A Rehoboth Beach property owner since 1985 and a permanent resident since 2018, Marty Rendon was the first to announce his candidacy for the 14th House District seat.
Rendon served as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill for more than two decades and ended his career as Vice President for Public Policy and Advocacy for UNICEF USA for 25 years.
He says in addition to currently serving as chair of the Legislative Committee for the Delaware Human and Civil Rights Commission, he’s been looking for a way to transfer his legislative skills to his life in Delaware.
“I think I can bring the experience I have in terms of methodology and how you work to advance legislation; I can bring that skill set to this open seat,” Rendon said. “What I tell people is, I don't want the messenger to get in the way of the message, I want them to focus on what I'm having to say on behalf of the 14th district.”
Claire Snyder-Hall also cites legislative change as one reason she chose to run.
“Over the holidays, I was just doom scrolling on my phone and just thinking about how terrible things are in the world, and I just decided that I couldn't keep doing that. I had to take action,” Snyder-Hall said. “I was the executive director of Common Cause Delaware, and I loved working on the democracy agenda, strengthening and protecting democracy in the First State, but there's a lot of other issues that I'd like to work on.”
Prior to joining the Common Cause Delaware team in 2015, Snyder-Hall chaired the 14th Representative District’s Democratic Committee for four years and served on the Sussex County Democratic Executive Committee.
She became a full-time Rehoboth Beach resident in 2011 after teaching political science at George Mason University.
“Yes, I did hire my daughter as a summer intern during the COVID pandemic and under the guise that I thought it was perfectly acceptable... So, it is what it is. I learned a great deal from that painful and humbling experience and what my family was put through."Former State Auditor Kathy McGuiness brings recent legal issues to the 14th House District race.
The final Democrat running is life-long resident and former State Auditor and Rehoboth Beach Commissioner Kathy McGuiness, who brings a recent troubled history in state politics to the race.
McGuiness was elected auditor in 2018 but resigned in 2022 after being found guilty of conflict of interest and official misconduct by the Delaware Superior Court.
McGuiness appealed the ruling, leading to the misconduct charge being overturned, but the conflict of interest was upheld for hiring her teenage daughter.
“Yes, I did hire my daughter as a summer intern during the COVID pandemic and under the guise that I thought it was perfectly acceptable and asked permission, and it still happens today, folks have their kids work there,” McGuiness said. “So, it is what it is. I learned a great deal from that painful and humbling experience and what my family was put through. But I'm ready to get back to work and do what I have done my entire adult life, which is helping serve the people of Eastern Sussex County.”
McGuiness remained in her 2022 race for re-election but lost 70% of the vote to current State Auditor Lydia York in the primary, then was sentenced in October 2022 to a year of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine.
She says at that point she was ready to step away from politics until some area residents prompted her to seek a comeback.
“Really, the encouragement just said, Kathy, we want you. We know you're a fighter. We know you will stand up. You have done it for us in the past,” McGuiness said. “And I said, Okay, you know what? I'm going to do it.”
McGuiness has the endorsement of Schwartzkopf, but that endorsement became a brief point of contention for Snyder-Hall and McGuiness.
The Cape Gazette published an op-ed from Schwartzkopf in July, in which he raised concerns over Snyder-Hall posting an advertisement and photo that implied he supports Snyder-Hall over McGuiness.
Additionally, he said many people have contacted him claiming Snyder-Hall has been giving the false impression that he’s endorsing her.
Schwarzkopf wrote, “I need to set the record straight. I do not support Claire Snyder-Hall in this primary election. Truth is that she and I are not friends at all. She has spent the last few years criticizing me and questioning my motives in just about everything I did.”
But Snyder-Hall refutes this, saying she always expected him to endorse McGuiness.
“I have never said that Pete Schwartzkopf endorsed me, nor have I ever implied that Pete Schwartzkopf endorsed me,” Snyder-Hall said. “So, if anybody's heard otherwise, it's either misinformation or it's a lie because I've never said that.”
On policy, one of the most pressing issues in the Rehoboth area is the potential of underground cables coming onshore through the Indian River Bay to bring power to the local grid from a Maryland offshore wind project.
While the state has yet to decide if it will lease the land necessary for the proposal, reaction to the project is largely mixed with protestors outside community engagement events citing concerns of impacts on tourism, water quality, property value, and marine life.
Rendon says that while he understands the opposition, he feels experts have put many of these concerns to rest and believes offshore wind is a necessary step in Delaware’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“I think that it's been studied quite seriously. I don't think it's going to spoil the view. I think we're going to be able to work with it. We hear these issues about impact on marine life and birds and all this stuff... but I feel pretty confident we can make it work.”Offshore wind is needed so Delaware can reach net-zero emissions by 2050 according to Marty Rendon.
“I think that it's been studied quite seriously,” Rendon said. “I don't think it's going to spoil the view. I think we're going to be able to work with it. We hear these issues about impact on marine life and birds and all this stuff, and yes, I mean, that's going to happen – there will be questions about that, but I feel pretty confident we can make it work.”
McGuiness also sympathizes with public concerns but says offshore wind is an opportunity for job growth in Sussex County.
“Of course, we want clean clean energy, I mean, that's the future. However, how we do it, we have to be thoughtful,” McGuiness said. “I would like to have some kind of station here in Delaware, where, maybe in the Indian River area, where we can benefit with jobs. Of course, there's going to be jobs in the beginning, because you have to create the infrastructure, but there's also continual maintenance.”
Snyder-Hall says she fully backs Delaware’s involvement with offshore wind projects, but hasn’t heard the same concerns from the community.
“I've knocked on thousands of doors all over the district, and I haven't heard anyone talking about their being concerned about the wind project,” Snyder-Hall said. “It’s vitally important that we start transitioning to clean energy – solar and wind. So I support the wind projects that are going to provide clean energy for Delaware.”
Sussex County is also facing a severe affordable and workforce housing crisis with sky-high rental rates and a median home price of around $560,000.
McGuiness believes solutions can be found at the county level by encouraging zoning changes that better incentivize developers to build affordable units.
“I would like to work with the county on several issues and have that open engagement and conversation and work together because we have to manage and direct this change,” McGuiness said. “We can't just let it continue to happen. I don't think our infrastructure can handle it.”
Snyder-Hall advocates a multifaceted approach, including subsidies, programs that would allow residents with extra rooms to rent out those spaces, and more live-in care for the area’s extensive senior population.
“I mean, we need to get creative and think about ways that we can address this problem,” Snyder-Hall said. “But it's very difficult because, you know, with a market economy, the incentive structure is that people just want– builders want to make as much money as they can.”
Rendon agrees with McGuiness that more scrutiny needs to be placed on the County, explaining he’s met with many advocates who are frustrated with the transparency and timeliness of zoning and permitting processes.
“I think if I get there as a legislator, I would like to push a little bit,” Rendon said. “Are there mandates? Can we force that a little bit? Can we get quicker responses? Can we get more sensitivity, you know? And what can we do to deal with this workforce issue?”
When balancing a young workforce with a year-round aging population, Rendon says it comes down to making sure the proper infrastructure is in place.
“It’s always a challenge to balance all of the different needs that you have in a district. So, we need to get together and think about how we can address all of our pressing concerns."Balancing all the needs of the community is paramount for Claire Snyder-Hall.
“We're talking about workforce housing, we're talking about transportation, we're talking about making the place livable and particularly to the younger people that need to work here, to serve the needs of the older community, and to serve the needs of the tourist industry and the like,” Rendon said. “Those things are kind of interconnected, and we need to get some wisdom. I think the infrastructure has to come first. I mean, the roads, the schools, the health services, We need to have that in place as we design the communities that come in here.”
McGuiness is pitching a fast-route, full-service bus that would allow those who want to explore job opportunities within Rehoboth Beach to do so without giving up their housing in more affordable areas of the state.
“One's coming from this county, one's coming from here,” McGuiness said. “They're going to take you down, you're going to work a shift, and then it's going to take you back, and it's just going to be set times. But that means coordination with some of these businesses.”
Snyder-Hall says balancing the unique needs of the community is simply part of the job description.
“It’s always a challenge to balance all of the different needs that you have in a district,” Snyder-Hall said. “So, we need to get together and think about how we can address all of our pressing concerns, from health care to housing to education to the environment, and also protect the right to choose and LGBTQ+ rights. I mean, we need to balance all of those things, and that's one of the challenges of being a legislator.”
The winner of this Democratic primary election goes on to face the lone Republican candidate and current Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company President Mike Simpler.
