There is much to cover since the end of Delaware’s 2023 Session!
Leadership Changes:
This is how it went down last June:
- Speaker of the House, Peter Schwartzkopf who served as Speaker for a decade, stepped down.
- He recommended Majority Leader Longhurst, and that night, she was elected to Speaker position
- This left a vacancy in Majority Leader role
- Democratic caucus members elected Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown as House Majority Leader
House Democrats Elect All-Female Leadership Team, Setting Historic Firsts in Delaware
Valerie Longhurst
Speaker of the House
District 15Valerie J. Longhurst is the first female Speaker of the House in Delaware history. She was first elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in November 2004 to represent the 15th District. The district consists of 24,000 people living in Bear and St. Georges. In 2008, she was elected as the House Majority Whip and served for four years. After the 2012 election, her caucus elected her House Majority Leader. In June 2023, she was elected Speaker of the House. – https://housedems.delaware.gov/members/house-district-15/
https://apnews.com/article/delaware-legislative-session-house-speaker-longhurst-6a2be3b6d0bc8336b70edb57dd05d1a6
Melissa Minor Brown
Majority Leader
District 17
Rep. Melissa ‘Mimi’ Minor-Brown is determined to make a difference by using her platform as a springboard for change, advocacy, and empowerment for her community. Rep. Minor-Brown knows what it means to work hard. She is an American success story, pulling herself up as a single teenage mother to evolve into a licensed practical nurse, to a registered nurse with a master’s degree in Executive Leadership, graduating Cum Laude from Wilmington University, to now serving as a legislator in Delaware’s House of Representatives. On a broader scale, Rep. Minor-Brown serves as the Region III Chair for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. – https://housedems.delaware.gov/members/house-district-17/
Governor’s Race
Governor John Carney’s two terms as Delaware Governor ends in 2024! Below are the candidates for Governor in Delaware.
Bethany Hall Long
Lt. Governor (2017-2024)
Dr. Bethany Hall-Long has served as Delaware’s 26th Lieutenant Governor since 2017. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Delaware House of Representatives from 2002-2008 and in the Delaware Senate from 2008-2017. –https://ltgov.delaware.gov/biography/
In the news:
How Hall-Long’s refusal to release audit findings sparked elections reform talks
Check out her campaign website here.
Matt Meyer
Newcastle County Executive (2017-2024)In 2016, Matt Meyer was a sixth and seventh grade Math teacher when he first ran for public office, defeating a heavily-favored three-term incumbent in a grassroots campaign to serve as the Chief Executive of Delaware’s largest county. –
https://www.newcastlede.gov/125/Matt-Meyer—County-ExecutiveCheck out his campaign website
here.
Lt. Governor’s Race
Kyle Evans Gay
DE State Senator
District 5
After becoming a vocal advocate for the successful Equal Rights Amendment to the Delaware Constitution, Sen. Gay was elected to the Delaware Senate in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to represent the Fifth Senate District in more than 40 years.She currently serves as the chair of the Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee, vice-chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee, and a member of both the Senate Transportation Committee and the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. – https://legis.delaware.gov/AssemblyMember/151/Gay
Check out her campaign website
here.
Debbie Harrington
Retired Army ColonelAs a Social Justice Advocate, Debbie Harrington, has been the “boots on the ground” in Delaware communities, organizing food donations, back to school supplies, health fairs, financial literacy seminars and environmental protection initiatives. She still serves on boards where she has been able to affect education and health policies for all people. She is known for getting the hard jobs done. –
https://debbiefordelaware.com/meet-debbie/Check out her campaign website
here.
Sherry Dorsey Walker
DE State RepresentativeDistrict 3
Representative Sherry Dorsey Walker, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, is the first Person of Color elected to the Delaware House of Representatives from the 3rd District in 2018. As well, she is First Woman and the First Person of Color elected in the 6th District to the Wilmington City Council in 2012. She earned a Masters in Film from Howard University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware in English/Journalism. She is a proud product of St. Elizabeth School, where she attended for 12 years. –
https://housedems.delaware.gov/members/house-district-3/Check out her campaign website
here.
Congressional Race to Watch
Colleen Davis
DE State TreasurerColleen C. Davis was elected State Treasurer in November 2018 and re-elected to a second term in 2022. Since taking office, Treasurer Davis has focused on three main priorities: bolstering retirement security and readiness, creating pathways to economic empowerment, and promoting a culture of financial excellence. Highlights of her first term include maintaining Delaware’s AAA bond rating, increasing return on the state’s investments by more than $58 million, and creating Delaware Expanding Access to Retirement & Necessary Savings (EARNS), an Auto-IRA program for Delaware private-sector workers not otherwise covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. –
https://treasurer.delaware.gov/about-colleen-davis/Check out her campaign website
here.
Sarah McBride
DE State Senator
District 1As a state senator, McBride has passed legislation expanding access to health care, requiring mental health and media literacy education in public schools, promoting green technologies, and protecting workers and families. In just her first term, McBride also passed the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave to workers throughout the First State and marking the largest expansion of Delaware’s social safety net in decades. She currently serves as chair of the Senate Health & Social Services Committee, and a member of the Senate Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology, Education, Executive and Judiciary committees. – https://senatedems.delaware.gov/members/senate-district-1/
Check out her campaign website here.
Eugene Young
Director of Housing Authority
Delaware’s Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, Eugene R. Young, Jr. was appointed to
his current position by Governor John Carney in May of 2021. In cooperation with other state agencies and advocates, Director Young drives DSHA’s mission to provide and assist others to provide, quality, affordable housing opportunities and appropriate supportive services to low- and moderate-income Delawareans. –
https://leadershipdelaware.org/teams/eugene-young-jr/
Check out his campaign website here.
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