An Open Letter To All SD 5 Electors

On Monday evening, we will all gather to choose a Democratic nominee to succeed State Senator Kyle Evans Gay, who has been elected as Lieutenant Governor.

Our choices have now been reduced to two possibilities as Jonathan Tate withdrew and endorsed Shay Frisby, and Dr. Brian Haimes withdrew Saturday and endorsed Ray Seigfried.

That makes our choice crystal clear–do we nominate Shay Frisby, who not only supports Kyle Evans Gay’s agenda of child care affordability and accessibility, equal rights for all, hospital cost care accountability and transparency, and who has made a career of reaching out to people who need assistance?

Or do we nominate Ray Seigfried, a former state representative and corporate shill, who was rejected by the vast majority of Democrats in his reelection bid, who publicly opposes holding Christiana Care accountable for its lack of transparency and its high prices, and who opposed Kyle Evans Gay’s candidacy for Lieutenant Governor?

Oh, and, when you look at the two candidates, which one is more likely to have the energy and enthusiasm to run the blitz campaign that will ensue?  If you’ve seen them side-by-side, you know the answer.  Not to mention, Ray Seigfried is one of the few people who could actually lose a special election to a Republican.  Democratic voters turned against him in 2020, and Republican voters will not flock to him.

Shay Frisby worked with AFSCME to help organize over 500 child care workers in Delaware. She worked with Sen. Margaret Rose Henry and others to help craft the Quality Care For Delaware Families Act.  She has led food drives and all sorts of volunteer efforts in her community.  As a supervisor in the Division of Social Services Customer Relations Unit, she trains a team dedicated to connecting clients with the services they need from housing to healthcare.

As Program Manager for the Stand By Me Financial Empowerment Program, Shay led a team of financial coaches to provide early childhood educators and schools with financial literacy services in order to foster long-term economic empowerment for families.

Ray Seigfried‘s career has been as a bean counter with ChristianaCare, responsible for  ‘the second-largest division with 1,100 employees…accountable for a multimillion-dollar budget. As SVP, I participated in the hospital’s strategy and budget planning’.  I will add that, as a candidate, he opposes the creation of a Hospital Care Cost Review Board, legislation that was passed with Kyle Evans Gay among the co-sponsors.  Why?  This article from Karl Baker spells out Ray’s position:

(Ray) Seigfried – a former senior vice president at ChristianaCare, former health care policy instructor, and member of the state House of Representatives from 2018 to 2020 – opposed the hospital cost review board because he doesn’t believe its members would have sufficient background knowledge to oversee the complexities of hospital pricing. He also said a review board would antagonize hospitals when state officials should be partnering with them.

That’s the Ray I’ve known for quite a long time now.  He falls somewhere between ‘condescender’ and ‘mansplainer’ on the scale of aberrant human behavior.  Ray knows best.  He’ll tell you if you don’t ask him.

Shay’s position on the same issue?:

Had I been in the General Assembly I would have supported this bill. I support any reasonable attempt that would reduce healthcare costs.

As you know, the legislature has a responsibility to individuals, not corporations, so this would be especially true with services like healthcare which are essential. It may increase the workload for staffers at Christiana hospitals if they have to cut costs. However, it is important to consider that expenses for executives and project spending be examined and not taken lightly in an effort to put more money into critical roles such as nurses, doctors, technicians, etc. HB350 is open to improvements and there is certainly more to do because medical costs are high and oftentimes consumers are confused about charges associated with care services.

That, also is/was Sen. Gay’s position.  But not Ray’s position or that of Dr. Brian Haimes, the ChristianaCare physician who endorsed Ray.  “A responsibility to individuals, not corporations”.  Pretty much defines the difference between Shay and Ray.

At least as noteworthy is why Ray says he is running.  You can follow along with Ray:

Let’s face it: all of us running for the Democratic nomination for the SD5 special election have similar platforms because we are all Democrats. (Not true, but we’ll let it pass.) You know what we believe in, so what’s the meaningful difference between us? Experience! Experience will be the key to winning the seat in a quick race and effectively implementing our platform going forward. It is experience that will be the difference that will allow us to accomplish our common goals.  

I am the only candidate with experience as a State Representative within the 5th Senate District (True). I am the only candidate who has built relationships and trust with the Senate and the House as a partner in actual legislation (Untrue. See Shay’s work with Sen. Henry above).. I am the only candidate able to get things done on day 1, both in Dover and our communities.