Democrats’ efforts to gain a supermajority Delaware’s House of Representatives succeeds.
Democrats needed to flip one GOP seat and hold all of their own to hit the 28 needed to pass money bills and constitutional amendments without any Republican support.
They appear to have finished the night with 30 seats, surpassing the mark. State Senate Democrats already have a supermajority
State Rep. Madinah Wilson said this gives Democrats a boost toward at efforts that help Delaware’s working families and passing constitutional amendments.
Last session, the House passed the first leg of an amendment to enshrine same sex marriage protections into Delaware's constitution. And it passed the first leg of an amendment that says only natural persons can vote in local elections.
Wilson expects these measures to pass quickly.
"Beyond those two, I wouldn’t want to make assumptions. The Democratic Caucus is growing significantly tonight. It's going to be one of the most, if not the most diverse democratic caucuses our state has ever seen."
The races that helped give Democrats their supermajority are House District 4 where Democrat Gregg Lindner defeated Republican Dan Zitofsky, District 34 where Annie Norman defeated incumbent Lyndon Yearick, and District 9 where Ayanna Khan Flowers defeated Republican.
Khan-Flowers said her work as head of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce made a difference in campaigning a competitive district.
"It allowed me to have boots on the ground from day one, speaking with businesses and all the issues that affect them holistically: childcare, healthcare, small business concerns," she said. "It gave me a leg up, because I’ve been in the trenches with these individuals for day-to-day concerns."
She won the race with 64% of the vote to her opponent Jamar Money’s 36 percent.
The Democratic House Caucus is expected to choose who will be House Speaker amd House Majority Leader Nov. 4 ii a private majority caucus meeting.
