Retired Brandywine School District special education teacher Steve Washington and retired DuPont supply chain manager Brent Burdge are the Delaware Republican Party’s candidates in two upcoming State Senate special elections.
Burdge will face former State Rep. Ray Seigfried in the race to replace incoming Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay in the 5th Senate District seat in the Talleyville area.
Burdge has a corporate background, spending 42 years with Dupont’s coating and manufacturing business and later its spinoff company before retiring, but says he’s been active in local politics for 15 years behind the scenes.
He previously ran against former State Rep. Sean Matthews to represent a Brandywine Hundred district in 2022 and ran again against newcomer Melanie Ross Levin in November, losing each time.
Burdge says he leans conservative but considers himself a common sense Republican devoid of extreme views, hoping to bring balance back to Delaware’s legislature.
“In the last few years, I just became increasingly concerned about the direction that Delaware was taking as we went from having a more balanced General Assembly to one that had swung very hard toward the Democratic Party," Burdge explained.
Crime reduction, fiscal responsibility and revamping Delaware's public education system are Burdge's top priorities.
"I think the blame, frankly, lies with our administration and the design of our education process. We're not taking advantage of the lessons that are available to us through the charter school system," he said. "We've got excellent teachers out there, but they're being handicapped by the administration that's just not focused on the right things, and I don't think it's serving our children well."
Washington is vying to fill the soon-to-be vacated seat of Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride in the Wilmington and Edgemoor area.
He ran against McBride in 2020 and lost with only 26% of the vote, but says this time around he feels more “polished.”
Education, affordable housing and parole reform are top of mind for Washington, appointed by Gov. John Carney to the Delaware Board of Parole in 2019.
“We have people that have been serving and been in jail forever with two life sentences and they're really, really up in age, and we’ve got to begin to look at that — depending on the crime — but we have to look at these things and make sure that people are being treated fair and being given an opportunity," he said.
Washington has also served as the Executive Secretary of the Wilmington Housing Authority and founded the HBCU Delaware Coalition Inc., and like Burdge, hopes to shakeup the political makeup of the General Assembly.
"As a Republican, it brings balance to the state legislature — we need balance. It's always one party, and it appears that that party already has someone to be next, and quite frankly, it's getting tired," Washington said. "Everybody should be given an opportunity — not this 'good old boys' network that has been taking place forever."
Washington will face Democratic candidate United Way of Delaware Chief Operating Officer Dan Cruce for the State Senate District 1 seat.
A date has not yet been set for the special elections, but they are expected to take place early next year.
