Governor’s Race – Do you know who’s running for governor in Delaware? Most Delawareans will know the name John Carney but what about Colin Bonini or Sean Goward? Only forty-nine days left so let’s meet your next governor.
Colin Bonini
Colin Bonini is a very popular State Senator from Dover, Delaware. By all accounts he has a great reputation with folks on both sides of the aisle. While not a newcomer to Delaware politics he does bring a different message to the governor’s race. A message on Bonini’s website states “Nothing is impossible. There are those in our state today who seem to have lost that belief. They have bought into the implicit message conveyed by the political establishment that Delaware’s best days are behind us.”
He goes on to say “Leaders who claim that our problems are too difficult to handle fuel this loss of belief. They tell us to learn to live with less and lower our expectations for the future. They expect us to simply accept their failures and the gradual decline of our state’s economic health, safety and welfare with a pat on the head and the assurance that they are doing the best they can. That’s not good enough for me, and I don’t believe it’s good enough for the people of Delaware anymore either.”
Colin’s message is a simple one. He believes that after decades of Democrat governors the state needs a change. His slogan is “Delaware Deserves Better”
We caught up with Colin at Community Day in Newark. Take a look.
Sean Goward
Sean Goward is running for Governor as a Libertarian candidate. Goward believes in less government and more liberty.
From Goward’s Facebook Page “I was brought to Delaware by the United States Air Force ten years ago and in that time, I’ve made Delaware my home. My lovely wife and four of my five kids were born right here in Delaware. When I retired from the Air Force in 2014, it opened up opportunities for me to more actively engage in civic processes. Unfortunately, exercising my individual right to petition our government has proved unfruitful, and now our government is going to have to deal with a headstrong, pissed off father
and citizen. In a Goward administration, back door deals will be a thing of the past and your public servants will have to deal plainly in the light of day under public scrutiny. Our teachers will be unshackled from burdensome regulations and a Department of Education that for too long has bullied our school districts. Legislation that offers credits to large corporations at the expense of medium and small businesses will be vetoed requiring the legislature to either override it or send me legislation that makes Delaware more economically friendly by lowering the corporate tax for all enterprises. My administration will push back against rising income taxes so that you can decide how best to spend your money. Our leadership in Law Enforcement will be held to task in guaranteeing both officer and public safety by focusing on tactics that result in peaceful conflict resolution rather than escalating an increasing tension between our peace officers and those they serve. I will strengthen privacy protections by bringing accountability to our criminal justice system. The people of Delaware deserve to know what data is being collected from them by Stingray devices, Automated License Plate Readers and if that information is being held in Delaware’s Information Analysis Center (DIAC), to what end and for how long. I will use every check against the excesses of government to make sure that you have every opportunity to enrich your life as you see fit.”
We caught up with Sean at Community Day in Newark. Take a look.
John Carney
If you’ve spent any time in the First State, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name John Carney. Carny has held office or worked in government for the last 30 years.
His long career in Delaware politics began in 1986 where he worked as a staff member for then U.S. Senator Joe Biden. In 1989 he became the New Castle County’s chief administrative officer. He held that office until 1994. In 1994 Carney joined the staff of Governor Tom Carper where he stayed until 1997. Carney was then the Finance Secretary of Delaware from 1997 to 2000. In 2001 Carney held the office of Lieutenant Governor of Delaware. He held that office until 2009. In 2009 many thought Carny would be the next Governor.
His bid for the Governor’s office was cut short when Jack Markell defeated him with 51% of the vote in the 2009 Democratic primary. In 2011 Carney was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he still serves today.
Carney worked his way up through the Democrat political establishment so voters shouldn’t count on any big changes if he is elected. It’s safe to say that many of the programs and policies that are in place today will remain in place and most likely will be built upon.
These three candidates are very well liked and they actually speak well of each other. On our visit to Community Day we witnessed Bonini supporters shaking hands with Carney, we witnessed Bonini engaging with Democrats, we also witnessed a couple of the candidates chatting with each other. Hopefully this insures that this election will be more about issues rather than personalities.
If last week’s primary election is an any indicator the general election will be one to watch. In that primary US Congressional Candidate Bryan Townsend, who was the favorite to win, was bested by Lisa Blunt Rochester. In another shocker Matt Meyer unseated New Castle County Executive Thomas P. Gorden.
With the nontraditional nature of this election cycle the Democrats registered voter advantage may not be enough. Republicans are energized, Democrats voting numbers were down in the primary and independents are trending toward change nationally. One thing is for sure the governor’s race will be interesting for a change.
Image Credits: Colin Bonini, Sean Goward, John Carney
