Politics of Delaware

Politics of Delaware

Due to the state's small size (45th of 50 by population in 2006), the politics of Delaware tend to be less convoluted and controversial than those in neighboring states. Nonetheless, Delaware's political status quo reflects the state's long history of political clout dating from the earliest days of the United States, some of which remains today.

Major Issues

Delaware residents as a group tend to vote toward the conservative side of moderate on fiscal and economic issues, and are more moderate on social issues. Social liberalism is generally concentrated in the northern part of the state, and conservatism is more prevalent in the less heavily populated central and southern regions. Some of the wealthiest neighborhoods around Wilmington (in the north) as well as a few of the more progressive beach towns (in the south) serve as exceptions to this general trend. Politicians of both major parties tend to vote consistently in favor of big business, a very important sector of Delaware's economy.

Matters of perennial statewide debate tend to include taxation (which runs relatively low compared to other northeastern states); the needs and demands of Delaware's massive business community; education (Delaware's educational spending per student remains low); increasing stress on the environment; urban development and sprawl; the needs of an increasingly diverse population; large income disparities between wealthy and disadvantaged areas; and a perceived disconnect between the rural central and southern areas of the state and Wilmington and the urbanized corridor in the north, home to the bulk of the state's population.

Holders of National Office

Delaware's situation with respect to the Presidential Primary Election changed between 2000 and 2008.cite news
author = Beth Miller | title = Dela-where? Campaigns bypass First State
url = http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/NEWS/801130402/1006/NEWS
publisher = The News Journal | date = 2008-01-13 | accessdate = 2008-01-13
quote = ...it did have an early Republican primary all to itself in 2000, when it provided George W. Bush with his first primary win. In 2004, Delaware shared its primary day with four other states. And now, it is shoehorned into a virtual phone booth.
] Delaware's Primary is held "on the first Tuesday in February in the calendar year of a presidential election."cite web
url= http://delcode.delaware.gov/title15/c031/sc05/index.shtml
title= Presidential Primary Election
date= 2008-01-01 |accessdate= 2008-01-13
work= Online Delaware Code |publisher= State of Delaware
quote= ...a presidential primary election for major political parties shall be conducted on the first Tuesday in February in the calendar year of a presidential election.
] In 2000, Delaware was the sole state to have a primary on February 1, while in 2004 it was one of five states with primaries on February 3. In the 2008 primaries, Delaware shared February 5 with 23 other states on "Super Tuesday (2008)", the largest group of simultaneous primary races in the history of the United States.cite news
author = Richard Allen Greene
title = States jostle for primary power | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6501241.stm
publisher = BBC News | location = Washington | date = 2007-05-30 | accessdate = 2008-01-13
quote = The US has had "Super Tuesdays" in the past ... (b)ut it has never seen anything like what is shaping up for 5 February 2008 - which some wits are calling "Super Duper Tuesday".
] Being alone and early in conducting a Primary is considered to increase the influence of a state disproportionately in determining who the contestants will be in the general presidential election. Thus, the trend for Delaware's influence would seem to be downward in the face of a growing field of simultaneous primaries. However, a countervailing factor is the small margin of victory that recent elections have been determined by, which suggests that a candidate ignores small states such as Delaware at their potential peril.

Currently, Delaware's senators in the United States Senate are Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Thomas R. Carper, both Democrats. Senator Biden has been a member of the Senate since 1973, and is currently serving his sixth term. He is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and is Barack Obama's running mate in the 2008 presidential election. Senator Carper has been a member of the Senate since 2001, having previously served as governor of Delaware. He was re-elected to a second term in the Senate in 2006.

Delaware's sole representative in the United States House of Representatives is Michael N. Castle, a Republican. Representative Castle is serving his eighth term in the House, having first been elected in 1993.

Holders of Statewide Office

The current governor of Delaware is Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat. Governor Minner is the first woman to be elected governor of Delaware, as well as the nation's oldest serving governor. Minner entered office in 2001, and is now serving her second term after a successful campaign for reelection in 2004.

Delaware's Attorney General is Beau Biden, Senator Biden's son. He is serving his first term after a close election in 2006, following a much-criticized campaign. Such elections are unusual for Delaware, where elections are seldom very competitive and often seem to be all but decided months in advance.

References


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