric Buckson, who clearly has his eyes on bigger things than the State Senate, has close to $30 K on hand starting 2026.  Look forward to his fundraising efforts ramping up acccordingly.

Gotta give Gov. Matt Meyer credit.  He listed every donation, even down to $1, on his annual campaign finance report.  There were no PAC or corporate donations in 2025.  He raised about $102K, paid off a $580 K loan to his campaign, and began the year with over $573K in the bank.  I, for one, will be interested in which candidates he chooses to donate to.

Something called The Blue Anchor Project filed a campaign report in Delaware.  Looks like a progressive committee, driven largely by small donations, almost none of them from Delaware.  Raised $124K in 2025, spent about 118K in 2025.  The bulk of expenditures appear to have come from Maine.  Saw no direct contributions to candidates.

Pam Salaam, who is challenging Franklin Cooke in a D primary in RD 17, has raised slightly over $4K.  That’s OK, but she’s capable of more. Hope she does more funding outreach to all the people who, like me, see Cooke as an impediment to progress.  She doesn’t need to outraise him, but she needs to raise enough to propel her grassroots campaign.

The Democratic Senate Majority Caucus Campaign Committee has a $116K war chest at their disposal.  I notice a $5K donation from Caesar’s of Las Vegas.  Reminds me of a quote from Bob Costas:  “The Raiders Cheerleaders are just like the girls next-door–if you live next door to Caesar’s Palace.”

D Wilmington City Council President Trippi Congo has a balance of minus-$1808.  Plus, his campaign has an outstanding loan of about $49K.

D Sen. Kyra Hoffner (SD14)  has about $12 K in her campaign fund.  I’d like to see a healthier bottom line as she’s facing a strong challenger this year.

Colin OMara transferred his remaining committee balance, about $1300, to the national Working Families Party.

Is Dwayne Bensing running for AG? I don’t know, but he raised over $59K last year.  However, he accepted no contributions after July, so I’m pretty sure he’s decided not to challenge for that race.  However, there’s no reason why he couldn’t transfer those funds into a committee to run for something else.  Just thought I’d dangle that possibility out there…

Looks like D Rep. Alonna Berry (RD 20) is in pretty good shape heading into 2026.  She has $17K on-hand, and she paid off a $22K loan last year.

The Original Mike Smith’s (R Rep from the 22nd District) campaign finance report is puzzling.  He lists five $600 contributions, all from the ‘Addiction Wellness Center IN LLC’ in Westminster, MD, along with yet another $600 contribution from the ‘Addiction Medication Clinic’ in Laurel, Maryland, along with yet another $600 contribution from ‘Abrian Enterprises Inc’, which has the exact same address as the ‘Addiction Wellness Center, along with yet another $600 contribution simply labeled ’11/23/25′, which just happens to be the date of all the other contributions I just mentioned.  That one has a Berlin, MD address.  There’s more.  I spotted several addiction facilities and recovery centers among his contributors. Like, oh, look, Cardinal Wellness Center, $600, exact same address as the ‘Addiction Wellness Center’.  Same with Galen Diagnostics, same with GCC Certificates LLC, exact same address.  Same with the Lotus Recovery Center of Prices Corner, which curiously has the same address as all the others.  We also have $600 contributions each from Recovery 180 LLC in Westminster, PA; Recovery 180 Virginia LLC in Warrenton, Va.,; and Reprise Recovery LLC in Baltimore.  Were I the suspicious type, I might posit that someone was trying to get around campaign spending limits.  But that’s just me.

Nnamdi Chukwuocha has about $39K on hand for his primary against Shane Darby.  I couldn’t help but notice one contribution in particular–$600 from Bryan Townsend’s campaign committee. A thank-you for selling out to Elon Musk?  Most likely.

The Other Mike Smith’s primary opponent Ted Lauzen has a campaign finance report that reads like a who’s who of Delaware’s Rethugocracy.  The entire Burris family; the Republican Strines, not to be confused with the Democratic Strines; Ben DuPont; pretty much all of Westover Hills; the Sussex Schells, and many more.  He’s raised about $129K, plus has lent his campaign another $250K. Yhe majority of it from out of state.  So, we have two ‘Democrats’ who nobody knows, each with massive war chests, running for the low-key position of State Treasurer.  Spoiler Alert: Neither is really running for Treasurer, they both have their sights set on something more impactful.  Can’t we just get a normal Democrat to run?  I don’t trust either of these two candidates, to put it mildly.

The Other Mike Smith raised over $109K this year.  Virtually all of it from out-of-state.  I mean way out of state.  All of the max $1200 contributions were from out of state.  We’re talking Cali (a shitload out of Berkeley), NY, Utah (Benjamin Romney?), Illinois, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Texas, several others.  Going out on a limb–I don’t believe that a guy who ran a hinky not-for-profit has all these connections and, if he does, just what those connections are.  I’ll definitely be doing a deeper dive on this one.  First early impression–many of the contributors are involved in AI work.  I’ll keep digging.

Rae Krantz, who is primarying Deb Heffernan in RD 6, raised a very respectable almost $16K, all of it from individual contributions, no PAC’s or corporate money.

Stephanie Bolden’s report is –interesting.  She reports a year-end balance of just over $8K.  However, she reports outstanding loans to the campaign of almost $10K.  Not clear how someone whose last campaign was bankrolled by Buccini/Pollin could be running with a deficit, but, hey, it’s Stephanie Bolden.

Sen. Nicole Poore closed out the year with over $70K in the bank.  Looks like she traded out the car dealerships who previously bankrolled her campaigns for restaurants and people in the restaurant industry.  I’m sure there’s some special interest legislation behind this, I’ll make it an item for further research.

Lest you wonder who is bankrolling Monique Johns, she collected $1800 this year, of which a total of $1200 came from Shawn and Michele Tucker.  Some people just sell out cheap.

Gemma Lowery, one of the two D’s challenging incumbent R State Rep Kevin Hensley, raised over $7100, which is less than half of what primary challenger Michelle Wall has raised.

Remember that ‘Wilmington Strong’ PAC started by Carney crony Javier Horstmann?  They got two contributions–one from Carney, the other from Mike Houghton.

The two businesses that give to almost everybody, so much so that they’re inescapable–Burns Thornburg LLC, a corporate law firm; and Harrington Raceway.  JP Morgan Chase isn’t far behind.

Kevin Hensley closed the year out with over $49K in the bank.  He raised over $26K this year.  An inordinate amount from PACs and corporations.  So much so that I’m gonna get my calculator out…$9200 from PACs and corporations.  Also, ex-state trooper Dave Baylor kicked in $100.  Guess drunk driving is of secondary importance to him.

We officially have our Big $$’s legislative race of the year.  Krista Griffith has about $122K in the bank, $60K of which is in the form of a loan.  I think the race between her and Dr. Rob Bahnsen will therefore be won by who has the best grassroots campaign.  I think that Bahnsen has a big advantage there.  But we shall see.

D Rep. Melanie Ross Levin (RD 10) raised over $35K this year.

A very impressive report from D Maureen Madden, who is running in RD 38, presumably against incumbent R Ron Gray.  Madden raised over $33K and has lent the campaign $5K.  No PAC or corporate money.  This race is officially on my radar.

Shay Frisby raised over $12 K in her challenge to incumbent Ray Seigfried in SD 5.  That’s more than twice as much as Seigfried has raised since the Special Election.  All of Shay’s contributions are from individuals, no PAC or corporate money.

Bethany Hall Long has a little over $32K remaining in her campaign account.  By far her biggest expenditure this year was to Debra (Allen) DeLuca, who was her final treasurer (something like sixth out of six).  Not surprisingly, BHL has amended her 2024 campaign filings six times already this cycle.  She’ll get it right eventually.

The Rethuglican State Committee goes into 2026 with a little over $21 K in the bank.  I’m no expert, but that doesn’t seem like a lot.

Whoa!  DOUBLE Whoa!! Dr. Rob Bahnsen raised over $57K for his campaign for RD 12.  The seat is currently held by fellow D Krista Griffith. All of Bahnsen’s contributions came from 233 individual donors as the campaign has not accepted donations from PAC’s or corporations.  He also committed $45 K of his own $$’s to the campaign, giving him a war chest of over $100K.

Pete Schwartzkopf still has about $76K in his account.  His only two post-Special Election donations were to Darius Brown and Bill Bush.

Save Our Sussex, which appears to be a group with progressive environmental leanings, raised over $27K this year.  They maxed out to Alonna Berry.

Curtis Linton raised over $13K in his race for the  NCC District 1 seat currently held by the retiring Penrose Hollins.  Yes, most of the funding is either from labor or is labor-adjacent.  That’s a strong number, though.

Shané Darby raised over $8K this year, all from individual contributors.  She has spent about $1300, all of it on direct campaign expenses.

Looks like both candidates in that SD 1 race are well-equipped for the campaign.  Incumbent Dan Cruce has $61,700 in his war chest, and, yes, he’s maxed out to Nnamdi Chukwuocha, Deb Heffernan and Krista Griffith.  The one surprising note, at least to me, was how little money he spent on the Special Election.  Challenger Adriana Leela Bohm has raised almost $20 K, which is really a strong total, especially when you see that she has not accepted any PAC money.  Grassroots campaigns can easily run on far less money than those funded by the corporate overlords.  I’m really encouraged by Bohm’s report.

The ‘Other’ Mike Smith received $21K in contributions to his RD 21 PAC in 2025.  ‘Received’ is not the correct word–all of the contributions came from one ‘Mr. Michael Alexander Smith’.  Probably from the $$’s he gave to himself as the administrator for his phony on-profit.  And get this, he apparently ‘received’ (aka ‘donated’) these funds in 10 separate transactions–all taking place on 12/11/2025.  Oh and he then ‘expended’ over $9200 to one ‘Friends For Michael Smith’ on 12/15/2025.  I suspect, but don’t know, that he’s transferring that sum to his Treasurer’s campaign. I’ll say it again:  This guy is a scam artist, and we don’t really know who he is.  Can’t wait for his Treasurer’s Campaign filing…

Not sure why M Sherm Porter had to amend his annual report seven times seeing as he didn’t raise a penny this year, but he did.

D Gregg Lindner raised a respectable $9K-plus in his race against Jeff Hilovsky in this Suxco RD.

I could be wrong on this, but it doesn’t look like a single donor to Valerie Jones Giltner actually lives in her district.

Dee Durham raised over $13K this year.  None of it from lobbyists.  Personal to Jason Hoover–you might want to see how Dee is doing it.

Janet Kilpatrick has a little over $11K in her account, should she decide to run again.  Didn’t raise any money in 2025.

Looks like Debra Heffernan is running again.  Had $64K in the bank at the end of 2025, raised almost $32 K of it last year.

The Republican House Leadership PAC ended the year with $1,428.22 in the bank.  Sad.

Can someone explain to me why the ABC Merit Shop PAC (the non-union contractors) donated $600 to Speaker Mimi Minor-Brown last year?  BTW, they also donated $1200 to that Ted Lauzen guy.  

Sen. Ray Seigfried has about $21K in the bank, with $7K of that coming from a loan.  His donations come from a veritable who’s who of lobbyists.  To name but a few, Allen Strategies, LLC;  Barnes & Thornburg LLC; Delaware Alcoholic Beverages LLC;  DelawareHealthcare Association; Energy Transfer LP from Dallas, TX; Guerke, Swayze & Parkowski; Highmark; and JP Morgan & Chase. By far my favorite entry, though, is:  Blue Hen Republican PAC, 1400 Woodlawn Ave,  Wilm. DE 19809–$600.  You no longer have to take my word for it that Seigfried’s a corporate whore, it’s right there in his campaign finance statement.

Jason Hoover has raised–not much money.  About $1640, of which over $800 was transferred from his previous campaign committee.  Not saying you have to raise big bucks to win a County Council race, but you need to do better than this.  Seriously, I’m shocked by this report.  Looks like Terrell Williams all over again–lot of self-promotion to progressive influencers–no money for outreach to voters.  Prove me wrong, Jason.

Cop and Cop fellator Franklin Cooke has $17K in the bank, including $600 from lobbying firm Allen Strategies, $600 from Harrington Raceways, and $600 from Zeneca Inc.

Shore Democrats raised a shockingly-impressive almost $40K this year, virtually all of it from small recurring donations.  They donated to key Suxco candidates, including Claire Snyder-Hall and Alonna Berry.  I hope they continue to flourish in the absence of Jeff Balk.

D Nisha Lodhavia (more on her Friday), who just announced her candidacy for the SD 15 seat being vacated by the retiring Dave Lawson, raised an impressive  $16K-plus.

Michelle Wall, one of two D’s seeking to oust Kevin Hensley in RD 9, has raised a quite respectable $18K, excluding loans.  Of note, Erik Raser Schramm has contributed $600, and that Ted Lauzen guy has contributed $350.  Make of it what you will.

Colleen Davis has spent her remaining campaign funds.

Kids, check out the report from Sheet Metal Workers Local 19.  They report total receipts of $51,099.90 for the year, and, get this, allegedly without a single donation above $100.   I smell shenanigans.  BTW, probably a misprint, but a $5000 contribution went to “House Of Democrats”.  I love stuff like this.  Although a contribution to “3-D House Of Stewardesses” would have been cooler.  Might have even earned the fellas at the Sheet Metal Lodge those complimentary 3-D glasses.

Claire Snyder-Hall raised over $54 K this year, almost all of it from within her district.  One of the healthiest reports I’ve seen so far.

R Mark Pugh, who is seeking a rematch with Sen. Kyra Hoffner in SD 14, raised $19K this year.  A respectable amount, which is to be expected, as he came very close last time and is not currently facing any primary opposition.  I suspect that Hoffner may report an even larger war chest.  This could be one of the most competitive races of the cycle.