Delaware Political Weekly: Week Ending March 5, 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. Kim Williams Gets A Challenger–A Great Challenger! Just when I thought perhaps the dance card was almost full. I’m psyched! The name?: Will Imbrie-Moore. He has filed his committee to run as a Democrat in RD 19, currently held by Kim Williams. St. Andrews and Harvard alum. Was on research policy staff for the Biden/Harris campaign. What I like best about him can be found in his writings (well, since I haven’t yet met him, his writings are pretty much all I have). Check these out:
Reclaiming The Built Environment.
How Urbanism Will Help Solve Climate Crisis.
A Call For Intersectional YIMBYism.
Here’s a speech he delivered at St. Andrew’s for Diversity Weekend.
Kim Williams is one of Speaker Mimi Minor-Brown’s ‘mean girls’. She had an adversary tossed off her committee by Speaker Mimi. And just this past year, she bragged about how she killed school lunches for students against the objections of the legislator she got tossed from her committee. You can read about both of them here. Only person who doubts that Imbrie-Moore would be a major upgrade is Speaker Mimi, because she wants to remain Speaker Mimi. That’s what Phil Shawe’s handing her a $50,000 slush fund is all about. Some of which will no doubt find its ways into Williams’ campaign coffers. Even by Delaware Way standards, this stinks. As does the object of Shawe’s designs.
We’ll have lots more on this race in the next couple of weeks. It immediately becomes one of the most notable races of the cycle.
2. Questions For The Barristers Amongst Us–Are these legal?
a. The Mimi Minor-Brown Slush Fund. It looks like nothing more than a gift to the grifter to spend the money as she likes. It far exceeds the limit on campaign donations. Yet, that’s really what it is. I’ve never seen even her most amoral predecessors try to do anything like this. Not Speaker Pete. Not Our PAL Val. Sure, they had large campaign war chests, and they indeed shared the proceeds with others in their caucus and/or those running to get elected. However, those funds were accrued one legal contribution at a time. This was just a Golden Shower from Phil Shawe which, to push the analogy perhaps too far, pisses in the face of campaign finance law. Is this legal?
b. John Atkins’ Candidacy. He did jail time for beating up a woman. He had at least two other recorded incidents of beating up women. Yes, he got the one he did jail time for reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, but he beat up women and was sanctioned for it. I know he claims to have found Jesus and a ‘good woman’, not in that order. But, since he is a serial liar, who can possibly believe him? Oh, did I mention he beat up women? I want to hear from the AG on this. Is the standard still being adjudicated for an ‘infamous crime’? If so, either beating women is not an infamous crime, or he’s ineligible to run.
3. We Have the Democratic Race for State Treasurer That Nobody Wants. Other than the two candidates who are just looking to jump-start their political careers. Democrat-In-Name-Only Ted Lauzen and the guy whose Mumsy and Daddy set him up with his own phony not-for profit, The Other Mike Smith. Come back, Ken Simpler. All is forgiven. No, not you, the Honorable Chipman L. Flowers, Jr.
4. Filings. D Mara Gorman for SD 8. Gorman is seeking the seat currently held by retiring State Senator Dave Sokola. She is currently State Rep. in RD 23. Two candidates, LuAnn D’Agostino and Dan Seador, have filed in the D primary there. I, uh, sincerely hope that they’re not the only ones.
That’s all I’ve got this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
The treasurer race may set a record for low turnout due to the most uninspiring candidates ever…
Not just uninspiring–undesirable.
Furthering the ambitions of either Democrat would be a bad thing, so a protest vote for whoever the Republican is looks like an option.
If the GOP in Delaware was halfway competent this might actually be a rare opportunity to pick up a state seat.
Also imagine if GOP Rep Mike smith ran and the general was Mike smith vs Mike smith? That be wild
Looks like Phil Shawe’s money dump in the lap of Speaker Mimi is only unethical, not illegal.
Someone who I respect provided context. In 1990, legislation was passed on campaign finance reform. The bill ‘ placed limits on contributions to candidate committees and political parties, but not on contributions to PACs’.
Reformers feared that seeking to place limits on contributions to PACs might have resulted in having the bill defeated, ‘particularly since in that era, PACs advanced interests – hoteliers, liquor stores, trial lawyers – and large contribution to a PAC was envisioned to result in the PAC giving the $600 max to a series of candidates who supported the PAC’s goals.’
The reformers had not considered (because it hadn’t happened yet) ‘leadership PACs, designed to secure loyalty within the caucus’.
My contact suggests that this should be addressed in a future bill.
So, there you have it–legal and unethical.
The speaker having a PAC and accepting large donations is completely legal. It’s honestly surprising past speakers hadn’t done similar things. In most state legislatures, and certainly congress, the speakers PAC is what gives them most of their power. They can raise huge sums of money to help protect their votes in the caucus and go after incumbents/candidates who would dethrone them.
Gone are the old days of Delaware politics. Matt Meyer’s path to the Governor’s office was the first real example of the proliferation of serious PAC money in DE and now it will become the standard. The WFP also funds their entire national infrastructure and local races through PACs by paying millions of dollars to support local races by paying for organizers, mail, digital ads, etc. It’s the only way they were able to gain traction.
This will only increase unless there is reform at the federal level which there likely never will be because Congress is a owned subsidiarity of the MAG7. It’s game theory, if they have PACs you must have a PAC. Goes for both parties and all factions of them.
Uh, as someone who’s a member of, and volunteers for candidates endorsed by, WFP, one thing they and we are not is rich in funds.
It’s all grassroots, including the fundraising. I know, because I donate a small amount each month to both the national and Delaware WFP. Equating them with, well, pretty much any special interest lobbying PAC is more than disingenuous. It’s dishonest.
She needs to go. Kim Williams heartlessly says it too expensive to feed poor kids lunch at school and then she turns around and is the prime sponsor and top champion of SB 241 which would require all school construction forever to be done by the Building Trades Unions (which her husband is part of). Wonder what the fiscal impact of that will be, Kim? I guess she is a “liberal” only when it benefits her and her family!
Going off my memory from many years ago, I think Atkins will be allowed to run. The bar for what qualifies as disqualifyingly infamous is much higher than it should be. I’ll see if I can find an old article or opinion to back up my memory.