Primary fight for state treasurer heating up
June 18th, 2010,
Author: Ginger Gibson
[Article reproduced in pertinent part. For complete copy of article, visit http://tinyurl.com/29qwz9k]
There are two candidates vying for the Democratic nominee for state treasurer and the fighting is starting to heat up.
The two candidates are Velda Jones Potter, who currently holds the office after being appointed by Gov. Markell, and Wilmington attorney Chip Flowers.
Both candidates have been courting endorsements from local political districts, divided by representative districts. Those endorsements lead county endorsements, and ideally (but maybe not this year) to endorsements by the state party. If the candidate who doesn’t pick up the official party endorsement stays in the race, that leaves a primary to be decided by the voters.
It seems the treasurer’s race will go to the voters. The primary is on September 14.
The Jones Potter campaign recently started touting the endorsements she’s picked up, including the recent endorsement of the New Castle County Democratic Executive Committee saying it gave them a “virtual stranglehold” on the nomination.
“Our campaign for Delaware’s future got another huge boost tonight and we are poised to take our message to all Delawareans,” said Jones-Potter in a news release. ”For as hard as we’ve been working in Wilmington and New Castle County throughout this endorsement process, we’re working equally as hard in Kent and Sussex County in an effort to show strength and party unification behind my campaign to remain Delaware’s Treasurer. I look forward to the days when this unnecessary primary is behind us, when we can focus our energy on candidates outside of our own party.”
The Flowers campaign responded today in a statement, saying Jones Potter is “overlooking Democratic voters.”
From the Flowers campaign:
“Ms. Jones-Potter’s comments are insulting to Democratic voters throughout the state. Party leaders may make endorsements to incumbents, but in an election, the voters make the decisions that count,” said Dustin Parker, campaign manager for candidate Chip Flowers.
“As a candidate who has never received a single vote in an election for public office, Ms. Jones-Potter is showing uncharacteristic arrogance with her suggestion that it is unnecessary for members of our party to exercise their constitutional rights to cast a ballot,” Parker said.
“Ms. Jones-Potter also appears to have forgotten that she was the second Democrat to enter the race, and that was after she said she did not intend to seek election, so the only reason there is a primary is because Ms. Jones-Potter herself forced it,” Parker added.
“To suggest that a political endorsement by party leaders from New Castle County provides her with “a virtual stranglehold” on the nomination ignores recent party history,” Parker said. In the 2008 gubernatorial race, the party leadership backed Lt. Gov. John Carney for the nomination, but it was Markell, running without the support of party leaders, who won the primary and then the general election.
“The race for the Democratic nomination for State Treasurer is a battle of ideas, not of political endorsements. The votes that count are the ones Democrats will cast in the primary on Sept. 14, when they determine which candidate has the better ideas,” candidate Flowers said. “Democrats believe in the power of the ballot box. Elections are not meant to be unnecessary inconveniences for those who would rather receive an appointment than to engage in a rigorous debate and discussion of ideas.”
