Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Brad Eaby kicked off his campaign for Lt. Governor Thursday, a year and a half before voters head to the polls.
Eaby – a Democrat – made his announcement to a crowd of about 75 people on The Green in Dover, connecting the state’s colonial history to the tenents of his campaign platform, “BE First Delaware”.
He says he wants to expand healthcare access, focus law enforcement efforts on community policing and rehabilitating offenders, as well as boost spending on public education.
Eaby has served on Levy Court since 2006 and says skills learned there translate well to the Lt. Governor’s role.
“I’ve learned a lot on [Kent County Levy Court] and have dealt with a lot of different senators and representatives both from the Republican and Democratic Party and I work well with people. I’m pretty good at building consensus,” Eaby said.
His work on the the long-delayed and politically mired Kent County Sports Complex is one example of building consensus with state officials as well, he said.
“I think it’s that same mindset, that same index, that same effort that you can bring to any county," said Eaby. "If there’s a project that they would like to push for in New Castle County [I could] bring that same skill set to bear in those counties.”
Beau Biden is currently Eaby’s only potential running mate on the Democratic ticket. Biden is the only Democrat to publicly express interest on a run for governor. Two Republicans have also signaled their intent to run for the state’s top political office – state Sen. Colin Bonini (R-Dover South) and retired state trooper Lacey Lafferty.
Eaby says he will file officially for Lt. Governor when he’s able to in January.
