Speculation abounds that if Thurman “Desk Drawer” Adams steps down, that Tony DeLuca will step up as head of the Senate…
Tony DeLuca was unopposed during his last election… However within his district there is a sense among voters that he cares more for special interests than he does for his constituents…
It is more of a moral question than a practical one… Should someone not tested by an election campaign be allowed to hold the state’s most powerful position? If so, that means that someone whose will is counter that of the mainstream of his district, or for that matter the whole state, is in solid control of which bills are voted upon, and which are not.
We have had one such leader since 2002… Thurman Adams has stymied much needed legislation by putting it in his desk drawer where it expires a lonely death… Any attempt to petition that drawer to open, creates a black hole from which no bill by that poor Senator who dared….., can ever escape…..
Do we need another? Or should we place someone who has had to knock on doors, who has had to beg for votes, who has been forced to find out what the people in this state want… into a position which shapes our state for years to come?… If we pick the wrong person again, …..someone who can do what they want for the next four years without worry from voter retaliation,… we will be stuck with someone who owes more to those big interests who can donate money and create problems for opponents, than they owe to you and me…
With this in mind, it just makes sense to pick a person who represents the voters.. The best way to judge that is to see how many votes out of his district, that person has received. A person well esteemed by his constituents should receive close to 100% of the vote in his district, if he ran unopposed….
Below is a table of Tony’s district.. Senate District 11… We see that even unopposed, he does not have the confidence of his district…. Out of 25,000 voters registered in his district, even though he was unopposed…. 11,731 voters did not give him a vote of confidence… Out of his own district….46.83% DO NOT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN TONY DELUCA AS THEIR SENATOR… If he lacks their confidence, how much more confidence will be lacking when he is in control of the Senate?
Government is for the people, of the people. by the people… This chart shows us why Delaware has wandered in the wilderness. Our legislators are not beholden to anyone but those who pay them well… And we’re broke… so it ain’t us they scramble over themselves to appease…….
Those legislators who did knock on doors, who did beg for votes, who did promise to make sure something is done about open government, need to pick a Senate leader who has demonstrated that he has the confidence in their own district, as well as all those other Senators that person will be leading…
Tony DeLuca has neither… Below is a representation of just how poorly Mr. DeLuca was thought of by his own voters….
District# Democrat + Republican + Independent = Total Registration
District# Total = machine votes + absentee = Total Actual Votes
01 OF 05 813 + 287 + 332= 1,432 Registration
01 OF 05 820 = 798 + 22 = 820 Actual
02 OF 05 561 + 235 + 267 = 1,063 Registration
02 OF 05 505 = 500 + 5 = 505 Actual
06 OF 05 983 + 192 + 300 = 1,475 Registration
06 OF 05 881 = 861 + 20 = 881 Actual
RD Total 2,357 + 714 + 899 = 3,970 Registration
RD Total 2206 = 2159 + 47 = 2206 Actual
08 OF 18 420 + 229 + 203 = 852 Registration
08 OF 18 493 = 482 + 11 = 493 Actual
RD Total 420 + 229 + 203 = 852 Registration
RD Tot 493 = 482 + 11 = 493 Actual
02 OF 24 933 + 461+ 495 = 1,889 Registration
02 OF24 949 = 913 + 36 = 949 Actual
04 OF 24 645 + 391 + 370 = 1,406 Registration
04 OF 24 688 = 678 + 10 = 688 Actual
05 OF 24 545 + 348 + 304= 1,197 Registration
05 OF 24 668 = 654 + 14 = 668 Actual
06 OF 24 796 + 320 + 341= 1,457 Registration
06 OF 24 736 = 725 + 11= 736 Actual
08 OF 24 951 + 527 + 498= 1,976 Registration
08 OF 24 1180=1126+ 54 = 1180 Actual
RD Total 3,870+2,047+2,008=7,925 Registration
RD Total 4221 =4096+ 125= 4221 Actual
03 OF 25 762 + 385 + 488= 1,635 Registration
03 OF 25 771 = 753 + 18 = 771 Total
04 OF 25 583 +341 + 346 = 1,270 Registration
04 OF 25 596 = 574 + 22 = 596 Actual
RD Total 1,345+726 + 834=2,905 Registration
RD Tot 1367= 1327+ 40= 1367 Actual
01 OF 26 499 + 178+ 226= 903 Registration
01 OF 26 485= 475+ 10= 485 Actual
03 OF 26 480 +256+258= 994 Registration
03 OF 26 546= 526+ 20= 546 Actual
04 OF 26 824+390+347= 1,561 Registration
04 OF 26 872= 839+ 33+ 872 Actual
05 OF 26 1,017+ 518+ 448= 1,983 Registration
05 OF 26 1007= 981+ 26= 1007 Actual
07 OF 26 1,064 + 502+ 470= 2,036 Registration
07 OF 26 1230= 1196+ 34 =1230 Actual
09 OF 26 1,120 + 337+ 463= 1,920 Registration
09 OF 26 891= 871+ 20= 891 Actual
RD Total 5,004+ 2,181+ 2,212= 9,397 Registration
RD Tot 5031= 4888+ 143= 5031 Actual
SD Total 12,996 +5,897+ 6,156= 25,049 Registration
Cand Tot 13318= 12952+ 366= 13318 Actual
Votes Cast 13318 / Registered Votes 25,049 = 53.17%
In an election with the highest turnout ever recorded, while running against nobody, Tony DeLuca could only garner 53.17%…… So why should he be the one to control which legislation is brought up for a vote, and which legislation is buried forever?
Delaware made clear choices this past election.. Overwhelmingly they said they don’t want things remaining the same… Putting Deluca, one previously cozy with Minner, Carney, Adams, McDowell, and Copeland, ….into a position that decides which issues this state will debate and act upon these next two years…… will do little to insure those changes occur that voters everywhere lined up quite early to insist we make…..
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November 14, 2008 at 10:12 pm
John Tobin
From 1980 to 2006 there were potentially 574 races for the 41 seats in the Delaware House of Representatives. In 213 instances (37.0% of 574) incumbents faced no general election opposition. Usually voter turnout in those races is less because the outcome has already been determined.
State Representative-Schwartzkopf(D-14th) received 10616 votes in 2008. He was unopposed. There are 19,038 registered voters in his district. He received 100% of all votes cast,but only 55.8% of registered voters casting ballots for him. Are you implying his win is less legitimate because more voters did not vote in an uncontested race?
That seems like a pretty high bar of expectations.
There may or may not be valid reasons to challenge Tony DeLuca’s viability as a State Senate leader, but I don’t think this is a valid reason.
John Tobin
November 15, 2008 at 1:54 am
kavips
John, I was wondering if you would chime in.
I have yet to compare DeLuca’s total with all votes cast… say the Presidential or Gubernatorial campaigns, due as you know, to the way Department of Elections groups Senatorial districts; after compiling all the evidence above, time ran out…
As you suggest, that would be more appropriate.
November 15, 2008 at 5:29 pm
John Tobin
One thing I bet we can agree on is that the Election Commissioner’s Office provides all the needed information to analyze elections down to the election district level,but not in a handy way.
To compare how different people on the ballot did in different races on the ballot, you either have to write it down and compare or spend a lot of time toggling between races in a huge document.
The other annoying thing about that website is the periodic refresh. On election night or primary night it is a great idea because it updates as new information becomes, but after that is a hinderance since you have to start over at the top of the ballot. There is no new information at this point, why would it continue to regularly refresh? Does it have something to do with the size of the document?
Thanks for fostering this discussion.
November 16, 2008 at 2:24 pm
kavips
LOL on the refresh… It was a race to type down the information before it disappeared…
I haven’t had time to follow up, but I am interested to know whether you have had a chance to map out the turnout percentages for the General Election yet, and if so, what you were able to find out…?
November 17, 2008 at 6:48 am
John Tobin
I have not been looking at overall turnout as much as relative turnout (for example, McKenzie needed more votes out of Newark to offset losses in the North Star area in the 6th Senate). I am finding in the 9th Rep Dist Walker won 5 of 10 Election Districts,but turnout was lower in the districts she won than in the five election districts in which Cathcart , the district wide winner, won.I plan to do a post on this race this week.
Another interesting thing that I have not seen discussed is voter dropoff and voters skipping races in large numbers. Here is an example from the 27th where the winning margin of 46 votes in the state rep race was less than the 369 vote dropoff from president to the state rep spot on the ballot which might be expected. What I did not expect is more people would have voted for state rep than Governor.
Votes cast:
President 10,032
US Senate 9706
US House 9466
Governor 9648
Lt Gov 9408
Insurance Commissioner 9296
State Representatvie 9663
Sorry if this is too long a comment, but I found it fascinating that several hundred people ( almost 4% of voters) skipped the Insurance Commissioner’s race and continued down the ballot to vote in the state rep race.
November 17, 2008 at 5:01 pm
DEwind: The Week That Was November 10th
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