A number of presidential campaigns are establishing a presence in the First State ahead of Delaware’s April 26th primary.
A trio of candidates opened campaign headquarters over the weekend.
John Kaisch is the first Republican candidate to set up operations. The Ohio governor’s campaign office opened on the Wilmington Riverfront Saturday.
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders opened their headquarters Sunday.
A couple of hundred people showed up at Sanders headquarters in North Wilmington and his Delaware campaign director Reed Millar says that’s an indication the Vermont senator can do well here.
“Yeah, I think retail politics, working class people, the environmental issues – I think a lot of things about Delaware make a lot of sense for Senator Sanders,” said Millar.
State Reps. John Kowalko (D- Newark South) and Kim Williams (Newport, Stanton) were among those who showed up in support of Sanders.
But the state’s top elected officials – Gov. Markell and the state’s entire congressional delegation – have endorsed Clinton. Millar says that’s not a deterrent to the Vermont senator.
“Not having the establishment on our side is sort of standard operating procedure at this point – and it has been even in the states we’ve been winning. We’ve still faced a significant amount of the elected officials and leaders being on the other side of it,” said Millar, who added he’s not sure yet if Sanders will personally campaign in Delaware.
Clinton campaign headquarters opened in Wilmington earlier in the day Sunday with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) on hand to back the former Secretary of State. Gov. Markell and Sen. Carper showed up to rally Clinton volunteers last week.
31 Democratic delegates and 16 Republican are at stake when Delaware voters head to the polls in just over two weeks.
