Governor John Carney celebrated his victory in Wilmington’s mayoral primary on Tuesday night, defeating former State Treasurer Velda Jones-Potter by more than seven points — albeit in a low-turnout race.
With no Republican candidates for Wilmington mayor, Carney now advances to November’s general election unopposed.
Carney told supporters gathered at a pub in Wilmington’s Trolley Square neighborhood that he has long aspired to serve as the city’s mayor, acknowledging that his path to the office — including terms as Lieutenant Governor and Delaware’s US House Representative — has been somewhat unusual.
“I had to become Governor in order to become Mayor of the City of Wilmington,” he quipped.
Carney partially attributes his victory to his record in statewide office, pointing to projects like the Reach Riverside redevelopment in northeast Wilmington — a project funded in large part by state and federal dollars — as key contributions to Wilmington’s future.
At a watch party for Jones-Potter in Wilmington’s Triangle neighborhood, former mayoral candidate Beatrice Patton Dixon — who became the first African American woman to run for the office in 1984 — questioned the value of Carney’s record.
“Right now, we in the African American community feel like we’re being told to be happy that they put in one school on the East Side,” she said, referring to the new Bancroft School currently under construction in the Christina School District — a project paid for in large part with state dollars. “But we haven’t seen the results we should have seen based on the amount we spend on education. He’s been there for eight years, and we haven’t seen enough from that.”
But Carney says that investments and initiatives launched by his administration are beginning to show results, including promising literacy improvements among students in the Wilmington Learning Collaborative’s new summer program.
After seven previous campaigns for statewide office, Carney also says he’s developed the collaborative skills needed to soothe the tensions between Wilmington’s City Council and current Mayor Mike Purzycki.
“I’ve been developing relationships with members of council. They have their own priorities, and the thing you have to do is find common ground on things they care about — parking, short term rentals, or whatever it might be — and try to get successes with each of them.”
Sources of tension between Purzycki and the current city council include residency requirements for city employees — requirements that Purzycki has criticized. Carney, in contrast, says he generally supports the residency requirements, as did Jones-Potter.
Meanwhile, Carney’s move from the Governor’s office to the Mayor’s office means giving up leading roles in organizations critical to the city’s future, including the Diamond State Port Corporation and the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. Carney says he plans to work closely with his successor in the Governor’s office to remain involved on both fronts.
Jones-Potter declined to give comment on her defeat on Tuesday night. As supporters filtered out of her campaign headquarters, Patton Dixon says she views the loss as a blow to African American political organizers in Wilmington — and questioned Carney’s motives for seeking office.
“We’re getting dreams and aspirations destroyed because someone else is more concerned with personal power,” she said.
Carney congratulated Jones-Potter for her efforts on the campaign trail, but he maintains that he ran for Wilmington mayor to focus on the city’s success — both current and future.
“I think the vote was as much or more about trust — that people trust me to do what I say I will do — than anything else,” he said.
