Tag Archives: DE-AL

Comment Rescue: Is Rollins In Trouble

A lot of commenters have noticed that despite Rollins’s impressive fundraising quarter, her campaign barely has a pulse. Geezer’s thoughts on Rollins:

Comment by Geezer on 28 July 2010 at 8:07 am:

I really think Rollins is in real trouble. The GOP has been trying for years to get her to run, but she never took the plunge, so there’s not much fire in her belly. I wonder if leadership didn’t put her up to this so the wingnut wing wouldn’t waltz to an unopposed slot on the November ballot, and she signed on thinking this would be easy.

The GOP peasants are in revolt, and they’re marching on the castle with their torches and pitchforks. Reminds me that Mike Castle used to dress up for the Newark Halloween parade as Frankenstein’s monster.

As I noted before, Rollins had no trouble winning the Republican endorsement at the convention. Urquhart was the one who could barely win his own county. Several commenters think that the convention delegates may be significantly different than the primary electorate as a whole, actually less conservative than primary voters as a whole.

Miscreant adds further evidence of a sagging Rollins campaign:

Comment by Miscreant on 28 July 2010 at 1:26 am:

“Rollins seems a bit disengaged but she sure got the moneybags to open their wallets to her.”

You couldn’t tell that by her display at the State Fair today. Her unstaffed exhibit was rather sparse, comparatively. A few pieces of literature, and a pile deflated balloons. By comparison, the Hollywood Racing Pigs attraction was spectacular.

Judge Rules Libertarians Can’t Run in Democratic & Republican Primaries

We got this tip from Rebecca:

Judge Vaughn ruled today that the two Libertarian candidates may not file on the Republican and/or Democratic Primary ballots.

Libertarian candidate William McVay filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries in the 32nd representative district. Libertarian Brent Wangen, candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, also filed to compete in the Republican primary. An initial ruling by the AG’s office determined that a candidate either had to be a member of the party or have the support of the party to run. Judge Vaughn upheld this ruling.

Is this the end?

It’s Official: Libertarians Kicked Off the Republican and Democratic Primaries

Celia Cohen had the scoop yesterday, and the news was published in today’s News Journal. The Libertarian candidate Will McVay (RD32) will not be allowed to run in either the Democratic party primary nor the Republican primary. Brent Wangen (DE-AL) will not be allowed to run in the Republican primary. Both will still be on the Libertarian line in the general election.

The decision to cut them out of the party primaries was made by Deputy Attorney General Ann Woolfolk, who is assigned to the ElectionsOffice. Woolfolk said candidates are barred from filing to run on multiple party ballot lines, according to a 1994 court decision, an earlier attorney general’s report and the phrase “political party” in state law.

Candidates can be listed on the ballot under multiple parties if they are nominated by at least one of the parties, but not when they file without party backing.

Woolfolk said the Election Office received letters from both political parties stating that McVay is neither “affiliated” with their party nor nominated by them. The parties had begun to raise objections when McVay announced he was entering both primaries. The Republicans submitted an identical letter for Wangen.

Yes, to me this is the key difference with the Margaret Rose Henry situation. Henry was nominated by the Republican party. Neither Wangen nor McVay were nominated by the Republicans or the Democrats, in fact, I don’t know if they even knew them.

As Celia Cohen’s post said, the decision came down to a statement issued by the Attorney General’s office in 1994. This came from a reading of the election law.

Forsten and Woolfolk point to a court ruling and separate attorney general’s opinion from 1994 as the justification for removing McVay and Wangen.

State law requires a primary candidate to notify the chairman of “their respective political party” when filing to run.

Commenter The Straight Scoop posted the relevant portion of the state election law in an earlier thread:

Comment by The Straight Scoop on 10 July 2010 at 11:42 am:
OK, here’s something from the Delaware Code that might shed some light…

Title 15, Chapter 31 (Primary Elections)

3106(a)(2) Candidates for all other offices:

a. All candidates for county or countywide office, members of the General Assembly and/or municipal office for any municipality holding its election at the time of the general election shall notify the county chair, or the county chair’s designee, in writing (or the city chair, or the city chair’s designee, if applicable for municipal candidates) of their respective political party in their county of residence on forms prescribed by the State Election Commissioner on or before the deadline set forth in § 3101(1) of this title.

Let’s strip away the excess language and get to the heart of it:

All candidates for non-statewide office shall notify the county chair of their respective political party in their county of residence before the deadline. (emphasis mine)

This is an extremely rudimentary reading of the code, but doesn’t that imply that to be a candidate in a primary election, you must be a member of that political party?

Also, the next subsection says that filing fees must be “payable to the county committee of the candidate’s political party…”

Again, a direct reference to the candidate’s political party in a primary. I’m not an attorney, but I have to imagine that adds fuel to the debate. And it accommodates Anon’s request to read the code and post a specific example that might this candidacy.

Feel free to discuss…

Apparently the decision was partly based on a judge’s ruling. There was a candidate that previously tried to run on two lines:

A few weeks after Ridgely’s decision, the Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion when John Reda tried to run for the state Legislature as a Libertarian and a Republican.

“The question is whether a candidate may have more than one respective party. We conclude that he may not,” the opinion states, denying Reda the ability to run under both banners.

My understanding after reading is that candidates can run on multiples lines as a fusion candidate, but they must be nominated by that party if they aren’t registered with that party. This makes sense to me. If this is the understanding the state has of the election law, I really see no need for further legislation addressing the issue.

Filing Deadline Passes – State of the Races

First some news about the U.S. House race courtesy of TNJ’s Dialogue Delaware:

Scott Spencer has dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination and has endorsed John Carney. He raised only $8000 so I guess he didn’t have enough for the filing fee.

In other ballot news, Democrat Scott Spencer of Wilmington said he has ended his campaign for the office, endorsing former Lt. Gov. John C. Carney Jr. Spencer said his “organic” approach to campaign finance was a success. He raised about $8,000, he said, but has not filed a campaign finance report. The deadline for second-quarter reports is Thursday.

As RSmitty noted, Libertarian candidate Brent Wangen has also filed for the Republican primary for U.S. House. So it’s a 4-way race: Michele Rollins, Glen Urquhart, Rose Izzo and Brent Wangen. I’m predicting they’ll finish in this order in the primary as well.

TNJ put together a handy spreadsheet of the races. Among the notable changes is that Hazel Plant has not one but two primary challengers: Stephanie Boulden and Darius Brown. Will Plant’s name recognition carry the day or will she be outworked by the two newcomers?

There are still 12 state reps without challengers in the primary or general, 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans. These state reps are RD1 Dennis P. Williams (D), RD5 Melanie George (D), RD11 Greg Lavelle (R), RD13 John Mitchell (D), RD16 J.J. Johnson (D), RD17 Mike Mulrooney (D), RD19 Bob Gilligan (D), RD21 Mike Ramone (R), RD30 Bobby Outten (R), RD38 Gerald Hocker (R), RD39 Danny Short (R) and RD40 Biff Lee (R).

In the State Senate there are 3 incumbents without challengers, 2 D and 1 R. They are SD1 Harris McDowell (D), SD12 Dori Connor (R) and SD13 David McBride (D). Karen Peterson (SD9) now has a Republican challenger, Robert Johnston.

Who’s Running – One Week To Go!

It’s time to update the Who’s Running list. Last week we saw that some GA seats were going unchallenged and yesterday we got a surprise retirement announcement. Have things changed in the last week?

U.S. Senate
Chris Coons has gained an opponent. It’s Libertarian candidate James Rash. Still no signs of Christine O’Donnell or Mike Castle.

U.S. House
This race has also gained an opponent. Libertarian Brent Wangen has filed and joins John Carney (D), Rose Izzo (R) and Glen Urquhart (R). No filings so far from Scott Spencer (D) and Michele Rollins (R). Yesterday’s News Journal featured an article on some of the first-time candidates in the race, with a large emphasis on Brent Wangen.

Statewide Office
Treasurer – Velda Jones-Potter (Incumbent) vs. Chip Flowers in the Democratic primary. Republican Colin Bonini has not filed yet.
Auditor of Accounts – Richard Korn vs. Ken Matlusky in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Republican Tom Wagner has not filed yet.
Attorney General – Beau Biden (D – incumbent) has no challenger yet.

State Senate – No changes from last week
State Senate District 1 – Harris McDowell is unchallenged
State Senate District 5 – Chris Counihan (D) vs. Cathy Cloutier (R – incumbent)
State Senate District 7 – Patty Blevins (D – incumbent) vs. Fred Cullis (R)
State Senate District 8 – Dave Sokola (D – incumbent) vs. Louis Saindon
State Senate District 9 – Karen Peterson (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Senate District 12 – Dori Connor (R – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Senate District 13 – David McBride (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Senate District 14 – Bruce Ennis (D – incumbent) vs. John Moritz (R)
State Senate District 15 – David Lawson (R) [Nancy Cook (D) incumbent]
State Senate District 19 – Joe Booth (R – incumbent) vs. Eric Bodenweiser (R) primary [no D challenger yet]
State Senate District 20 – Perry Mitchell (D) [George Bunting (D) incumbent]

State Representatives – Changes featured in bold
State Representative District 1 – Dennis P. Williams (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Representative District 2 – Hazel Plant (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Representative District 3 – Helene Keeley (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 4 – Gerald Brady (D – incumbent) vs. Richard Carroll (R)
State Representative District 5 – Melanie George (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Representative District 6 – Debra Heffernan (D) vs. Tom Kovach (R – incumbent)
State Representative District 7 – Bryon Short (D – incumbent) vs. Judith Travis (R)
State Representative District 8 – Kathleen Rokosz (R) vs. winner of Quinn Johnson (D – incumbent) – Valeria Jones-Rabb primary
State Representative District 9 – Richard Griffiths (D) [open seat, Dick Cathcart (R – incumbent)]
State Representative District 10 – Robert Rhodunda (R) vs. winner of Dennis E. Williams (D – incumbent) – Kenneth Dargis (D) primary
State Representative District 11 – Greg Lavelle (R) is unchallenged
State Representative District 12 – Deborah Hudson (R) is unchallenged
State Representative District 13 – John Mitchell (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 14 – Pete Schwartzkopf (D – incumbent) vs. Christopher Weeks (R)
State Representative District 15 – Valerie Longhurst (D – incumbent) vs. James Van Houten (R)
State Representative District 16 – J.J. Johnson (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 17– Michael Mulrooney (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 18 – Mike Barbieri (D – incumbent) vs. Terry Spence (R) [REMATCH!!!]
State Representative District 19 – Bob Gilligan (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 20 – Francis Swift (D) [Manolakos (R) incumbent]
State Representative District 21 – Mike Ramone (R) is unchallenged
State Representative District 22 – Dave Ellis (D) vs. Joseph Miro (R – incumbent)
State Representative District 23 – Terri Schooley (D) is unchallenged
State Representative District 24 – Kay Gallogly (D) vs. Ed Osienski (D) primary [no filed (R) challenger yet]
State Representative District 25 – John Kowalko (D -incumbent) vs. Gordon Winegar (R)
State Representative District 26 – John Viola (D – incumbent) is unchallenged
State Representative District 27 – Jay Galloway (R) vs. winner of Earl Jaques (D -incumbent) – James Maravelias (D) primary
State Representative District 28 – Robert Carson (D) [confused here – incumbent is William J. Carson (D), relative?]
State Representative District 29 – John McCutchan (D) vs. winner of George Phillips (R) – Lincoln Willis (R) primary [open seat Pam Thornburg (R)]
State Representative District 30 – William R. “Bobby” Outten (R) is unchallenged
State Representative District 31 – Ronald Smith (R) [Darryl Scott (D) incumbent]
State Representative District 32 – Brad Bennett (D) vs. Beth Buzzell Miller (R)
State Representative District 33 – Robert Walls (D – incumbent) vs. winner of Harold Peterman (R) – Steven Rust (R) primary
State Representative District 34 – Jill Fuchs (D) vs. Donald Blakey (R – incumbent)
State Representative District 35 – Jim Westhoff (D) vs. David Wilson (R – incumbent)
State Representative District 36 – Russell McCabe (D) vs. Harvey Kenton (R) [open seat George Carey (R)]
State Representative District 37 – Frank Shade (D) vs. Ruth Briggs King (R – incumbent)
Representative District 38 – Gerald Hocker (R) is unchallenged
State Representative District 40 – Clifford “Biff” Lee (R) is unchallenged

Bottom line: not many changes from last week. Almost all the seats have a candidate. Supposed candidates O’Donnell, Spencer, Protack, Castle and Rollins have still not filed. Do any of the races look different this week?

John Carney, The Forgotten Candidate

There was great excitement when John Carney filed for the Delaware At Large U.S. House seat. At that time, in February 2009, Mike Castle was still undecided about whether he would run for re-election, retire or run for the U.S. Senate. Carney made a bold gamble that paid off for him. He was a great recruit for the DCCC, a man with high name recognition from his race for governor and this immediately vaulted the race into national significance.

The DE-AL seat is probably one of the surest bets for a R to D turnover in the House this year. Is this why this race seems to be ignored? Even if you check on John Carney’s own website the “latest news” lists articles from June. So, what’s happening here? Is Carney unable to get the media to pay attention to him? Let us not forget that Carney will most likely be competing against self-funding millionaire Michele Rollins. We can’t afford to forget this race, or take it for granted.

O’Donnell Supporters Get Excited

If you’re an O’Donnell (or Urquhart) supporter and you read a poll like this, you might get excited:

There’s one missing piece to Christine’s campaign resurgence and that is the voice of the Delaware voters. What do the voters think of Christine? Preliminary polling results from the educational non-profit group Founders Values suggests that conservative T.E.A. party candidate Christine O’Donnell out polls Congressman Mike Castle among likely Republican voters in Delaware by more than 3 to 1. In a survey of likely Republican voters the results give O’Donnell the edge 65%-18% in the race for the Republican to square off against Democrat Chris Coons in the November general election.

Also being released are the preliminary results of polling among the same likely voters for the U.S. House Republican Primary battle. The preliminary results in that race give Glen Urquhart the edge 53% to 18% over establishment candidate Michele Rollins.

If you’re part of the reality-based community you might be a bit skeptical. Dialogue Delaware digs a little deeper.

The problem for O’Donnell and Urquhart is the poll might not qualify as scientific. You decide.

The results come from the Founders Value, a group that identifies themselves as a 501(c)3 education group and organizes tea party rallies across the state.

Evan Queitsch, communications director for the group, explained in an e-mail that the poll is the result of the group sending e-mails to 300 “likely Republican primary voters.” Queitsch explained that since 60 responded to the online survey, it “a sampling base that is statistically in line with our projections.”

The group includes a 5 percent margin of error “to account for individuals misreading or not understanding the questions.”

So, of the 60 Republicans who answered the questionnaire from Founders values, 39 said they would vote for O’Donnell and 32 said they were voting for Glen Urquhart. I’m sure Michele Rollins and Mike Castle are shaking in their boots right now.

Glen Urquhart “Misspoke”

I’m sure you’re relieved to hear that Glen Urquhart didn’t mean to call liberals Nazis:

“It was an April mistake,” he said Thursday. “In that segment, it was not as skillfully worded as I would like to have been. I’m a little more experienced campaigner today than I was in April.”

What he was trying to say — albeit unskillfully — was that people must be careful about their words.

“Let’s all be careful about what phrases we use without thinking them through,” he said. “The Nazis used the same separation-of-church-and-state rhetoric for a very, very bad purpose. I didn’t mean to suggest — and I am not suggesting — that people who are liberals are Nazis.”

It’s o.k. Glen, I forgive you. After all, I didn’t mean to say you had an unhealthy sexual obsession with farmyard animals. It was just a June mistake. I said that this morning but I’ve matured since then.

Here’s the kicker. Glen Urquhart says he doesn’t use casual “things I don’t like are Hitler” comparisons, he really means it:

But Urquhart said that issue has personal significance to him.

“My great-grandfather was a Jew who fled Jewish persecution,” Urquhart said. “My grandfather was Jewish — lived and died as a Jew. I understand this in a visceral way.”

You meant every word of your B.S. Nazi comparison, Glen. You’re just sorry other people found out you said it.

Urquhart Goes On Godwin Overload

Celia Cohen breaks a story on GOP Congressional hopeful Glenn Urquhart and his poor understanding of history:

There is a curious new YouTube video showing Glen Urquhart, one of the Republican candidates for Delaware’s congressional seat, transforming Thomas Jefferson into Adolf Hitler.

This is not a spoof. Urquhart, a Sussex County developer, is seen at a Republican candidates forum in April in Greenwood. He is discussing how the phrase “separation of church and state” came to be.

Urquhart contradicts an unseen speaker trying to say — correctly — that Jefferson used the wording in a famous letter he wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists in Connecticut.

“That exact phrase was not in Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists,” Urquhart says.

“The exact phrase ‘separation of church and state’ came out of Adolf Hitler’s mouth. That’s where it comes from. The next time your liberal friends talk about separation of church and state, ask them why they’re Nazis.”

Celia adds some nice blogger snark: So that would explain why George Washington had to talk Betsy Ross out of designing the Stars & Stripes with a field of blue decorated with 13 little swastikas.

Here is the relevant text of the Jefferson letter:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State

As you can tell, Thomas Jefferson is some kind of communist. You can see why Texas wanted to cut Jefferson out of their textbooks, his plain words are inconvenient to people pushing theocracy. Urquhard is demonstrating the kind of deep intellectual analysis that we expect from Fox News Republicans. It’s Godwin’s Law on steroids, which has been an epidemic lately.

John Carney Interviews with Starboard Broadside

The U of D student known as Cpt Robespierre interviewed John Carney about a week ago on a wide range of topics and posted them up at dKos (go rec this) and his own blog. He notes that the topics are these:

Clip 1:
1. Offshore oil and the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
2. Electricity and the future of coal
3. The myth of clean coal
4. Mountaintop removal mining
Clip 2:
5. Clean energy transition as an investment for the future, not a burden now
6. What can U.S. and states do to promote clean energy development in the USA, not in other countries?
7. Green jobs in Delaware
8. Urban and rural benefits of a clean energy revolution
Clip 3:
9. Electric cars, Delaware, and automobile carbon emissions
10. Public transit in Delaware
11. Amtrak
12. Climate legislation

You can listen to or download this interview as a complete podcast (mp3) (approx 30 minutes 55 minutes)here. Or you can listen via these You Tube Clips:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvby4RITg8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnnGv8-vtuQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edLZcuf4sGg[/youtube]

I haven’t had a chance to listen to all of these yet, but it seems that trying to stop off-shore drilling off of the East Coast is top of the list. Post up your questions and comments on this interview — the interviewer has previously been really generous with his time in talking about his experience.

DE-AL GOP Primary: Urquhart Plays The Jamaica Card

The Delaware GOP convention is this weekend and the two frontrunners for the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat are running hard. Sussex Developer Glenn Urquhart is playing the Jamaica card on Michelle Rollins:

Last year she wrote a letter to the editor of a Jamaican newspaper encouraging the government of the Caribbean island nation to develop its financial-services sector to compete with countries such as the Cayman Islands.
One of her main primary opponents, developer Glen Urquhart, says her advocacy is a sign of where Rollins’ “true loyalties lie: offshore and not in Delaware.”

“Delaware has banking interests; Jamaica has banking interests,” Urquhart told The Hill. “Would any of Mrs. Rollins’ Jamaican interests compete with Delaware’s major banking industry?

“She’s a pretty big player there,” he said. “There are fair and open questions. I think it’s up to her to explain to the voters how extensive her holdings are.”

Rollins has an explanation for the letter she wrote, she says she was asked to do it:

Rollins says she wasn’t advocating that Jamaica adopt a similar tax structure to that of the Cayman Islands, where many corporations are headquartered to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

“The government was looking, like many countries, to [get] into the financial-services industry,” she said. “It creates jobs; it’s good for the economy. And they called us and asked us if we would encourage that through a letter to the editor.”

I do think that Rollins’s ties to Jamaica will become a campaign issue for the general election but this is a twist. Urquhart is accusing Rollins of favoring Jamaica’s financial industry over Delaware’s. So, do you think this attack will have traction with the Delaware GOP convention delegates?

God Wants Glenn Urquhart to Win

I guess because his first name starts with the letter “G” too, or something. But Bill Colley speaking for God is not the story. The story is that WGMD talkshow host and blogger Bill Colley apparently is now a bought and paid for shill for the Glenn Urquhart campaign.

Our story starts off the 19th Annual Gridiron Dinner on May 1 at the Chase Center on the Wilmington Riverfront. Mr. Colley was present, though, not as a result of paying his own way or having his employer, WGMD, pay his own way. The Urquhart campaign paid for his ticket, and Mr. Colley sat that the “Team Urquhart” table. How quaint. Urquhart has a team.

Yesterday, 10 days after the Gridiron dinner, Bill Colley endorses Glenn Urquhart over the establishment Michele Rollins and the other also rans Rose Izzo and Kevin Wade in a pretty indecipherable blog post on the WGMD site. Now, none of this is really shocking to me since we all know Bill Colley is no journalist, and if he considers himself to be one, then he should know that he is a pretty biased and unethical one. No, all Bill Colley is an uninformed talking head who fills the downstate airspace with his blather for four hours daily.

No, what is shocking is that Bill did not hold out for more. Remember that Urquhart bought himself a County Council President for the price of $5,000. Colley’s price at being a bought and paid for shill for Urquhart: $150.00. The cost of the Gridiron ticket. Who knew Colley’s integrity was so cheap.

How much is Dan Gaffney’s? I want an on air shill, and I got $200 to spend.

Bumps In The Road For The Rollins Coronation?

Republican Glenn Urquhart has released a poll showing that he leads Michelle Rollins in the primary race to replace Mike Castle. Take this poll with a huge grain of salt because it’s an internal poll with high undecideds. WDEL has the details:

A new poll suggests downstate real estate developer Glen Urquhart has an edge over Michele Rollins with Republican primary voters.

Kim Stevenson with the Urquhart campaign tells WDEL News GOP polling firm Wilson Research Strategies polled 300 likely Republican primary voters April 20th and 21st.

The survey says by a 53 to 47-percent margin, voters with an opinion of both candidates are likely to back Urquhart, but also says 60 percent of those responding are undecided, so the race is still wide open.

I think this will be a very interesting primary race. Michelle Rollins represents the country club Republicans, who are a dying breed in the Republican party but are likely still the majority among Delaware Republicans. Glenn Urquhart seems to be much more like the standard Southern Republican that we’re used to. I think this election will tell us a lot about the state of Delaware’s Republican party.