[caption id="attachment_5139" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Congressman-elect John carney (D) celebrates his win over Glen Urquhart in Wilmington."]
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The early call of the U.S. Senate race for Democrat Chris Coons and the U.S House race for Democrat John Carney provided the first indications Delaware Republicans would not join their brethren around the country in celebrating success in the 2010 midterms.
Shortly after those initial calls for Coons and Carney, Delaware Democratic Party chairman John Daniello was at the podium crowing that Delaware was “sending a message.”
That message included a strong down-ballot showing for Democrats, including Chip Flowers' win in the state treasurer's race, Beau Biden's reelection as attorney general, and two seats added to their majority in the state's House of Representatives. Democrats' only major setbacks came in the state auditor's race, with incumbent Republican Thomas Wagner holding a 2,606 vote lead over Democrat Richard Korn, who is asking for recount, and in the state Senate, in which Democrats lost one seat, Nancy Cook’s in the 15th district, to cut their majority to 14 to 7.
Democratic winners all credited Delaware’s ability to buck the national trend to two factors: sticking to the "Delaware Way” of civil campaigning, and running on what they see as a strong ideas and a strong record.
"I think the signal was sent that negative campaigning will not be tolerated here in Delaware. And I think that if you engage in it, it will be to your detriment,” said State Treasurer-elect Chip Flowers.
“We were able to keep that [Republican] wave away from Delaware because we’re doing exactly what the people want,” said Governor Jack Markell. “We’re making tough decisions. We’re creating jobs. We’re improving schools and focusing on government efficiency. That’s what people want."
Democrat John Carney, who won by nearly 16 points over Republican Glen Urquhart, believes voters made him work to earn their trust.
“They wanted real ideas and solutions, but they were skeptical. What they really focused on, I think, is somebody that they could trust particularly in the two races for the United States Congress,” said Representative-elect Carney. “[T]hey’re sending somebody to Washington, D.C.—a place that they don’t have much confidence in right now. So I believe that they were looking for people who have good ideas and plans, but more importantly that they felt like they could trust us to do the right thing.”
John Carney discusses rebounding from loss in 2008 Governor’s race to win Delaware’s U.S. House seat
[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/carney_no_surrender.mp3]
John Carney discusses working in a Republican controlled U.S. House of Represetatives
[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/carney_working-with-republicans.mp3]
Glen Urquhart and his supporters were disappointed in their loss but say they’ll support Carney, while pushing the beliefs they hold dear.
“We’re all joining him in rooting for Mr. Carney,” said David Anderson, communications director for Urquhart. “But we’re going to keep working to restore the constitutional principles in Delaware. We made a lot of headway, but there’s still work to do over the next two years. We’re really proud of Glen and the work that he’s done.”
In the treasurer’s race, Flowers won by a slim margin over Republican state Senator Colin Bonini. The final margin was a mere 2 points, 51 to 49 percent. Flowers becomes the first African American elected to statewide office in Delaware, a distinction he calls “humbling.” He says in a race so tight, discipline made the difference.
"We stayed on message. And I know that media for the last few weeks were really challenging us,” said Flowers. "I think it was tough not to go negative against my opponent who had some negative ads out, but you know we stayed positive, we stayed focused, and I think ultimately that put us to the top."
Bonini says he is proud of the campaign he ran, blaming his loss in part on what he called the “tumultuous environment" at the top of the Republican ticket, referring to O’Donnell and Urquart, who were not backed by the state party in the primaries.
In state legislative races, the Democrats' ability to pick up seats in the House is a “great signal” for Democrats, according to Governor Markell. But he added that “we can’t take anything for granted. That’s what [the voters] said today, but tomorrow they expect us to deliver again."
State Representative John Kowalko, who retained his seat in the 25th district by defeating Republican Gordon Winegar by more than 30 points, says the way to deliver is be bold in pursuing the Democratic agenda. “I’ve always felt very strongly that we have to be more aggressive, because we have a good agenda.”
Among the new Democratic faces that will be heading to Legislative Hall after winning on that agenda are Debra Heffernan and Rebecca Walker. Both say they are comfortable with advocating for their party's priorities when the new session legislative begins.
“The Democratic agenda to help the people of Delaware and improve the economy and improve education is really going to move forward,” said Heffernan, who unseated incumbent Republican Tom Kovach in the 6th District.
“I think people realize Democrats are sensible people and we actually want to do good for the state,” said Walker, who defeated John Marino in the 9th District race to replace retiring House Minority leader Richard Cathcart. "We have an agenda. We want to work on jobs and work on the school system to make things better for the people who live here."
Bonini, who returns to to his job as state senator after losing the treasurer’s race, concedes that the 2010 election in Delaware is another indication that the First State “is a tough place to be a Republican.” Bonini says the party’s job is to come together on a message. He suggests a fiscally conservative message, but says whatever the message is it must be a unified message or Republicans “will be irrelevant."
