DeLuca Has A Primary Opponent

Filed in Delaware by on December 19, 2011

Senate Pro-Tem and Colin Bonini BFF Tony DeLuca is not only facing a primary opponent next year, he will also face a primary challenger. Attorney Bryan Townsend will challenge Senator DeLuca for the Denocratic nomination.

Bryan Townsend, a 30-year-old attorney, intends to challenge DeLuca next year in a primary in the 11th District, which is nestled between Christiana, Newark and Bear.

DeLuca’s leadership style and controversial second state job at the Department of Labor were motivations for running, Townsend said.

Townsend said civic leaders have told him DeLuca is out of touch with the district and his constituents and only recently has begun showing up to neighborhood meetings.

DeLuca, 65, said he’s remained responsive to constituents with roads, transportation, drainage, county land use and policing issues. “Civic associations know that they can call on me at any time, and receive a prompt response from either me or my staff,” DeLuca said in an email. “I’m very accessible and my staff and I take pride in our constituent services to district residents.”

I live in DeLuca’s district and I have never met him. Let’s contrast this with my brand-new State Representative Ed Osienski. Rep. Osienski visited my neighborhood three times before the election in 2010.

I think this will be an exciting race. Don’t get me wrong, a very well-funded long-term incumbent will be very hard to beat. However, Evan Q.’s polling (not sure about the poll quality) showed that DeLuca does not have a lot of name recognition in the district. Will DeLuca be willing to put in the door knocking and hand-shaking? Or is he going to rely on his name recognition and war chest to get him through the primary?

Bonus ROFL – Delaware Democratic Party Chairman John Daniello:

“I’m not sure I can remember when we had a non-officeholder challenging an officeholder,” Daniello said.

*Headtilt* Huh?

Tags: , ,

About the Author ()

Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (12)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. MJ says:

    I wouldn’t give Evan Q’s polling much credence.

  2. puck says:

    “Evan Queitsch, a Newark-area Republican involved in the tea party movement…”

    Well, at least the News Journal is starting to get a clue about Evan.

  3. cassandra m says:

    Even the NJ noted that the kind of polling Evan did is suspect — and when you look at who did it, the firm is a sales lead generation firm. This is a race that needs way more serious polling than whatever Evan paid for.

  4. From what I’ve heard, Townsend didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. He’s lived in the area his entire life, mom’s a teacher, dad’s a Newark cop, he went to McKean and, if my source is correct, swam the English Channel. Seriously.

    I agree with Paul B that we need to arrange a sit-down interview after the first of the year. And we will.

  5. anon says:

    Apparently, he tried to swim the Channel, but a shoulder injury and storm made him turn back.

    And if I’m reading this right, he will likely be the most educated member of the General Assembly (maybe in Delaware government?) if he wins. He holds a bachelor’s in economics, a bachelor’s in philosophy and biology, a master’s in economics, a master’s in Chinese studies and a juris doctorate.

    http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/jul/channel072109.html
    http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/bryan-townsend/bryan-swim

  6. DE Idealist says:

    Not an easy race to be sure, but I can see Bryan out-smarting and out-working DeLuca next year. Should be exciting to watch.

  7. Geezer says:

    Whatever the merits of the polling, I wasn’t surprised that 54% of his constituents have no opinion on his job performance. I think that would be typical of anyone in the General Assembly. From our perches in the blogosphere we are apt to forget that what happens in Dover matters not at all to an enormous chunk of the electorate. As a result, even popular members of the General Assembly have little depth to their support.

  8. John Young says:

    I believe he went to Glasgow HS.

  9. X Stryker says:

    Geezer nails it – most people know zip about local politics period – they vote for the party.

  10. DREAM TEAM says:

    What kind of fundraising potential does Townsend have? Deluca had 110k in the bank–as of 2010.

  11. Townsend probably has decent fundraising potential. He won’t have $100K but will DeLuca go door-to-door?

  12. The reason why DeLuca has $110K in the bank isn’t due to any fealty to DeLuca. As President Pro-Tem, he can parcel out the spoils to the members of his caucus…except (a) there’s 4 or 5 of ’em who wouldn’t see a dime from him under any circumstances and (b) he’s gonna need it for his own race.

    Based on his contacts and bio, I see no reason why Townsend can’t raise sufficient funds to be competitive. Plus Tony DeLuca has run two competitive races against Donna Reed, and he only runs one way: like Alphonse D’Amato. He has little choice since there’s nothing positive about the Thug in the Three-Piece. He’ll try to bring down Townsend’s positives, it’s the only way DeLuca has a chance to win.

    I don’t think it will work.