Breaking: Kovach To Challenge Carney

Filed in Delaware by on October 10, 2011

The NJ just tweeted that NCCo Council President will announce formation of a committee to challenge US Rep John Carney. It’s not a surprise to see office-hopping Kovach try for higher office, despite only being in the NCCo Council President job for a year. Really though, what choice does the shallow bench of the Delaware GOP have?

As suspected, Kovach plans to run against President Obama and Ruth Ann Minner. Urquhart got absolutely nowhere with that tactic in 2010, does Kovach think it will work for him? Both Kovach and Castle think 2012 is going to be a “relatively Republican year.” I don’t agree – I think the Occupy Wall Street movement has changed the whole calculation.

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Comments (41)

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  1. Yes, out of hiding. Back to lurking.

  2. Delaware Dem says:

    This is the dumbest move ever. No, UI, not you coming out of exile, but Kovach running. He could challenge Paul Clark and win easily, and then run for Governor in 2016. He could have been the Great Restorer of the Delaware Republican Party.

    Now he will lose to Carney by 10.

  3. I don’t understand this move except that Republicans really have no one else. Carney is probably at his most vulnerable as a 1-term incumbent. I wonder though, what are they doing with Urqhart? Is Urq running for governor?

  4. Kovach would be up for election next year, right?

  5. Delaware Dem says:

    I think Urq will run for something. Either against Carper or against Markell. I don’t think he will go for the rematch, especially now that Kovach is in the race, unless Kovach is unacceptable to the teabaggers.

  6. Delaware Dem says:

    Yes, Kovach would be running for reelection for NCCo Council President next year, or he could have challenged Clark for the Executive position, which is also up for election.

    Now I guess Bob Weiner could challenge Clark

  7. NCCo Council President will be wide open next year.

  8. jason330 says:

    Kovach wants a future in politics, so running against Markell is out. He probably thinks he can run against Ruth Ann Minner and hope for a big anti-Obama vote. That will get him within a couple of points and allow him to run again regardless.

  9. Joe Cass says:

    O’Donnell to primary Kovach! Christine 2012!2013!2014!2015!2016! (i ran out of newt toes)

  10. MJ says:

    Urkel is being drafted by Closet and the munchkins to run against Carper.

    Carney by 15.

  11. cassandra_m says:

    If Kovach was smart, he’d be the Huntsman in this race. The guy positioning himself as the (sortof) sane Republican for 2016. I’d bet Kovach could own the DE R party if he acquits himself well and stands out of the way of the local teajadis throwing poo at each other.

  12. Huntsman polled 0% in the latest poll.

  13. Joe Cass says:

    That is a big if, Cassandra

  14. cassandra_m says:

    I don’t think that Huntsman is running for 2012. I think that he is betting that some of the worst GOP energies will have played themselves out by 2016 and they’ll be ready to come to more traditional sensibilities. If he’s right, then there is no one on the R bench that isn’t toxic with the crazy.

    Pawlenty was polling slightly better than Huntsman and he got out. There’s a reason he is hanging in there and I bet he will through New Hampshire.

  15. Dana Garrett says:

    Cassandra, I think you are correct about Huntsman. He will be the “I told you so” GOPer candidate for 2016.

  16. Dana Garrett says:

    I think Kovach must know that he is falling on a sword to run against Carney…that he, Kovach, will lose. But for all its vaunted “individualism,” the willingness to be a political Kamikaze is obligatory for GOP candidates.

  17. Republican David says:

    Tom Kovach doesn’t run to lose. I agree in principle with DEDem that it is not his best office. He should go for either executive or Lt. Governor then be in position to be the next governor. I disagree that he is going to lose. I don’t see that he will win either. It would be a toss up with a small advantage to Mr. Carney.

  18. Aoine says:

    1. Kovach is NOT liked by the T-baggers
    2. He is actually filing tomorrow

    I hope I am right on Number one

    and wrong on number two

    time will tell

  19. Dana Garrett says:

    ANY Republican that runs against Matt Denn would lose by at least 12 points.

  20. I also thought that Huntsman was running for 2016. That only works if he has a credible showing in the primaries to make himself the candidate-in-waiting. I think he’s not helping himself at all and Jindal, Daniels, Christie will be much better positioned for 2016 should the GOP lose.

  21. Kovach has not yet demonstrated he can win in a regular election, much less statewide. Seems premature to me. I think Kovach would have had a great chance to knock off Paul Clark. As it is, Clark must be celebrating today.

  22. Speaking of the Occupy Movement, it’s time that John Carney decide who he really is, yet another Carperesque tool for the 1%, or someone who fights on behalf of the 99%.

    I sure as bleep ain’t reflexively voting for Carney just b/c he may or may not be better than Kovach. He hasn’t earned anything yet. Certainly not the 30-year sinecure that has been bestowed on the hopeless Carper.

  23. Geezer says:

    Carney is exceptionally vulnerable. Carper, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere, so Delawareans looking to split their tickets — lots of people I know take pride in doing so — might opt for Kovach, just on the theory that the state needs new blood in these jobs.

    I noted last week that even if Kovach won the county exec job over Clark, what does that get him? Four years of bickering with a supermajority of Democrats (a regular majority of whom are idiots) over declining NCCo revenues? What’s second prize, two terms?

    This way, even if he loses, he comes out with lots more contacts and the gratitude of the upstate wing of the GOP, and gets to go back to a lucrative legal position in the private sector. Either way, he’s better off than he is in county government.

  24. cassandra_m says:

    Kovach has not yet demonstrated he can win in a regular election, much less statewide.

    This is definitely true, but given the state of the GOP bench, I doubt this means much for the future. If these guys are trying to rebuild (and do that with the support of the NCCo checkbooks), Kovach is a pretty decent long-term play.

    That said, it wouldn’t hurt John Carney to work alot harder and define himself better. We already have Carper selling out the folks he asks to vote for him pretty routinely. I don’t know we need one more.

  25. For those of us following NCC affairs, this is a real kick in the gut. Check this out:

    Update: YEESH, juxto this…GOP’s Kovach set to run for U.S. House seat against Carney and Divisive Barley Mill rezoning up for vote ~
    http://www.delawareonline.com/comments/article/20111011/NEWS02/110110336/Divisive-Barley-Mill-rezoning-up-vote

    WOW Kovach. The entire nature of the area will be forever scarred with this ugly massive commercial strip plan. Commuters trying to cross this region from Hockessin to Wilmington and Talleyville to New Castle won’t be able to budge. Keeping the area office with some residential and commercial is in keeping with the character and suitability there.

    Only a few multi-millionaire duPonts want this rezoning because they are furious that otherwise, under the Pam Scott-Keith Stoltz THREATs, their “viewshed” will possibly be disturbed. That is your choice? That is what you are weighing in favor of this monstrosity?

    I agree with the comment that one can’t help wondering who has promised to pay dearly into Kovach’s GOP US House campaign. Pam Scott announced her resignation from Saul Ewing and abandonnment of this Stoltz project the very same day this rezoning plan was filed in her husbands’s land use department. Now Kovach abandons NCC government accountability on the very same day this rezoning plan goes for a vote and he unabashedly announces he will vote in favor. ETHICS, WHERE ARE YOU?.

  26. puck says:

    What on earth will Kovach and Carney find to disagree about?

  27. I’m thinking, I’m thinking…

  28. liberalgeek says:

    So this will be the guy that has never won in November v. the guy that has never lost in November. What month will this election be held?

  29. occam says:

    Why couldn’t he take on KWS or Clark? I’ll be tempted to vote for him, but in the end probably won’t.

  30. Yeah, LG, but he LOST in September, in a primary. Could history repeat itself? Could well depend on which side he chooses, the 99% or, like his mentor Carper, the 1%.

    The choice is his.

  31. liberalgeek says:

    Well, my point was that JC has never lost in a general election. He has benefited from Democratic turnout, just like Carper. Seriously, the institutional Democratic vote for a general is what has kept Carper in a job so long and it is likely to keep Carney in a job against Kovach.

    Kovach’s strength is motivating his supporters to get out and vote when the Democratic machine is asleep.

    I will also be very surprised if Kovach comes out in favor of the OWS crowd, so that may very well be a wash.

  32. anon says:

    I see 2012 as another blue wave year in Delaware.

    The only two names you have on the GOP side to run against Carper are Wade (who?) and Urquhart (separation of church and state is for Nazis). Wade’s support of the Fair Tax, which is as uncomplicated as splitting the atom 4 ways, will be a big negative, while Urquhart is a religious zealot and one of the creepiest people you will ever meet.

    Kovach won’t have the teabagger vote because he was the first republican to come out in 2010 and blame O’Donnell for his loss. Kovach won’t get the Dem vote because he went to Hatefest 2011. If Kovach gets a primary opponent, it will be a RWNJ, and RWNJs win GOP primaries.

    No one will beat Markell, the 2% pay cut for state employees is a distant memory, and even RWNJ will agree that he is focused on job creation. The only republican who would possibly run against him is Charlie Copeland, and Copeland won’t be able to stand next to Markell at a debate without looking like the snotty asshole he is. Markell’s only weakness is he likes green energy initiatives, and teabaggers hate anything that could have a positive environmental impact.

  33. John Manifold says:

    Kovach would be a smiling soldier in the war on women:

    http://www.thenation.com/article/163808/ban-birth-control-they-wouldnt-dare

  34. Geezer says:

    I think this is actually an internal GOP thing. With downstate/hardcore cons like Urquhart and Wade making noises about running, the upstate/moderate cons wanted to stake their claim to the most winnable race.

  35. Republican David says:

    Basically true Geezer, otherwise you would have a Urquhart/Wade ticket. If we are going to have a party, you can’t deny them a spot on the ticket with a credible candidate. Many Conservatives won’t be thrilled, but until we are more than our 1/3 of the state’s voters we have to accept coalition politics. Conservatives can’t win without right leaning moderates and right leaning moderates can’t win without the conservatives. Do you want to stand spitting at each other for not being team players or just do it and win bring back two party balance. Delaware is at a distinct disadvantage right now nationally if VP Biden is not returned because it no longer has the ability to influence both parties. That matters for a small state.

  36. Republican David says:

    I think Governor Markell is a favorite to return, but he has a lot more weaknesses then his crazy greens; The money spent on Democrat developers, The civil union law, High energy bills, the gun bills, and whether or not he will extend the expiring tax hikes. He also has some strengths, a job focus, he cut spending, cut red tape, is improving education, and agree or disagree he seems to stand up for what he believes.

    He may get away with the effort to protect big banks from prosecution or even civil action for their illegal activities because of his delayed signing of Kowalko’s bills. He will claim credit for them and most people don’t pay enough attention.

  37. Jason330 says:

    “Many Conservatives won’t be thrilled, but until we are more than our 1/3 of the state’s voters we have to accept coalition politics.”

    Closet, please let us know when conservatives hit the 1/3rd mark.

  38. pandora says:

    It won’t be soon, Jason, since it seems they just kicked Frank Knotts out of the group.

  39. 6thDist.Dem says:

    As a 6th district Democrat, I’ll be honest. I think Carney has a hard race ahead of him. Once you listen to Tom and meet him in person, moderates will flock, both R’s and D’s like me. I like Carney, but knowing Tom, I have to admit it’s going to be tough for John.

  40. DEIdealist says:

    Carney outspends Kovach 3-1 and wins by double digits. Dem turnout in a Presidential election in a state this blue is too much for Kovach to overcome no matter how many hugs he gets from Mike Castle.

  41. RobDE says:

    “Carney outspends Kovach 3-1 and wins by double digits. Dem turnout in a Presidential election in a state this blue is too much for Kovach to overcome no matter how many hugs he gets from Mike Castle.”

    Depends on how well Kovach runs his election. Remember, he only lost by 400 votes in his last Rep. election in the 6th district even though it’s heavily democratic and with the witch (O’Donnell) crumbling the rest of the republican party. If Kovach runs correctly, Carney mayyyy have to step it up.