Delaware
Delaware primary to decide governor's contest and could pave the path for US House history
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Voters in Delaware are set to decide the nominees for several political contests, including a closely watched campaign for governor and a potentially historic race for U.S. House.
The contest for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination that pits Delaware’s lieutenant governor against the chief executive of the state’s most populous county is the marquee race in Tuesday’s primary election.
Democrats also are voting in a U.S. House race where the favored candidate if elected would be the first openly transgender person in Congress. That would join another trailblazing race in November in which the lone Democratic candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat could become one of only two Black women in the Senate next year.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. John Carney is hoping to continue his long career in politics by winning his party’s nomination for mayor of Wilmington.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Here’s a closer look at those key races:
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR U.S. HOUSE
State Sen. Sarah McBride would move one step closer to becoming the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress with a win in the Democrat primary on Tuesday. Delaware’s lone U.S. House seat is being vacated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who has no primary opponent as she seeks the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper, who held the seat since 2001.
McBride faces only token opposition in the primary from businessmen Earl Cooper and Elias Weir, neither of whom reported raising any money for their campaigns. Cooper is a political newcomer, while Weir finished dead last in a 2016 congressional primary with less than 1% of the vote. McBride, meanwhile, has raised almost $3 million in contributions from around the country.
McBride achieved national recognition at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will go up against either Donyale Hall, a Dover businesswoman and a Gulf War-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force, or James Whalen IIII, a retired state police officer and construction company owner from Millsboro, who are facing off in the GOP primary. Democrats have held the seat since 2010.
Meanwhile, with a victory in November Blunt Rochester could become one of only two Black women in the Senate next year, joining Angela Alsobrooks of neighboring Maryland if she is also victorious in her campaign.
DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY
Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who has held public office since winning a state House seat in 2002, is hoping to overcome a campaign finance scandal and succeed Carney, who can’t run for governor again due to term limits. Hall-Long has been endorsed by Carney and Delaware’s Democrat Party establishment.
But the two-term lieutenant governor is facing a tough primary challenge from New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, who has raised substantially more money and has repeatedly drawn attention to Hall-Long’s campaign finance violations. Former state Environmental Secretary Collin O’Mara also is seeking the Democratic nomination, but has been overshadowed by the other two candidates.
Hall-Long’s campaign finance scandal surfaced last September, when she abruptly postponed a campaign event with Carney, saying she needed to attend to “a personal, private matter.”
In reality, her campaign was in disarray after people hired to lead it discovered major discrepancies while reviewing years of finance reports. The scandal led to a series of resignations among top campaign staff and prompted election officials to commission a forensic audit. The audit found that Hall-Long and her husband had received payments totaling $33,000 more than what she purportedly loaned to her campaign over several years — with many of the loans never being reported in the first instance.
It also found that Hall-Long’s husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana Long, wrote 112 checks to himself or to cash. The checks totaled just under $300,000 and should have been reported as expenditures. Instead, 109 were never reported in initial finance reports, and the other four, payable to Dana Long, were reported as being made to someone else.
Despite the violations, Delaware’s attorney general and elections commissioner, both fellow Democrats, declined to seek criminal charges against Hall-Long.
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR WILMINGTON MAYOR
Carney is prohibited by law from seeking a third term as governor, but he wants to remain in public office as a chief executive and is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor of Wilmington, Delaware’s largest city.
His opponent is Velda Jones-Potter, a former Wilmington city treasurer who lost a bid for mayor four years ago. Potter served a two-year stint as Delaware’s state treasurer after being appointed to that post in 2008, but she lost an election for a four-year term as treasurer in 2010.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face no opposition in November. Carney has said as mayor he would build on the investments his gubernatorial administration has made in Wilmington, with a focus on improving public schools, expanding affordable housing and helping small businesses.
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Delaware
Election 2024: Live updates from Philly presidential debate, Delaware primary
![Election 2024: Live updates from Philly presidential debate, Delaware primary Election 2024: Live updates from Philly presidential debate, Delaware primary](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/donald-trump-kamala-harris-speaking.jpg)
This story originally appeared on NPR.
Vice President Harris will face off against former President Donald Trump Tuesday for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee.
The playing field is different than it was two months ago when President Biden’s dismal debate performance spurred a wave of concern over his ability to defeat Trump, the Republican nominee.
Since then, a lot has happened. Trump survived an assassination attempt, he accepted the GOP presidential nomination, Biden dropped out of the race and Harris then took over and clinched the Democratic party’s nomination.
Harris has since made up the ground Biden lost in swing state polls and now stands virtually tied with Trump. Despite a groundswell of support and reportedly record-breakingfundraising amounts, her campaign’s honeymoon phase is likely to end, especially as Trump and Republicans look to ramp up attacks.
Here’s what you need to know about this second debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
When and how to watch
The event will air at 9 p.m. ET for 90 minutes from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis are slated to moderate the debate, which will be broadcast by the network and streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Follow WHYY News’ and NPR’s liveblog for the latest updates, analysis, fact-checking and color; listen to and watch NPR’s special coverage of the ABC News Presidential Debate Simulcast on many public radio stations, including WHYY-FM. Viwers can also watch live coverage on WHYY.org and WHYY-TV.
What are the rules for the debate?
The debate rules echo those agreed on for the June matchup. That means microphones will once again be muted unless a candidate is speaking, something the Harris team asked to change for this debate.
It’s a rule initially proposed by the Biden campaign ahead of the first debate and was largely seen as a potential shake-up to Trump’s typical debate style. Instead, it ended up benefiting the former president, who has a history of interrupting in these settings to the point of his campaign’s detriment. Instead, the technical change helped Trump appear more controlled.
Harris’ campaign told ABC that Harris would be disadvantaged by the muted mics because it would shield Trump from direct exchanges — but said that it would agree to the terms lest Trump drop out of the debate altogether.
A campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private negotiations, said that a pool would be on hand to hear what the candidates are saying into muted microphones — and that if there is “significant crosstalk,” the network may unmute both microphones. The moderator will warn candidates to stop frequent interruptions, the official said. “Our understanding of these things helped inform our decision to accept muted mics,” the official said.
There will be no audience and candidates will not be permitted to question each other directly. In addition, neither will be allowed to bring pre-written notes or props onto the debate stage.
What to watch for
Harris has mostly campaigned from the trail in her brief time as a presidential contender — excluding a single sit-down interview with CNN at the end of August. She has also struggled in the past with unscripted moments as vice president, which will put the spotlight on her ability to perform in a debate while also laying out some of her platform and going on the offensive against Trump.
Harris has been putting an emphasis on protecting reproductive rights while campaigning, and she’s likely to address it Tuesday night. Leading up to the debate, the Harris-Walz campaign launched its “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour, pledging to make 50 stops in key states around the issues of abortion, IVF and reproductive rights.
Trump’s stance on this issue has been muddy. He’s made comments on abortion that appear to clash with some of his past views and statements while president. Recently, he acknowledged that Florida’s six-week ban was too restrictive, then clarified shortly after that he would not support the state’s upcoming ballot measure that, if passed, would safeguard access to abortions up until fetal viability.
Trump is likely to link Harris to Biden’s handling of the economy and immigration, two areas where Republicans have heavily criticized the White House. He may also highlight aspects of her political record, including her past support for decriminalizing border crossings and banning fracking — two policies she backed during her 2020 presidential bid and has since pivoted on.
On the other hand, Harris has repeatedly tied Trump’s platform to Project 2025, a 900-page set of policy proposals for a potential second term put forward by a conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation. Trump has tried to distance himself from the plan — which includes further restrictions on abortion access among a slew of moves that would increase executive power.
Tuesday’s matchup also poses new stakes for Trump: He’s facing a very different opponent.
In the aftermath of the June debate, the former president’s mistakes weren’t a focus, largely because of Biden’s more noticeably poor performance. That said, Trump by no means had a perfect night, repeatedly highlighting false and misleading information. So this time, as NPR’s Domenico Montanaro pointed out, “If Harris has a solid debate, the focus could be on Trump in a way he doesn’t want.”
What’s next?
Vice presidential candidates Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance will face off on Oct. 1 in a debate hosted by CBS News. The two hold similar roles in their respective campaigns: to appeal to voters in the “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin this fall.
It’s unclear whether Harris and Trump will debate a second time. No additional dates have been formally announced.
NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith contributed reporting.
Delaware
Here are the nominees for Delaware Teacher of the Year
![Here are the nominees for Delaware Teacher of the Year Here are the nominees for Delaware Teacher of the Year](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-4.13.39-PM.png)
![Here are the nominees for Delaware Teacher of the Year Here are the nominees for Delaware Teacher of the Year](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-09-at-4.13.39-PM.png)
The 2025 Delaware Teacher of the Year will be announced at a ceremony Oct. 15.
The premier teacher in the First State will be named next month.
On Oct. 15, the state will announce the 2025 Delaware Teacher of the Year.
All 19 school districts will nominate a teacher, who submits a detailed application exemplifying their teaching philosophy.
One teacher will represent the state’s 24 charter schools.
Five Delaware Department of Education staff members and five former state teachers of the year independently evaluate each application, and a former state teacher of the year and department staff member observe each candidate in the classroom.
Taking into consideration the scores from the application review and observations as well as a recorded presentation by the nominees, another independent panel of non-department judges then recommends to the Secretary of Education the one teacher who will serve as the 2025 Delaware Teacher of the Year.
![](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/ghiedds/top-doc-p2_milford-live-550x80_23-bryan-shupe.jpg)
![](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/ghiedds/top-doc-p2_milford-live-550x80_23-bryan-shupe.jpg)
That teacher is Delaware’s representative in the national program.
The winner gets a $5,000 grant to use for the educational benefit of his or her students and a personal grant of $3,000.
All nominees get $2,000 from the state.
Last year, Cory Hafer from Appoquinimink School District’s Middletown High, was named teacher of the year.
Here are this year’s candidates:
Appoquinimink: Tamara Walker of Redding Middle (mathematics)
Brandywine: Janette Madison of Springer Middle (mathematics)
Caesar Rodney: Kaysi Anderson of Simpson Elementary (fourth grade)
Cape Henlopen: Kristin (Krissy) Patton of Milton Elementary (literacy)
Capital: Abdallah Celestin of Dover High (French)
Charter Network: Stephanie Sherman of Sussex Academy (science)
Christina: Stacey DiIenno of Marshall Elementary (kindergarten)
Colonial: Shelby Borst of William Penn High (social studies)
Delmar: Ashley Bennett of Delmar Middle (mathematics)
Indian River: Deborah Treherne of Howard T. Ennis School (special education)
Lake Forest: Brent E. Carter of Chipman Middle (English language arts)
Laurel: Joseph Wenke of Laurel High (English language arts)
Milford: Diana Dill of Mispillion Elementary (first grade)
New Castle County Vo-Tech: Bradford Paik of Howard High School of Technology (science)
POLYTECH: Emily Green of POLYTECH High (social studies)
Red Clay Consolidated: Kristen Tosh-Morelli of Forest Oak, Johnson, Marbrook and Richey elementary schools (band)
Seaford: Brent Evans of Central Elementary (fourth grade)
Smyrna: Lauren Steerman of Sunnyside Elementary (kindergarten)
Sussex Technical: Meghan Feliciani of Sussex Technical High (English language arts)
Woodbridge: Kelly Ruse of Woodbridge High (art)
Click here for photos of each nominee.
![Jarek](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-02-at-7.07.59-AM-266x300-1.png)
![Jarek](https://milfordlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-02-at-7.07.59-AM-266x300-1.png)
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
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Delaware
Delaware County to experiment with police-assisted diversion
![Delaware County to experiment with police-assisted diversion Delaware County to experiment with police-assisted diversion](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/delco-courthouse-2.jpeg)
From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!
The Delaware County Department of Human Services wants to jumpstart a county-wide program to divert people with mental health issues away from the legal system and into treatment.
The program would give police officers the discretion to refer people with behavioral conditions to a case manager in lieu of arrest.
At Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, Delaware County Council permitted DHS to request proposals for a provider who can get started as early as December 2024.
“The goal of the program is to connect individuals to treatment and to keep them out of the criminal justice system as much as possible — and to make sure that we have the support and process in place to do that,” Councilmember Dr. Monica Taylor told WHYY News.
Upper Darby and Haverford police departments are already piloting a program that dispatches mental health professionals alongside officers during behavioral health emergencies.
The county-led mobile crisis unit has been going on for about a year.
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