After a landslide victory in Tuesday night’s primary, Gov. John Carney now faces a general election challenge from Republican Julianne Murray.
Murray emerged from a six-person GOP primary this week to face incumbent Gov. John Carney this November.
Carney remains a heavy favorite to win in a solidly blue state, but there is one wild card - the Coronavirus pandemic.
Murray is highly critical of Carney’s approach to COVID-19 recovery and re-opening, saying the state should ease restrictions faster.
Carney says he’s going to keep doing what he’s been doing.
“We’re going to continue to concentrate on using the science as a guide to keep people safe in our state from COVID-19. And in doing so to make our community healthier so that we can have a strong economy, get people back to work and to try to return to a more normal way of life.”
Murray questions Carney’s handling of the state’s response - saying he hasn’t done enough to help small businesses through the pandemic.
In fact, she’s suing him over it. Murray is representing her husband in a lawsuit over the short-term rental ban, claiming it’s unconstitutional.
“They have not agreed with the way we’ve taken that and decided to sue the state to kinda make their point but we feel like we’ve struck and we’ve tried to strike the right balance. We also have provided financial support to our small businesses to work their way through this situation with a $100 million dollar small business relief fund.”
Carney says he’s largely abstained from campaigning this election cycle, citing the need to focus his efforts towards guiding the First State through this tumultuous period.
He adds he intends to continue on that course and hope his work speaks for itself to voters.
Carney and Murray are scheduled to face-off in a debate hosted by Delaware Public Media and the University of Delaware Center for Political Communication on October 13th.
