Delaware Political Weekly: Feb. 23-March 1, 2018
1. And Then There Were None. Announced R candidates for AG, that is. Tom Neuberger has dropped out to, what else, represent a plaintiff in a high-profile liability suit. In this case, this plaintiff in this suit. Let’s see, the Rethugs ‘discouraged’ the pro-marijuana guy from running…no word yet on whether they are gonna scrape the rust off of Ferris Wharton and perhaps provide him with a designated driver…maybe they can recruit Kathy McGuiness. She has the same qualifications for AG as she has for Auditor. None. WDEL’s Allan Loudell speculates as to Neuberger’s motivation. Allan, I like you, but I don’t see this race as being between Kathleen Jennings and Tim Mullaney. Not at all.
2. And Then There Was One. R candidate for US Senator, that is. Chuck Boyce announced that he was dropping his bid due to health reasons. Leaving, wait for it, I’ll find the name, just give me a second…that’s right, Gene Truono. This guy. Oh, well, at least they’ve got an A-list challenger for Lisa Blunt Rochester. Scott Walker. This guy.
3. Rep. Osienski Gets A Challenger–Of Sorts. We’re talking about the 24th RD, traditionally a Newark-area blue collar district. The challenger is one Bill Dilks. My gift to you? This. There is no law against excessive use of exclamation points, but if there was, this guy would be ineligible to run. The registration numbers for this district are as follows: 8534 D; 3439 R; 4400 I. A D registration majority. Looks like Ed Osienski is safe.
4. D Primary in RD 9. Monique Johns, who ran against Kevin Hensley in 2016, has filed. She will face Debbie Harrington in a Democratic primary in September. Hensley defeated Johns by a 60-40 margin in 2016. This is a primary that can only help Hensley. This is a swing district, and D’s must be able to reach out beyond the Democratic base. I would hope that the two filed candidates can find a way to forestall this primary.
That’s it for this week. What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?
A primary looks certain in the 9th, as one more Dem entrant is expected.
Awesome job. Thanks for the link to Dilks. Otherwise how would I know that the “CRITICAL” issue facing the state is “adult men are lawfully permitted to use girls bathrooms…”
If that adult male is Micheal J. Hurd, I agree – but I think he is talking, ignorantly, about protections for transgendered Delawareans.
Well, the first opponent who worries about Ms. Johns-Williams can always refer voters to this.
Or direct them to this page where voters can learn that “Lady Monique”
My conclusion: If Delaware is going to have candidates come out of the woodwork, it should invest in better woodwork.
10 points Alby.
@jason: The question for all these people who are afraid others will see their pee-pees is, What would an “adult male” see in a women’s restroom other than women fussing with their makeup? Unlike men, who line up at urinals, women use stalls. With doors. A restroom is no less safe than any other room with just one door.
These fantasies reveal the juvenile minds of those making such claims, nothing more. These are the people who bought “50 Shades of Grey” and read it until the pages started sticking together.
I’ll allow that I can be distracted by the provincial concerns of my political tribe. I might, for example, be a little too worried about the Postal Service being required to pre-fund its retirement benefit obligations than the average voter.
But what kind of hot house weirdo do you have to be to think that a trans female going into a female bathroom is one of the CRITICAL threats facing the state?
The kind who uses a lot of hand cream.
With Carper facing a primary I’m genuinely surprised Chuck Boyce dropped.
Nevermind. I guess Truono won the preprimary primary. In spite of the fact that Truono idiotically states that a strong economy can be built by “decrease(ing) the regulatory burden on our small businesses” he seems legit.
There have been a lot of useless trolls recently, some who have disappeared from here w/o comment.
However, I must comment on the latest useless troll to meet the same fate.
You can’t come over here and make unsubstantiated claims that are, to put it mildly, libelous, and get away with it.
Which is why you’re gone.
As I understand it Lady Monique did step up last cycle to take on Hensley and also primary a candadite who a few years earlier had tried to get the local GOP to endorse him – Rich Griffiths. She was pretty active on the door knocking scene but “word on the street” is that she is massively disorganized and not really equipped with the skills one needs to win and then actually legislate. The consensus from a lot of people is that her moment was 2016 and she under delivered in votes and was completely inedpt when it came to fund raising and recruiting volunteers. Look at her last filed report definitely Shows signs of disarray. Harrington is very well qualified but hopefully her personality can come to life on the campaign trail. As stated above, a 3rd person is rumored to jump in. Union guy who’s has volunteered a lot for BHL and Sen. Hansen. That’s my update.
PS….love this blog!
TonyDem: we hear the term ‘generic candidate’ a lot. I kinda agree with your take. A ‘generic Dem’ should start out higher than 40% in a race in this swing district. Johns got just under 40% in 2016.
I think she underperformed ‘generic Dem’ and I see little likelihood that she’ll build on her percentage this time.
My take: Hensley can be beaten, but not, IMHO, by Johns. She’s frankly too weird to win.
USPS is being required to prefund the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund, not pensions. The pension fund is nearly 100% funded. The health benefit fund is only about 50% funded.
The concern is USPS revenues have been declining while the level of service remains the same. The USPS still has to sort and run the same routes regardless of the number of pieces that are on that route. So their costs remain the same, while the revenue stream is decreasing.
There is also the uncertainty for the future which affects unfunded liabilities. Plus the fact that the USPS overfunded the pension fund (CSRS) by pretty much the same amount as the unfunded liability of the health fund.
The requirement to prefund the future liability exacerbates the issue because in order to pay the liability, USPS needs more revenue, which under the current environment, requires raising prices thus further depressing revenues because other alternatives become more attractive.
The only significant advantage USPS has over everyone else is “that last mile.” The USPS services the public regardless of how far they have to go. UPS and FedEx do not have to support last mile.
Unfortunately, there is no easy fix and even eliminating Saturday delivery (which I am in favor of) will only make small difference. My opinion is that the constitutional requirement for a USPS could be satisfied by making electronic delivery of all first class mail and eliminating, except for packages, last mile delivery. The obvious consequence is that many jobs would be ultimately be eliminated. But the service should not be jobs program.
The topic needs be discussed and debated and solutions offered (including workforce solutions), which would have a chance of happening if we had a functioning Congress and Administration.
And yeah, I know Jason was just using that as an example, but my wonkiness kicks on things like that.
USPS work will definitely be the kind of work robots will perform.
Q: If the 9th is a possible swing district, why isn’t Hensley getting a top notch challenger in probable Blue Wave year?
A: Debbie Harrington is a top notch challenger, so shut up. Beyond that, Hensley seems pretty dug in. He is visible in the community and being a real estate salesman, he networks and presents himself well. He hasn’t stirred any passions in the 9th, positive or negative, with his performance. I don’t have any first hand knowledge of his constituent services, but I’d guess at a grade of “B” or higher.
My take is that unless he does some significant damage to his brand in the next 8 months, Harrington has an uphill climb.