A deeper Election 2024 dive: Local primary races
The fourth of what will be a series of several posts as we approach Election Day 2024, with Delaware's primary coming September 10.
By my count, there are seventeen different races in Sussex County, only one of which is countywide. There are three County Council seats up for grabs as well as thirteen legislative seats. Out of all those seats, only six have a primary: one State Senate seat, three State House seats, and two spots on County Council. In the case of the two County Council seats, as it stands right now the primary winner grabs the prize. What follows will be a capsule of each campaign from information I have gleaned through the study of their social media, campaign websites, and biographical information where available. I’ll work through the Republican candidates first, then the Democrats. Because this is pre-primary, I may update this later after the primary if a minor-party candidate enters the race. (If none enter, I’ll still repost a condensed version with updated info.)
And as always for my readers, most of whom live outside Sussex County and Delaware: consider this a template for covering your local and state races.
Because there’s not a ton of information out there on some of these candidates, I’m choosing to do this by race and not by individual. I’ll start with the legislative races then do the County Council seats.
State Senate District 18
Incumbent State Senator Dave Wilson, who has been in office 16 years - 6 years in the State Senate and a decade in the State House - has a challenger in local resident Robert “Bob” Reed. At this time, the two Republicans are the only two in the race, meaning the seat, the district of which skirts the northern border of Sussex County, will stay with the GOP regardless who wins.
The extent of Wilson’s campaign online is his social media page, which is fine. He doesn’t really have to tell me what he’s for because I have his recent voting record to fall back on - over the years he’s been about the middle of the pack as far as conservative voting records go.
Bob Reed doesn’t even have that - the extent of his presentation is this press release I found from back in April. But it was enough to tell me that he’s not completely unknown to the voters - he served as Sussex County Sheriff for eight years, from 1998-2006, before losing his election bid for a third term. (It’s not the law enforcement post you may think - in Delaware the county Sheriffs are limited to court matters.) His reason for running for Senate: “Bob decided to run for this position because he is concerned with the direction the legislature has taken in the past few years lacking moral values and failure to adhere to the Delaware Constitution.” He also noted that he’s taken a course on said Constitution, most likely through the Institute on the Constitution, which has regular classes.
My thoughts: It’s tough to beat an incumbent when people are satisfied with the job he’s done. While there is the chance a Democrat could be a late entrant into the race, the fact none got into the contest so far presumes no one on that side thought Dave Wilson could be beaten, not knowing this would be the only Senate primary in the state. So I think Wilson will prevail.
State House District 14
In this district, which basically covers the Dewey Beach/Rehoboth Beach area and bumps up to the southern outskirts of Lewes, three Democrats are in the running to replace longtime House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, who declined to run again. They have just one Republican opponent, who gets to bypass the primary.
The Republican trying to win the seat for the first time in ever since it was relocated to Sussex County in 2002 is Mike Simpler. Simpler’s claim to fame isn’t political, but being the president of the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company.
His vision, which came from early on in his campaign, “centers on making the lives of the residents of the 14th district simpler. He will fight for economic relief, to provide grant-in-aid funding for nonprofits, to improve emergency services, while working to protect our environment, beaches and the inland bays. Mike will also continue to advocate for increased access to specialized healthcare and education opportunities, more public transportation, and the rehabilitation of infrastructure in Sussex County.” He’s looking at this in a bipartisan manner, securing support from Democrats - and what Republican celebrates Pride Month?
Obviously the three Democrats did, and there’s a familiar name to lead it off.
It’s very interesting that Kathy McGuiness returns to her roots. Her website talks about her time on the Rehoboth Commission (16 years in two different stints) but not about her embattled tenure as state Auditor, which lasted over 3 1/2 years before she resigned in October, 2022, a month after losing the Democrat primary in her re-election bid. In fact, you won’t find her talking about it, like it never happened.
And she doesn’t really talk about issues so much as endorsements she’s racked up: leading off with Schwartzkopf himself, but also the Building Trades union, Moms Demand Action Gun Sense, and several area residents.
Like many around here, Marty Rendon is a come-here. As he describes it, “After decades working in Washington, DC as a Congressional aide and later directing Congressional relations for UNICEF, Marty built a house in Rehoboth Beach in 2005 and became a permanent resident in 2018.” He doesn’t have elected political experience, but has been a Commissioner on the state Human and Civil Rights Commission since 2019.
On the issues, it’s interesting that Marty leads off with environmental issues like climate change. More unique to his district are an emphasis on both affordable housing and homelessness as well as addressing traffic issues, perhaps with increased public transport. And of course he talks a bit about abortion.
As for endorsements, as a member of the LGBT population he was proud to receive the backing of the Delaware Stonewall PAC and LGBT+ Victory Fund. It seemed like all his meet-and-greets were hosted by same-sex couples; of course with Rehoboth Beach sometimes called the San Francisco of the East it’s a large percentage of the Democrat vote. He’s also backed by Gun Sense.
Claire Snyder-Hall is also trying to be the first woman to represent the district. And she lays it on the line right away: “Claire is a pro-choice Democrat who will work to protect reproductive freedom, strengthen the democratic process in the First State, and advance doable bills aimed at improving Delaware’s quality of life in terms of health, education, housing, and the environment.” Okay then. Abortion is literally her number one issue, even before anything else.
While she has led Common Cause in the state on two separate occasions, the biggest part of her political experience was losing a run for State Senate in 2014. She’s also a writer, educator, and member of the LGBT population. One throwaway line describing her academic career: “Her twenty years of classroom teaching experience also include courses taught at Princeton University, Rutgers University, Hunter College, Illinois State University, & New College of Florida (before DeSantis destroyed it).” Bitter much? In fact, she IS a childless cat lady who just happens to have a “wife.” She also just got the DSEA endorsement, which may help her a bit.
My thoughts: The interesting race is obviously the Democrat primary, with Simpler having a tough row to hoe in a relatively “blue” district by any standard, let alone Sussex County. But he has a little bit of name recognition and wouldn’t be mistaken for Donald Trump in his politics. On the Democrat side, all of them have a niche of support but I suspect the support of the longtime incumbent will pull McGuiness through.
State House District 20
Just up the coast from House District 14 is this district, which covers the Lewes and Milton areas. In fact, all three contested House districts abut each other, with District 20 being the meat of the sandwich.
The lone GOP candidate is Nikki Miller, and I couldn’t find anything on her except that she’s an educator who went from being principal at Cape Henlopen High School to an administrative position in the Seaford School District. While she filed way back in February, she only has a barebones website and not a whole lot as far as issues go. Since I’m not going to be on her door-to-door route or at the many events she’s at, your guess is as good as mine.
The challenger Democrat for the seat is Brian Jenkins, but he’s not working too hard to campaign at the moment as far as I can tell after filing in May.
So that leaves the incumbent Democrat, Stell Parker Selby, who won the seat just two years ago after losing twice in the aughts, once for State Senate in 2002 and then in the primary for State Treasurer in 2006. She recovered to serve for a decade on Milton’s town council as well as the Cape Henlopen School District, where she was an educator for 34 years.
One thing I like about her presentation is her concise “Points of Focus” with a topic sentence and an explanatory paragraph. Here, then, are her Points of Focus:
“I will work to find common ground for smart growth that doesn’t threaten our environment and undermine what we love about our area.”
“I support an environment preservation plan that ensures safe drinking water, protects open space, and anticipates the impacts of climate change.”
“As a lifetime educator, I believe that quality education is a benefit to all and is key to our future.”
“Having served on the Beebe Medical Center Board for 16 years, I am acutely aware of the healthcare challenges we face now and in the future.”
“I believe everyone has a right to feel safe.”
“No person in our democracy should face discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
It’s a good compilation of bullet points, although Selby and I wouldn’t see eye-to-eye on these issues.
My thoughts: Good thing Miller is at least knocking on doors; otherwise, the seat is Selby’s to reclaim. Unfortunately, she’s been a reliable “let’s turn Delaware into California” vote in the General Assembly.
State House District 36
This is turning into a contentious race as two Republicans battle it out with a Democrat challenger waiting to see who wins when the smoke clears.
Leading off is incumbent Bryan Shupe, who has held the seat since 2018 after serving four-plus years as the mayor of Milford. (Strange for a guy who makes his living online, his website is down so here’s his social media.)
Probably because I’m on the Delaware Live mailing list, I’m also on Shupe’s mailing list. So I’ve found over the years he’s a more moderate, bipartisan representative who will still object when Democrats don’t want to play ball.
And that moderation seems to be an issue for Patrick Smith, who opens his website by saying, “We must restore conservative values and integrity to an office that has long been deprived!” Smith adds, “Delaware needs more vocal and visible Republicans to step to the forefront and lead instead of wavering on our fundamental values. In a district chock-full of great conservative citizens it is imperative the representation be matched!”
His list of priorities include improving the local economy, attending to young Delawareans, restoring the rural character of Sussex County, public safety, and attending to our infrastructure.
Smith is also a vocal challenger, accusing Shupe of “voting like a Democrat” on certain issues. (Maybe he needs to read the Delaware Accountability Project, which I’ll work on for this fall.) As it turns out, Shupe is a middle-of-the-pack Republican, but in general any Republican is better than any Democrat in stopping the decline of the state of Delaware.
Speaking of Democrats, I’ve never seen a bilingual website front page until I found the one that challenger Rony Baltazar-Lopez has. And he has a LOT of priorities, including Equitable Education, Affordable Housing, Quality Healthcare, Supporting Small Businesses, Ensuring Access to Government, Reproductive Health, Protecting the Environment, Maintaining Balanced Growth, Upholding Voting Rights, Investing in Clean Infrastructure, Protecting Human Rights, Investing in Public Safety, and - last but not least - Criminal Justice System.
So he has all these “priorities” but also has a political background, working as a staff assistant to Senator Tom Carper and then being appointed to the Milford Board of Education in 2019, winning a full term in 2020. He’s a first-generation American who worked his way through college and attained a master’s degree in public administration.
My thoughts: It’s interesting to me that Baltazar-Lopez got into the race after the two Republicans did. If there weren’t a primary on the Republican side I wonder if he would not have waited two years. But there is probably a lot of backing coming his way, as the Democrats would love to snatch another seat in mostly red Sussex County. Given the rancor of the GOP primary (mostly from the challenger), the task for the winner will be to bring the party together.
Sussex County Council District 1
Unless a Democrat, minor party nominee, or write-in jumps into the fray, those of us living in District 1 - some of whom, like me, haven’t voted in a Council election in six years (or, in my case, ever) thanks to redistricting and staggered terms - will select our County Council member in the Republican primary. (So I won’t.) District 1 now covers the southwest corner of the county, taking in Seaford, Laurel, Bethel, Delmar, and Gumboro.
There are three Republicans in the race, including the incumbent.
Because he’s taken the time to walk door-to-door in my district and impressed my wife, Matt Lloyd has a sign in our front yard. But while he’s for small government, Matt is also worried about having the overgrowth of the east side of the county migrate over to the west. Perhaps I should remind him that what doesn’t grow, dies. Don’t make things so restrictive that no one can move here. And his idea for accessory dwelling units is now code in Sussex County, so I guess he can claim a victory before the election.
It’s Matt’s first political run, as he retuned from a stint in the Air Force from 2012-19 and purchased his grandparents’ farm. He said he was “shocked by the amount of growth” that occurred while he was away and it spurred him into running.
Next up is Christie Shirey, who may be the most fascinating candidate in any race to me because, in the good old days, she was Delaware’s TEA Party coordinator. (It was apparently somewhat accidental, as this old article posits.) I would love to know what on earth has reawakened her politically after a decade or so away - unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find out. No website or anything.
That leaves the incumbent, who has been in office since 2008, Mike Vincent. His pet issues are public safety (as a volunteer fireman) and preserving farmland (as he’s a farmer.) Having just had his campaign kickoff in the last week, Mike is seeking a fifth term of the only political job he’s had.
My thoughts: It’s a bit telling to me that the incumbent is beginning his campaign this late - a month before the primary - when his chief opponent has been knocking on doors for weeks. This part of the district is filled with red Lloyd signs, although some of that may be our proximity to where he lives. (Vincent has started putting out his signs this week, too.) It almost makes me wonder if Shirey will serve as a stalking horse for the incumbent, taking a split off the vote that thinks sixteen years is enough.
And one other thought: I took a quick look at the financials for all three candidates last night, and it’s interesting to me that all three have some debt. Lloyd has pretty much self-financed his campaign (about $8,000), while Vincent has a healthy war chest of about $22,000 - but $12,000 or so in loans dating back to 2012. Shirey is about $5,000 in arrears. Almost every local politician has donated to Vincent’s cause, meaning he has their backing. Take from that what you will.
Sussex County Council District 2
At the moment, this is a two-person race for the district covering the northwest quadrant of the county (Bridgeville and Greenwood, edging over toward Milford.) Like District 1, unless someone is a last-minute entry it will be decided September 10.
Seeking her second term on County Council, Cindy Green has three things in mind: Family Values, Low Taxes, and Individual Freedoms. (The link is to her social media, which is far more enlightening than her static one-page website.) But when you dig into social media she says things like, “I'm running to serve because I want the next generation to know what freedom and prosperity are.”
To sum her up, she says, “I am running for reelection on my record of conservative values; low taxes, individual freedoms and local control. We need a better plan to keep Sussex County a great place to live. I work for my constituents full time and hope I have earned your trust to serve another 4 years.” Prior to serving on County Council, she was the county’s Register of Wills for a decade.
Like Green, Steve McCarron is a farmer, but he also has elective experience on the Bridgeville Town Council and Woodbridge school board. His goals are to balance the needs of agriculture and growth, maintain the county’s support for first responders, and attracting a good workforce - all based on his experiences.
He was also the subject of a negative mailer put out by a pro-development group called Preserve Sussex, based on supporting bringing two school tax increases to referendum while on the Bridgeville school board. So these farmers are now getting mud slung at them.
My thoughts: This race already has quite a bit of acrimony in it. If there’s a “throw the bums out” mentality, this may favor McCarron. Having developers on your side is not a popular thing on this side of Sussex County, so Preserve Sussex may be a sidebar story to follow as things go along and we find out where the $68,000 raised from a handful of big donors is going to go.
I’m going to take a break on these Election 2024 profiles now until after the September 10 primary, having covered all the races that have one. Sometime in mid-September I’ll pick up the races where there was no primary contest (such as our U.S. Senate seat) and revisit the ones I’ve done which will be contested in November.
Until my next election focus, remember you can Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there.