Long-time State Sen. Dave Lawson announces he will run against incumbent Julianne Murray to become chairman of the Delaware GOP.
Murray was first elected Delaware’s Republican Party chair in April 2023 after an unsuccessful run for governor in 2020 and attorney general in 2022 as the party's nominee.
Lawson announced his candidacy to become the party’s new leader Monday, and while he expresses appreciation for Murray’s work, he believes it’s time for new ideas and strategies to strengthen the Delaware GOP.
He says his reason for running is pretty simple:
“Well, just tired of losing. The Republicans fight and fight and fight, but then we find out we have no base to fight from. We have no cornerstones, we have no foundation, we have no platform, so we have to build that base," he said.
He says while he feels Republicans have been running qualified candidates, there needs to be more focus on grassroots engagement, effective communication of conservative principles and expanding voter outreach.
“We need to put the ‘party’ back in Republican Party. There's no party. It's just– we're there. And there's no life to it, and I want to pump life back into the party and get people enthused.”
Delaware’s most recent Republican governor was Mike Castle, elected in 1985 and serving until 1993.
He is also the last Republican member of the First State’s Congressional delegation, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives following his tenure as governor until 2011.
Democrats hold a supermajority in the State Senate 15-6 and are one seat away from a supermajority in the House of Representatives 26-15.
Lawson will face Murray at the Delaware GOP Convention, which is expected to take place in late May.
