Politicos quiet in early election season--so far

By Sam Harvey
Staff Reporter

• Local Sen. George Howard Bunting, 20th District, is the only Democrat up for reelection in the Baltimore Hundred this year. The 20th ranges south from Rehoboth Beach and the northern banks of the Indian River Bay, encompassing everything between the ocean and the countryside west of Millsboro, Dagsboro, Frankford and Selbyville, to the (southern) state line.

Sussex County Republican Committee’s Mathew Palmer (executive director) said the Republicans were still discussing possible candidates.

Most of the incumbents up for new terms are Republicans:

• Sussex County Council Member George Cole, District 4. Cole’s district arcs westward between Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach, stretching inland toward the Millsboro area.

• Sussex County Council Member Vance Phillips, District 5. Phillips’ district skirts the state line and spans Delaware, east (Fenwick Island, South Bethany) to west (past Laurel and Delmar), bumping northward to include Millsboro.

• State Representative Gerald Hocker, 38th District. Hocker’s district includes the strip of land south of Dewey Beach, the southern shores of the Indian River Bay, westward past Clarksville, on south to the state line (including most of Selbyville) and all the towns between there and the ocean.

• State Representative John Adkins, 41st District. Adkins’ district lies mostly outside of the Baltimore Hundred, but circles eastward from Gumboro to include western Selbyville, all of Frankford, Dagsboro and Millsboro and the north shores of the Indian River Bay.

Shirley Price, Sussex County Chair for the Delaware Democratic Party, said there were some discussions taking place regarding potential challengers, but they were still waiting on commitments.

“It’s kind of quiet,” Price said. “Nobody’s thinking about it just yet — at least, none of the candidates seem to be.”

Whoever ran, she expected Democratic challengers would incorporate some combination from the party platform, speaking to livable wage jobs, affordable housing, health care issues, deregulated energy rate hikes or environmental protection around the Inland Bays.

“Those are some general ones, but every individual candidate brings something to the table that they think is most important,” she pointed out.

Like Price, Sussex Women in Motion (SWIM) Chair Charlotte Anderson remained mum on prospective challengers, but suggested that she’d like to see some changes at the top. “We have so many projects, planned for years, that just aren’t getting anywhere,” she said. “But as far as whether we’re going to grind on any particular person, or party, for that, I don’t think so. At least not at this point.”

The problem, for Anderson, seemed to be the lack of a clear target. “I don’t know where we can go to slow this out-of-control growth,” she said.

Local Democrats were sure to focus on the county races, but she suggested the parallel need for a “gathering of the minds” at the state level.

She referenced a handful of Democratic candidates waiting in the wings, but according to Anderson everyone was hoping to keep the campaign season as inexpensive as possible — and, for most of them, that would mean waiting a little longer to announce.

“Nowadays, whenever you start talking about a political campaign, the amount of money involved is always the first drawback,” she said. But even under-funded candidates could still bring issues to the table, Anderson added — and in her opinion, making sure the issues were addressed was sometimes as important as winning party seats.

“Especially here,” she said. “Delaware has more cross-over voters than most places.” For instance, while more than 60 percent of Sussex Countians voted for President Bush in 2004, the gubernatorial race was much closer (47 percent for Gov. Minner, 50 percent for Judge Bill Lee).