Just over a week after the 2020 election, Erik Raser-Schramm is stepping down as the Delaware Democratic Party chairman.
Raser-Schramm is stepping down to join New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer's administration as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer.
While party chair is a volunteer position, He says he didn’t want to create a conflict of interest when joining Meyer’s administration. He says Meyer wanted him to join a while ago, but the timing didn’t line up until now.
As Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, he’ll be in charge of a lot of the day to day happenings in New Castle County.
“We pledged to hire the best and brightest to run your county government, and we are excited to add Erik to the team, said County Executive Matt Meyer in a statement. “He is an all-star.”
Raser-Schramm leaves the state Democratic Party on a high note after a successful election statewide. Democrats flipped two state Senate seats and easily won all statewide races.
He reflects on how he feels the party has changed since he took the reigns four years ago.
“We’ve got a lot better at actually listening to the voters on the ground," said Raser-Schramm. "What are the issues that matter most to them and that’s what we run on. So I think you’ll continue to see that and hopefully there’s a lot of great synergy at the government level both now from national, state to county.”
He says in this cycle the party noticed voters were really concerned about COVID-19 recovery, and healthcare along with it. And that’s why Democrats focused on those issues.
Raser-Schramm adds Delawareans are also better at holding their elected officials accountable and making sure they represent the public’s interests.
This election cycle also saw many progressive primary challengers defeat Democractic incumbents in legislative races
Raser-Schramm says it’s the result of his commitment to giving challengers an equal chance.
“And I think as a party what we did was kinda level the playing field and make it fair for everyone," said Raser-Schramm. "You even heard the President-elect say this a little bit in his speech on Saturday night is, nobody should tell anyone that it’s impossible. Nobody should tell anyone that you can’t go out and pursue your dreams. I think what we have done here in Delaware as the Delaware Democratic Party is make sure that everybody has resources and the ability to run a fair campaign.”
Two Democrats also flipped New Castle County Senate seats blue this cycle. Raser-Schramm credits Kyle Evans Gay and Spiros Mantzavinos for taking the time to listen to their communities, arguing that helped them beat Republican incumbents.
Raser-Schramm's last day as party chair is Sunday, Nov. 15. He starts his new job the next day.
The election for party chair does not happen until June. In the interim, Vice chair Betsy Maron takes over. Raser-Schramm says Maron would make a great chair if she chooses to run next year.
