Delaware Political Weekly: Feb. 12-18, 2016

Filed in Delaware by on February 19, 2016

1. Penrose Hollins Running for NCC President.

Just one more reason to read DL. Cassandra had the story before anybody.  Chris Bullock announces he will not run for reelection in order to spend more time with his family  church.  And, yesterday, Penrose Hollins announces for County Council President.  I’ve made no secret about my respect for Hollins.  However, lest we think that his announcement is tantamount to winning the primary, this has happened before.  Hollins and Paul Clark battled for this same seat back in 2004, along with NCC Recorder of Deeds Diane Kempski.  It was Hollins’ race to lose. And he lost it.  Not by much, but Clark didn’t win it, Hollins lost it:  Clark:  10,092; Hollins: 9938; and Kempski: 5712. Hollins ran an inexplicably-timid campaign that seemed designed to keep voters from knowing that he was black.  Seriously. And this is not Monday morning QB’ing.  During the race, a lot of people were wondering, ‘What is Pen doing?’. And, don’t forget, his opponent, Karen Hartley Nagle, has won a statewide primary for US Congress. Granted, it was against Mike Miller and Jerry Northington (I voted for Jerry), but still.  If Hollins wins, it would set up a special election for his seat.  It would be interesting to see how that would be handled.  Who would choose his successor, keeping in mind that the Party picks the candidate as opposed to a primary?  It’s a predominantly city district, but it’s a county position.

2. Is Mayor Williams Gonna Run?

Probably. You will recall that, back in March of 2015, he made a clear statement that he would seek reelection.  However, he has not yet filed.  And, I’ve spoken to a reporter who is at least wondering whether he’ll follow through.  Why? What once were firm declarations of candidacy are now being hedged with lines like “If I decide to put myself through this again…”.  Thin gruel, I admit.  But it demonstrates, perhaps unwittingly, that he’s at least thought about the possibility of not seeking reelection.  I encourage the mayor to keep thinking along those lines.

3. The OTHER Dennis Williams Surfaces.

Some people have a pathological need to run.  I don’t know why. (Well, actually, yes I do.  Every now and then, the stars align and one of these losers gets elected. Including Williams. And, uh, Karen Weldin Stewart, anyone?) Dennis E. Williams is one of those people.  No, he’s not running for Congress, his nascent candidacy apparently having died aborning.  Instead he’s gonna give the voters of the 10th Rep. District a chance to admit they were wrong when they threw Williams’ sorry ass out of the General Assembly in 2014.  Problem is, Sean Matthews proved the voters right.  Even with Pete & Val parking political operatives in the 10th to save one of their lackeys, Matthews defeated Williams by a 55-45 margin.  It will be much larger this time, but, hey, Dennis, thanks for the filing fee.  Although I now must dig into my pockets to send some $$’s Matthews’ way.  He is already one of the most valuable legislators we have in Dover, especially on education.

4. The Case of the Vanishing Opponent for Patti Blevins.

It’s a mystery, and I can’t solve it. I need your help. I swear I’m not hallucinating. This time.  Last Friday, someone filed as an R to run against Patti Blevins in the 7th Senatorial District. There was even a press release.  I remember that he had glasses, and that it wasn’t Clark Kent. Cue Gil Scott-Heron:

As of now, any record of such a candidate has been erased.  He has since ‘unfiled’, or has been unfiled.  I can’t even find the release.  I know I should have written his name down. I made a mental note, but lately, my mental notes are written in invisible ink.  So, kids, help me out.  Who was this guy, and what happened? After all, as we were just reminded, Vince Foster’s killer is still out there. Even if the truth isn’t. My uneducated guess?: Bounced check.

5. Sanders Qualifies for Delaware Presidential Primary.

He joins Trump, Kasich, Bush, and Rubio.

6. Filings.

New ones for this week:  State Rep. Kevin Hensley (R) , 9th RD;  State Rep. Mike Mulrooney (D), 17th RD;  Brenda Ann Wootten (D), Kent County Clerk of the Peace.

OK, that’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?

 

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  1. JTF says:

    Dennis E. Williams, easily one of the most useless people to ever encounter public life in Delaware.

  2. Jason330 says:

    Mike Mulrooney is going up against a Pete Schwarzkopf favorite, Kevin S. Hensley (R), in the 9th. I haven’t heard squat about Hensley, so maybe this is a pickup opportunity?

  3. truthteller says:

    Anybody have thoughts on the Lt. Governor/Insurance Commissioner debate held the other night?

    http://wdel.com/story/73493-video-democratic-candidates-for-lieutenant-governor-participate-in-first-debate

  4. liberalgeek says:

    I was there.

    The Lt. Gov debate was a many splendored thing. Senator Hall-Long and Ciro Poppiti were relatively comfortable up there, but Hall-Long got the better of him.

    Councilwoman Dorsey-Walker was on her game, but I’m not sure what her game is. Her voice and pacing is unique. I couldn’t place it until I heard the responses from behind me. Lots of preachin’ in the tenor.

    Kathy McGuiness was effective, but not much substance beyond “I’ll bring my awesomeness to bear on state government”.

    Eaby is his regular mild-mannered self.

    Greg Fuller was there also.

    The room then emptied of at least 60% of it’s spectators, which is a damn shame.

    Navarro was ready for questions and nailed them for the most part. He tagged Weldin-Stewart for a few points.

    Gallagher was very competent, but not particularly inspiring or polished. He also landed a few effective blows on the incumbent.

    For her part, KWS was a perfect insurance commissioner version of Mr. Magoo. Insurance prices are bad, no competition, bad service… shit happens, amiright?

  5. gigi says:

    The R running against Blevins was Anthony Delcollo. His fb page is still active and he has some nutty followers!

  6. You’re correct:

    https://www.facebook.com/anthonyndelcollo/

    http://www.leadershipdelaware.org/index.cfm?ref=70200&ref3=160

    Wonder why he withdrew. Maybe his law firm was not enamored of the challenge to the President Pro-Tem. Guy’s a true believer right-winger.

    He also represented Lacey Lafferty, among others, in a libel suit against Frank Knotts:

    http://www.delawareright.com/who-does-anthony-delcollo-represent/

  7. Geezer says:

    “Wonder why he withdrew.”

    Lack of competence would be a good guess.

  8. Jason330 says:

    Anthony Delcollo? he was just on Rick Jensen’s show being asked why he threatened to sue Frank Knotts for saying that Lacey Lafferty has a screw loose.

  9. truthteller says:

    I agree, LG. Between Bethany and Ciro, BHL clearly stood out head and shoulders above. The other 4 candiates appeared to be mostly asleep.

    Navarro looks to be the clear favorite in the IC race.

  10. Rep Paul Baumbach says:

    Jason, Rep Mulrooney and Rep Hensley are incumbents..they are not facing each other. They live in and serve two different RDs.

  11. SussexWatcher says:

    Delcollo is still running in the 7th Senate. Not sure what lists y’all are looking at.

    General election filings: http://elections.delaware.gov/reports/genl_fcddt.shtml

    Primary filings: http://elections.delaware.gov/reports/prim_fcddt.shtml

  12. He just refiled today. You can see the 2-19 date on his filing. He was filed last week and, for some reason, was not filed this week. I’m sticking with my bounced check theory.

  13. Unstable Isotope says:

    I liked Dorsey Walker but all her talk about faith turned me off. Poppiti is running as the candidate of the elderly (he said it several times). I’m not sure who I favor – I know I’ve ruled out Fuller and Eaby.

    IC – Stewart was awful. Her campaign is my job is hard and regulations are tough for these poor powerless insurance companies. And hey what can I do about prices? Gallagher seemed to be the hit man against Stewart plus his toupee is terrible. Navarro was good but also seemed to say he was powerless to change anything. His and Gallagher’s great idea was tax incentives to attract competition (what could possibly go wrong with throwing taxpayer money at companies?) I found myself wishing the IC candidates would channel some Bernie Sanders

  14. Delaware Dem says:

    UI…. I am probably going to default to Bethany Hall Long. I have ruled out McGuiness, Fuller, Dorsey Walker and Poppitti. That leaves me with Eaby and Bethany

  15. SussexWatcher says:

    Delcollo posted on social and issued a release yesterday that he filed, and Simpler and Lavelle both accompanied him. Are you sure he was on the filed list last week?

  16. Yep. I wrote the article pretty late in the morning that Friday, and I checked the Department of Elections list of filed candidates. He had filed that Friday morning, but, since the ‘weekly’ article covers the timeline from Friday through Thursday, I figured I’d wait ’til this week. Then he was gone.

    Now he’s back.

  17. Frank Knotts says:

    Maybe the check from the Three Amigos bounced. LMFAO

  18. anon says:

    ES even this fabricated story of yours comes as no surprise to the people ” who know and love you”

  19. "westies besties" says:

    Let’s face it, clearly no one can bounce a check like Steve Grossman….talk about the three amigos…you are a sad trio..still picking fights with little girls Frank?

  20. Tom Kline says:

    Williams was a terrible State Rep. for us.

  21. John Manifold says:

    As Downton Abbey ends, an email for KHN arrives, from the pen of John Flaherty.

    Penrose is well-qualified to be Council President, but he best bear down. John F knows how to direct a campaign.

  22. I dunno. He ran Harris McDowell’s campaigns some 20 years ago. He was the perfect counterbalance to McDowell as John was calm and Harris…was not. But it’s not as if Harris was endangered except in Harris’ mind.

    I do agree, however, that Penrose had better run a real campaign. He didn’t do that against Clark, and it cost him. He could well lose if he doesn’t change his approach, and people who have been around the track as often as Hollins tend not to change their approach.