Should Deluca Be Head of The Senate?

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…..