The Winners Down Ballot…..
I missed on three races: I though Democrat Lynn Newlin would win in the new 11th, she did not. I thought Democrat Trey Paradee would fall short in the 29th. He surprised me, but it is my fault I was surprised. It was obvious that he had the same kind of grass roots campaign that propelled Bryan Townsend in the 11th SD and Paul Baumbach in the 23rd RD to victory. So he upset and unseated Lincoln Willis. And I was wrong on Shirley Price winning in the 38th. You know, if you are a Democrat in Sussex county, you are nearly doomed to losing 60-40, with a couple points up or down of that. Unless you are named John Atkins or Bob Venables. Although, I wonder if we just saw John Atkins win his last election. That was a nail bitter for him last night. He has to sweating for his future chances in the 41st, and the Republicans smell blood. I expect a rematch in 2014.
So the Democrats expanded their majority in the House by 1 seat, to 27-14.
In the Senate, finally, at long last, we have good news for our local Republicans. They picked up a seat. It was 14 Democrats, 7 Republicans. Now it is 13 Democrats, 8 Republicans. As I expected, Mike Katz lost to Greg Lavelle, and Andy Staton lost to Ernie Lopez. And Dori Connor was finally, finally ejected from the 12th by Nicole Poore. But I was wrong on the 5th SD, as Cathy Cloutier survived yet again, by a very healthy margin. Chris Counihan gave it all he had, two elections in a row, and we owe him a debt for doing so. The other surprise of the night was the close race in the 15th SD, where Senator Lawson barely, barely beat Kathleen Cooke. I guarantee you that will be a rematch.
As I watched the endorsements and this was my first election as a registered Democrat, and as I have a pronounced dislike for our newly re-elected, lame duck Governor’s education policy I will confess that Staton and Newlin losses please me as I want all legislators new and old to feel disconnected from his policy efforts in education.
The D’s have to be disappointed that they lost all three newly-created districts, two RD’s and one SD. I thought that Marie Mayor might win, but there was a strong red tide in Sussex yesterday.
The R’s retook some of what once was their Greenville/Brandywine 100 firewall, and one of their own took the new 6th SD. I’ll be interested to see what happens within the Republican Party now.
I was thrilled to be wrong on the Trey Paradee call. Guess I should’ve paid more heed to the pre-election analysis by Trey himself. He really DID have it all figured out. Losing Willis was a blow to the Rethug Caucus, b/c he had some leadership potential.
Kathleen Cooke showed real strong, although I’m not sure that she’ll wait 4 years for a Lawson rematch. Have to check what RD she’s in. As predicted, Beth McGinn did real well against Ruth Briggs King, and that’s a rematch I’d love to see.
What pisses me off most in what generally was a good night for the D’s was Colin Bleeping Bonini with a safe district when he could’ve and should’ve been taken out. Thanks, Tony. Enjoy your retirement.
BTW, Senate should be 12-9 after 2014. Venables will almost certainly retire, and that seat should go R.
I just totally don’t believe they let Pettyjohn on the ballot. I was looking forward to six weeks of trying to decipher all those crayon write-in ballots.
@ES: Which Senate seats are up again in 2 years?
SD’s 2 (Henry-D), 3 (Marshall-D), 4 (Lavelle-R), 6 (Lopez-R), 10 (Hall-Long-D), 11 (Townsend-D), 16 (Bonini-R), 17 (Bushweller-D), 18 (Simpson-R), and 21 (Venables-D).
Smyk is member of the cognitive dissonance team GOP. He was head of state troopers union and now joins union hating Rethugs in destruction of middle class. Cops, even ex-cops are scary crazy.
I think Pettyjohn 19thSD is up again 2 yrs too
Atkins won by just 69 votes for the 41st House seat, according the News Journal. I thought he’d win by more than that.
SussexAnon: No, the 19th isn’t up. If the seat was up in both 2010 and 2012, which the 19th was, it won’t be up in 2014.
Redistricting occurs only once every 10 years. So, in the year ending with a 2, all 21 Senate districts are up, which is the only time each decade that it happens. The way it’s set up, no SD is up for three consecutive elections.
Why did you list the House members in the order you did? Shouldn’t they be listed in order by either their District number or by party?
There is no order, or rhyme or reason. Full disclosure: I was making that chart quickly this morning on 2 hours sleep and a little hungover. I made the chart from a previous chart I posted in columns posted this weekend previewing the races.
Thanks DD for all of your hard work!