Voter turnout for Barack Obama in 2008 helped Democrats win control of the Delaware House of Representatives, turning a 22-19 Republican majority into a substantial 24-17 Democratic edge. In 2010, Democrats hope to maintain that majority in a high-stakes election that will affect the political makeup of the state for the next decade.
The party that holds the Delaware House of Representatives next year will control redistricting done in the wake of the 2010 census.
"Whoever is in charge of Dover next year is going to re-draw the district maps and set the direction of the state for the next 10 years, potentially," said Delaware Republican Party executive director Seth Wimer. With voters focused on the economy, "they don’t necessarily make a leap to think about things like redistricting. But it’s definitely something that we’re thinking about.”
Delaware Democrats have not had the House majority for redistricting since 1980. “It’s definitely important,” said Katie Ellis, acting executive director for the Delaware Democratic Party. “First and foremost, maintaining our majorities in the state House and Senate is one of the top priorities for the Delaware Democratic Party.”
GOP leaders express optimism about regaining control of the state House in next week's election. Wimer says his party’s candidates have tailored their messages to connect with disaffected, even angry voters. “Why are people angry? They’re angry because the way the economy is going, they’re angry because they don’t have jobs, they’re angry because they’re seeing their taxes go up. So those are the messages that Republicans are running on.”
Ellis believes voter anger will not play as large a role in Delaware's election as it might elsewhere. She points to polls showing that President Obama’s approval ratings track higher in Delaware than they do nationally and that Governor Jack Markell’s approval rating also remains high. "Voters here are less angry than they are across the country," said Ellis. "I don’t think that that’s an accident at all. I think its precisely because of the fact that Delaware Democrats have been delivering on behalf of Delawareans."
A number of key races could be pivotal to who controls the State House. Here is a look at four of them, with profiles of the candidates and their positions. Click photos for candidate profile.
[caption id="attachment_4725" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="John Marino (R)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/marino.jpg[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4726" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Rebecca Walker (D)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/walker.jpg[/caption] 9th Representative District (Middletown): With the retirement of House Minority leader Richard Cathcart (R), the 9th RD is one of four Republican seats up for grabs. Ellis says the Democrats are “well positioned to pick up a couple, if not all, of those seats.” Democrats hold a voter registration lead of 8,658 to 6,633 with 4,764 independents.
[caption id="attachment_4725" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Harvey Kenton (R)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/kenton.jpg[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4726" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Russ McCabe (D)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/mccabe.jpg[/caption] 36th State House District: This race is to fill an open seat that had been held by Republican V. George Carey since 1984. Carey announced his retirement at the end of the last legislative session and has endorsed Kenton. Democrats hold the voter registration edge 7,042 to 6,081 with 4,036 independents.
[caption id="attachment_4725" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Michael Barbieri (D)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/barbieri.jpg[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4726" align="aligncenter" width="120" caption="Terry Spence (R)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/spence.jpg[/caption] 18th State House District: Incumbent Mike Barbieri (D) and former Speaker of the House Terry Spence (R) face-off for a third straight election cycle. Spence beat Barbieri by 12 points in 2006, then lost the seat to Barbieri by 12 in 2008, In this third showdown, Barbieri is buoyed by registration numbers that favor Democrats 6,929 to 2,973 with 3,086 independents.
[caption id="attachment_4781" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Debra Heffernan (D)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/heffernan.jpg[/caption] [caption id="attachment_4783" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Tom Kovach (R)"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/kovach.jpg[/caption] 6th State House District: Incumbent Tom Kovach (R) won this seat in a special election in December 2008 after Democrat Diana McWilliams resigned. Kovach defeated Michael Migliore by 73 votes in that special election. Debra Heffernan seeks to return the seat to Democratic hands in a district where Democrats hold a 7,943 to 4,838 registration edge with 4,195 independents.