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Areas in Delaware are seeing a spike in opioid overdoses just weeks after state officials expressed optimism that overdoses were trending down.

As of May 5, there have been 96 suspected overdoses in Sussex County and 55 in Kent County this year, according to Delaware State Police and health officials. according to Delaware State Police and health officials. There have been six fatalities presumed to be caused by opioid overdoses. The majority of overdoses in Sussex occurred in the area of Georgetown, Millsboro and Milford.

The Delaware National Guard, enlisted by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services to test packages causing the suspected overdoses, found a mixture of drugs, including synthetic opioid fentanyl, animal tranquilizer xylazine and bromazolam, a benzodiazepine that acts like a sedative.

Jill Fredel, spokesperson for atTAcK Addiction, a nonprofit that teaches young people about addiction, said, “It’s kind of like a Frankenstein concoction.”

“Hopefully this has gotten people worried that they don’t want to stumble across this, don’t want to use it,” she said. “We’re hoping that they will connect with atTAcK Addiction, or the Delaware helpline, or go to HelpIsHereDE.com and get the connection to treatment that they really do need.”

Joanna Champney, director of the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said the addition of the benzodiazepine to the drug cocktail is causing people to have difficulty breathing, convulsions and hallucinations.

“We have been seeing these elevated symptoms, resulting in people needing to be intubated,” she said. “Sometimes being unconscious for several days.”

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For months, the race to succeed Delaware Gov. John Carney has focused on three fellow Democrats seeking the office in a state their party dominates.

But with the Sept. 10 primary just four months away, Republicans now have a two-person race for the GOP nomination. That scenario surfaced this week when House Minority Leader Mike Ramone joined political newcomer Jerry Price, a former New York City cop, on the ballot. Price filed for the office in December.

When Ramone filed Monday, state GOP chair Julianne Murray, who had said she was also entering the race this week, announced that she would forgo a run in the interests of “party unity.” The party will endorse a candidate later this month during its annual convention.

Murray, a lawyer, had run against Carney in 2020, winning 39% of the vote — about the same as other GOP statewide candidates that year. She also ran unsuccessfully for attorney general against incumbent Kathy Jennings in 2022.

Democrats hold all nine statewide elective offices and have a nearly two-to-one advantage in voter registration. The last Republican governor was Mike Castle, who held the post from 1985 to 1993.

On the Democratic side, the candidates are Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, and former state environmental chief Collin O’Mara.

Primary winners will face off in the Nov. 5 general election.

Ramone: ‘I think Delaware needs a breath of fresh air’

Ramone, who owns a swim club, fitness center, landscaping, pool and property management business, has represented the Pike Creek area since 2008. He became the minority leader in 2023.

Ramone announced last week that he’s not seeking re-election to the House for two reasons: he is moving to Dewey Beach, where he has long had a second home, and he was seeking the GOP gubernatorial nod.

Ramone, 62, told WHYY News that his business experience, 16 years in the General Assembly, and a lifetime spent in Delaware qualify him to head the state government.

He said the governor’s office needs new direction after 32 years in Democratic hands, especially since the state House and Senate are dominated by the majority party.

“I think Delaware needs a breath of fresh air — somebody who’s not as politically motivated, but somebody who would represent Delawareans, not one party or the other.”

As a state representative for 16 years, “I’ve learned an awful lot about the way people do things, what they do, why they do it,’’ he said. “And you know, I’m just concerned. I’m concerned our schools are deteriorating. I’m concerned health care [costs have] gone up and up and up and up.”

Ramone also cited the state’s high rate of traffic fatalities, including three in recent days, as well as the opioid crisis.

“There’s just so much that it’s concerning and it’s painful. I think we need to start prioritizing what we need to do for the people, start using a little bit of common sense, and get out of this polarizing political environment we have.”

Asked about the Democrats’ 145,000 registration advantage over Republicans in a state with 775,000 voters, Ramone asserted that should he win the nomination, he trusts voters of all political persuasions to give him a fair hearing.

“I don’t think it’s about blue and red. I think it’s about doing things better and solving problems,’’ Ramone said. “We’re all buying the same groceries, We’re all paying the same inflation. We are all having our same taxes go up. We’re all under the same social unrest and concern for safety.”

“We’re all in the exact same environment, with trying to get children coming out of our schools with the ability to function in society. We all have the same problems. It doesn’t matter if you’re red or blue. We’re all trying to make Delaware a better place to live.”

Ramone said he’d also like to make it easier for small businesses to be successful by easing the “overzealous quantity of regulations” that currently exist.

He said that as an entrepreneur who started a family flower business when he was 21, “I have the experience of knowing how to run a significantly large payroll, what it’s like to have to sign the front of the checks.”