Delaware governor’s race: Six candidates debate in crowded forum

Having six candidates for governor is a lot, especially for a small stare like Delaware.

What was originally planned to be a back-and-forth debate ahead of the Sept. 10 primary election became more of a forum-style Q&A. All three Democrats and all three Republicans accepted the invitation from the Delaware Journalism Collaborative to this week’s event at the Dover Public Library.

Seats were extremely limited. The live feed had frequent technical difficulties. But we still came out with a better picture of the candidates: A county executive, a state representative, a small business owner, a conservation org CEO, a former New York City cop and the current lieutenant governor.

Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, both Democrats, are the most well-known to many Delawareans, and the most covered by local media. Both have done much for Delaware: Meyer created the Jobs Now land use process and opened The Hope Center for homeless community members in New Castle County, while Hall-Long’s worked in pandemic resurgence response and in fighting hunger with technology.

Both Meyer and Hall-Long have come under scrutiny as the elections close in. This candidate-packed event, alas, was not the venue for tackling those burning questions.

While Hall-Long and Meyer may be the frontrunners, Delaware voters have a lot to choose from this year.

Mike Ramone, a Republican currently serving as state House representative for the Pike Creek suburb of Wilmington, is Delaware through and through. He criticized the state’s chaotic education system that has left traditional public schools with low enrollment.

Ramone, who is endorsed by the Delaware Republican Party, is socially moderate, pro-business and is looking to make Delaware, where Democrats have long dominated on every level, more of a two-party state. A Ramone win would be an upset — Delaware hasn’t had a Republican governor since 1993. But before that, from 1977 to 1993, the state had two popular Republican governors: Pete du Pont and Mike Castle.

Democrat Collin O’Mara isn’t as well-known as Hall-Long and Meyer, but he served for years a secretary of DNREC (Delaware Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control), and is the current CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

A leader in conservation and a proponent of building an inclusive culture of entrepreneurship in Delaware, O’Mara is also a strong advocate of public education, and criticized the Democrat status quo in Delaware for not doing enough for public school students. He pointed out that the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has done more for schools in Minnesota, despite not having the Democratic supermajority Delaware has in its state legislature.

Republican Jerry Price is a retired NYC cop who served during 9/11 before moving to Delaware two decades ago. He came off as both no-nonsense and confident that he could get things done.

Price supports increasing mental health resources and free breakfast and lunch in public schools, saying it can be done within the school budget. He says he can fix the state, including crime and gun violence, without costing taxpayers money. Compared to Ramone, Rice is more of an “outsider,” looking to challenge the status quo.

Finally, Republican Bobby Williamson, perhaps the group’s least “politician” politician, is a small business owner from Bridgeville. He brings a voice from rural downstate to the table. Williamson is the only candidate aside from Hall-Long and Meyer who participated in the Millsummit gubernatorial candidate forum in July.

His views skew small government and individualistic, and at the previous debate, Williamson stated that he does not support state-funded programs like the EDGE grant. No doubt he represents many in the state, but when he spoke about universal access to early childcare and education as “indoctrination,” the shocked face emojis were flying in the Facebook stream.

Watch the full debate in English here or on the DJC Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. A Spanish transcript is also available.