The election of 2014 here in Delaware, as well as nation-wide has brought what I think can be called a GOP wave. In Washington D.C. the Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, this can either mean that we can now see a breaking of the stalemate that has been the mainstay of national government as of late, or will simply mean that the struggle will simply shift to between congress and the office of the president with vetoes, and attempted over-rides. We will see.
More interestingly here in Delaware are the many gains that the GOP managed in local races, and even a couple of state-wide races.
At the top of the list has to be the state Treasurer’s race in which finance guy Ken Simpler (R) won only the second state-wide seat for the GOP. Mr. Simpler ran his entire campaign, which included defeating a late game GOP primary challenge from Sher Valenzuela, who had also lost a Lt. Governor bid previously, by remaining on message, “a finance guy, for a finance job”.
Mr. Simpler now joins incumbent winner,Tom Wagner Delaware state Auditor as the two state-wide Republicans.
Some of the other more shocking upsets would have to include the defeat of John Atkins (D) by Rich Collins (R). This was Mr. Collins’ second run at the seat of the 41st Representative District following a very narrow defeat in his previous run. Mr. Collins may have had a couple of stumbles, but in the end was able to build on the momentum of that previous run.
Another race seeing a long time Democrat legislator being replaced by a Republican, was the race between Bob Venables (D) losing to Republican Bryant Richards. While Mr. Venables is a very conservative Democrat it would seem that overlapping races may have affected this race.
Other wins for Republicans included Sen. Ernie Lopez returning to Dover along with Steve Smyk as representative for the 20th district, a race in which, for all the bluster of the insignificant IPOD candidate, it was not even close considering that the IPOD candidates only got less than 3% of the vote. I guess this means that we will have to stop calling him Not Don Ayotte, and start calling him , Not Even Close Don Ayotte.
Here in Sussex County the most talked about race had to be the race for sheriff. This race saw a GOP primary in which the incumbent Jeff Christopher was defeated by the narrow margin of 21 votes. Mr. Christopher refused to accept the will of the voters, and decided to run a write-in candidate making the general election a three-way race. As was the popular opinion Mr. Christopher and his supporters fell far short of mounting any real challenge, and the Republican endorsed candidate Robert T. Lee is now the new sheriff in Sussex County.
I am sure I am forgetting some races, please forgive me, I am going on about seven hours of sleep in the past forty-eight hours. Please feel to talk amongst yourself, discuss all the races and the impact you think they will have on moving Delaware Forward in the coming months and years.
When asked why the Republicans fared so well in the election, Paul Begala stated, “maybe they ran 80% less witches.”
Not Don Ayotte is now Not 3%.
FBH now that ain’t right.
First great job last night Frank.
Congratulations to all the winners at the county, state, and national levels. Looking at some of the comments on face book it boggles the mind that some supporters are already starting with the excuses.
I hope someone has been checking Bridges in the area to make sure Former Sheriff Chistopher isn’t getting ready to jump!!!!
I got the votes of 217 people who have obviously never met me.
I know this is in bad form, but……
Let me be the first to ask?
Where is my ticket to the “Never Don Ayotte” victory party?
How can we expedite the outgoing Sheffifs moving plans?
When is the Teflon John tire burning celebration?
I feel cheated
Kevin Wade waged a serious and fierce campaign on a low budget. I suspect only Rose Izzo spent less-per-vote than Kevin did. The RNC, NRSCC and major conservative PACs paid virtually no attention to us; convinced that Delaware was “unwinnable,” it never seemed to occur to them that a few dollars here would go a lot further than mega dollars in New Hampshire or Michigan. Kevin’s platform, comprising 6 easy-to-understand “planks”, resonated with voters. At least, it resonated with the voters who were actually willing to hear what he had to say. Out on the hustings, a few things seemed very, very clear: those who paid attention to politics in general did not like Coons at all, and people who met and heard Kevin liked him and his message. Sadly, the vast majority of voters pay little or no attention to the actual issues, so Kevin could not break-even in New Castle County. The first Wednesday in November is always a time for armchair-quarterbacking and 20/20 hindsight, but, I’m confident that we ran as good a campaign as we could have with the time, resources and personnel we had available. I’m not “whining” about this; I wish things had gone in his favor, but, as Kevin himself often says, “It is what it is.” I’m happy that the GOP picked up 2 rep seats and 1 senate seat in Leg Hall; I’m happy that Sussex County remains firmly in GOP hands; I’m happy that Tom Wagner, Ken Simpler, Rob Arlett, Rich Collins and Bryant Richardson won and that all the contended Sussex row offices remain in GOP hands. I’m happy that the U.S. House will have the laragest GOP majority since ’29 and that the senate will be under GOP control. Now, the question is: What will Boehner and McConnell actually DO with that control? Will incoming members be able to convince the congressional GOP rank-and-file that new leadership is needed? Both the Speaker and incoming Majority Leader have already used the dreaded terms “bi-partisan’, “compromise” and “reach across the aisle.” Maybe the fact that all three of Delaware’s congressional delegates are now in the minority party will give the First State’s voters pause in ’16 when only John Carney’s federal seat is in play, but, maybe it won’t. Did Delaware shoot itself in the foot just to prove that it had a gun? Probably. But, one thing I do know: Delaware media was happy, but national media isn’t. I think I heard somebody on CBS news early this morning call yesterday’s sea change a “temper tantrum by the voters.” I heard also, on the internet, that MSNBC staffers were jumping out of high windows to certain death below and slitting their wrists near the coffee machine. (You can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true.) Wither Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? She’ll remain in charge of the DNC, I’m sure. There is NO price to be paid for failure in Washington…UNLESS you’re a Republican. But let’s all remember: It could have been worse. It could have been A LOT WORSE. What if Brenda Mayrack or Marie Mayer had won? On the other hand, what if Sam Chick and Kiim Warfield had somehow “switched” districts in Kent? And, while we’re at it with the “what-ifs”, what if Lt. Kermit Tyler had decided to alert a P-40 squadron? But, I digress. Although I would have liked it if things had gone better, it’s easier to force myself to be happy with the new national landscape than it is to be bitter about losing my security deposit on that Adams-Morgan townhouse.
evilkanivel, I think that having to write, “Former Sheriff Christopher” takes too long, so in the same vein as “Not Don Ayotte” Let us call him, “Just Jeff”, what do you think?
And no one who loves themselves that much would ever kill themselves.
WP, anywhere there is a rational voter, or a reasonable elected official, there is your NDA party, of course in his honor it will be the third party and will only be attended by 217 people max.
As for Just Jeff, well he may not be moving, but I here he is attempting to get an opening act gig with Ted Nugent, though the thought of Just Jeff swinging across the stage in a loin clothe is a little disturbing.
And John Atkins will not be burning tires, he is far too busy burning bridges.
Frank, Just Jeff is perfect! I’m a little disappointed we haven’t heard much from Just Jeff since his crushing defeat. Has anyone seen him or heard from him? Rumor has it, he’s going to co-host with his male crush Doug Beatty!
” What will Boehner and McConnell actually DO with that control?”
I you don’t have an idea of what they would “actually DO”, why vote for anyone like them?