Races to Watch: Pair of Democrats vie for 21st House District opening

The 21st House District seat in Newark is completely up for grabs in 2024.

The incumbent, Republican House Minority Leader Michael Ramone, is exiting the seat to run for Governor, and a pair of Democrats see the opportunity to flip the seat.

Ramone has represented the 21st House District since 2009, but came close to losing the seat in each of the last three election cycles. In 2022, the race was so close that it required a recount, and Ramone won by just 35 votes.

Frank Burns was the Democrat who forced that recount.

“I had spent the last two years going to his coffees, talking to people there after he left,” Burns said. “There was a group of people, they actually had t-shirts, Democrats for Mike Ramone. And I would sit and chat. When you’re that close, peeling off a voter one at a time over a period of time actually works.”

Burns filed just before the deadline in 2022, putting together a strong campaign that came up just short of unseating Ramone.

“I can understand it because we were starting late and I have not been some sort of political operative in the state," Burns said. "I’ve worked with advocacy groups but I haven’t been running around trying to be ‘Mr. Politician’ or anything. So I think a lot of people didn’t really think I had a good chance. This time people realize differently, there was a lot more buy-in early on.”

This time Burns announced his intent to run more than a year in advance.

But that’s not the only difference. He’ll also need to survive a primary from one of his own former campaign staffers.

Michael Alexander Smith, not to be confused with current 22nd district GOP Rep. Mike Smith, is a former legislative aide for state Reps. Madinah Wilson-Anton and Stephanie Bolden.

Smith says he has a lot of respect for Burns and that the two had a great rapport working on Burns’ 2022 campaign.

“If he wins the primary I will be very happy to support him and I’ll write him the check the next day,” Smith said. “I will say that I think there is just a difference in priorities. There are some issues that I think are under-discussed down in Dover.”

On most issues, Smith and Burns agree and would likely vote along Democratic party lines for things like police reform, expanding voting rights, protecting access to abortion and gender-affirming care, and eliminating the death penalty.

And they both agree on pursuing more environmental protections.

Smith is the executive director of the environmental nonprofit Powering Our Future. Under his leadership, the nonprofit has given out over 500 electric leaf blowers, 2,000 high-efficiency LED light bulbs, and dozens of electrification rebates.

Smith supports legislative efforts by Rep. Sophie Phillips to expand electric vehicle infrastructure and access and prevent invasive bait fish in Delaware waterways.

“That’s something that no one really thinks about because angling and fishing is not necessarily a discussed issue down in Dover unless we’re talking about DNREC funding or permits or things of that nature," Smith said. "But we need to make sure that our waterways are biodiverse, make sure that they are healthy, make sure they’re not polluted.”

He adds work to replace lead pipes and remove lead from drinking water in schools is still ongoing, and wants to see more preventative measures put in place to keep the water clean.

Smith’s nonprofit is focused on keeping residents informed about air quality reports specific to their area — working with New Castle County over a two year period to increase the number of air quality monitors from eight to 25.

“And they are spread out across the county so that people can go on their phone and they can see this is what the particulate matter pollution is in my neighborhood because that is something that is incredibly important,” Smith said. “You just don’t need to know what’s going on in Lums Pond, you need to know what’s going to happen in Pike Creek or in Claymont.”

Burns grew up in Chicago in a family he describes as “working poor.” His college studies took him to Pennsylvania - where he ultimately earned a doctorate in biochemistry. He worked to help create DNA diagnostic kits, and was among the first to bring them online for clinical use, before working in environmental microbiology science and engineering for Dupont.

“All of those projects sort up, up and disappeared about the time Donald Trump got elected,” Burns says. “So I saw the impact of politics on not only what the government did, but how private businesses were or were not taking on their responsibilities. That is what moved me from being sort of, I’ll donate to various things that I believe in and I think my contribution that I’m making to society is through my science and advancing things, to realizing the importance of more immediate political and policy changes.”

Burns says he hears concerns from residents about whether the state government will stand up and protect its residents.

“People are more worried, especially with our current Supreme Court, about things that we have always looked to the federal government to provide,” Burns says. “Whether its the EPA and protection for the environment, rights to control your own body, LGBTQ things, all of those things now we need to have the state step up.”

Burns says this means enshrining these protections in the state constitution. But to do so, Democrats need to pick up another House seat to have supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

Smith agrees it's up to the state to protect rights, and believes the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down abortion rights, weakening the labor movement, and limiting executive branch agencies’ ability to regulate the environment, public health, and other issues, were “incorrectly decided.”

In 2023, a Supreme Court ruling narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act and the EPA’s power to regulate waterways and wetlands. Burns says Sen. Stephanie Hansen's bill creating a State nontidal wetlands program is crucial and must pass next year.

Beyond procuring off-shore wind, Burns wants to see Delaware generate its own power rather than buying electricity and fossil fuels from out of state.

Burns says he looks at things with a “systems approach.” He critiques the current committee structure in the state legislature, saying issues are too “siloed.”

He points to housing – which he calls the root of many other social and economic issues as a reason to break down those silos.

“I think housing is a key component because it underlies so many other issues that we have,” Burns says.

He voices support for making accessory dwelling units easier to build and maintain, adding they solve multiple problems at once – housing, an aging population, and a dire need to cut down on fossil fuel use.

Burns also argues housing plays a role in healthcare access issues, particularly in Sussex County which is growing and aging.

“The staffing shortages are not just physicians, it’s all up and down, and that’s also in part tied into housing,” Burns says. “Like, can people get a reasonable place to live at a reasonable price? And if they can’t then the chance that they are going to come and take a job here in Delaware is not good.”

One of the legislature’s major challenges next session will be addressing the state’s education funding structure – the result of a settlement of a 2020 funding equity lawsuit.

Burns sees housing as connected to that issue too.

“And how that funding happens I would like to see it more statewide rather than local,” Burns says. “I think one of the underlying things that people miss is that students in some of the schools are very transient.”

Smith is a substitute teacher in the Red Clay School District and says he sees how students’ personal lives affect their performance at school. He says they need more resources for students who work jobs after school or are commuting up to an hour to get to school.

“It’s not just about your kids, it's about our workforce, it is about the people that you see on the roads, it's about the people that you see in work, it’s about having an educated community,” Smith said. “And that’s something I would really love to see whether it be tinkering with funding, whether it be trying to put more resources into our teachers pockets, trying to put more resources into apprenticeships and trade programs. There’s a lot of things we can do.”

But the issue Smith says has motivated him for nearly half of his life is road safety, and he believes it is often overlooked in the legislature.

“Unfortunately we are losing roughly the same order magnitude of Delawareans every year from accidents on the road as we are losing from overdoses, losing from gun violence,” Smith said. “This is a sneaky issue that isn’t necessarily partisan, which is good because that means that we can pass bills.”

Smith says he’ll advocate for better transportation practices and services overall too – like expanding accessibility and frequency for public transportation and adding more bike lanes and safe pedestrian crosswalks to roadways statewide.

Smith is endorsed by Delaware Building Trades and the Delaware PRIDE Caucus. He says he brings legislative experience to the race, but also experience in education, the environment, and working with nonprofits.

“If you end up winning, also going down to Dover and not just being a vote for this or for that, but being someone who can propose legislation, who can work,” Smith said. “That’s what 80 percent of the job is, it’s not just about going and voting at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday, it’s about going to actually work on legislation.”

Burns is endorsed by the Working Families Party of Delaware and Democratic State Sen. Laura Sturgeon, he feels he can relate to independent and middle-of-the-road voters.

“I’m not a creature of the party,” Burns said. “I’ve been an activist but I haven’t always been a party person. So I actually think I have a better appeal in the district.”

This is a key race for Democrats. If they win this seat, and the party holds all its current House seats, Democrats would have supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Registration numbers indicate it can happen. The House 21st had just over 8,000 registered Democrats and just under 5,000 Republicans, with about 5,900 independent or registered in other parties.

The winner of this primary will face Republican Brenda Manella in November’s general election in the 21st House District.