Tag: Bethany Hall-Long
Carper, Carney, Hall-Long and Purzycki Absent from Women’s March
The following Delaware Democratic Party leaders were absent from the Women’s March on Saturday: Tom Carper, John Carney, Bethany Hall-Long, and Mike Purzycki. I’m sure their Delaware Way base are extremely happy.
Tales of Corruption from Tom Gordon’s NCC — Coverups, Double Dealing and GA Senators
First, go look at WDEL’s story on this. The story as currently released alleges that an employee of the county (and husband of Bethany Hall-Long) took confidential records of low-income housing residents in order to run his own personal phone bank for his wife.
A confidential source implicated Hall-Long’s husband, Dana Long, in allegedly using his position as a Section 8 housing property inspector–a contract position within New Castle County government–to lobby for his wife’s state Senate re-election bid.
A confidential source told WDEL that Long took the county’s protected contact list of low-income housing residents and cold-called them–on his own time–urging residents in his district to vote for his wife when she faced Republican John Marino in her 2014 re-election bid.
2016 Statewides–LG–Handicapping a Scrum
We have a Republican style free for all in the primary for Lt. Governor. For the first time in many decades, the office is open with no obvious “next in line” candidate running, hence the scrum. State Senator Bethany Hall Long seems to be the favorite, or at least, the establishment favorite, as she has garnered significant support from Legislative Hall, which of course is natural given her current job, including 14 of her fellow Democratic legislators, led by Patti Blevins and Dave McBride. But, trying to handicap this primary is more difficult than the Congressional primary because the lanes of the primary is not as obvious.
The 62 Project: #’s 23 & 39
Bethany Hall Long found herself in the spotlight this session as she was one of the identified ‘undecided’ votes on gay marriage. At first, she reportedly told confidants that her father would disown her if she voted for the bill. However, the right-wing evangelicals in her district spewed their hatred, and Hall-Long had had enough. She made clear that such intolerance was unacceptable and, along with Sen. Cathy Cloutier, her yes vote made the difference in passing HB 75 in the Senate. She also supported transgender equality later in the session. She voted against putting an end to the death penalty, but voted for the minimum wage increase. Her bill sponsorship is largely focused on health-related bills, which makes sense as she chairs the Senate Health & Social Services Committee. However, her knowledge of the intricacies of these issues enables her to be more than just a sponsor pushing through administrative initiatives. She is often involved in working groups developing consensus best-practices proposals.
John Viola was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1998, defeating longtime incumbent and JFC co-chair Rich Davis, 1897-1802. Davis, a classy guy, said that Viola won because ‘he outworked me’. No recriminations, just a tip of the cap on his way out of Dover. Viola has not had serious opposition since, with the R’s polling no more than 20.1% in those odd instances when they bothered to muster a challenge at all. The best that you can say about John Viola is that he ‘does no harm’. Some people are confirmed bachelors, Viola is a confirmed back-bencher. Nothing especially wrong with that. He’s generally a reliable vote for Democratic priorities. He supported gay marriage, transgender equality, payday loans, criminal background checks for gun purchases, and most other positive initiatives. My main issue with Viola is that he is a legislator who benefits from Delaware Way shenanigans.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 19, 2013
Go ahead. Pick a hot-button issue. Any hot-button issue. This year’s General Assembly is considering it. Can’t remember this many controversial issues under consideration.
Gun control? Check. Gay marriage? Check. Death penalty? Check. Minimum wage? Check. I’m not sure if there’s enough time/political capital to go around.
So. Please allow me to prioritize. To me, there are no excuses for the Delaware General Assembly not passing gun control and minimum wage legislation this year.
The votes are there for minimum wage. Only the Governor’s (a) unwillingness to get on board, and/or (b) the Governor’s opposition to minimum wage stand in the way. Last year, it was (b), and friendly house leadership buried the bill in an unfriendly House committee. This year, the Governor has stated that he’s excited about the debate (Truthometer says? BZZZT), but won’t take a position. Only with Jack Markell could that be considered as progress. Let’s be practical here. Markell’s best chance to stop the bill, and it’s not good, is in the Senate. But, the Senate voted for minimum wage last year and, other than Sen. Venables, I think it’s unlikely that any other D’s will vote no. The margin of support for minimum wage is even larger in the House, so Markell’s only chance there is to get the bill buried in committee.
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