Sussex Jamboree: 40 year tradition for Democrats

Less than a week after a hard-fought primary election, Democrats from across the state gathered Sept. 18 for the annual Sussex Jamboree in Cape Henlopen State Park.

It’s a Sussex tradition, with more than 40 years of history, one Vice President Joe Biden is credited with helping launch.

For the most part, jamboree speakers, from gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. John Carney to Clerk of the Peace candidate Charles Koskey, stuck to the script – acknowledging candidates who didn’t win, rallying the party together as a whole and reminding supporters to spread the Democratic word from the top of the general election ticket down.

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, not up for re-election, said the state was stronger because the Democrats had such a strong slate of candidates.

Coons was brief because he was headed to New York City to represent the United States as a delegate to the United Nations, but he couldn’t resist throwing a jab at GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. He said he had plans to meet with seven heads of state and 12 ambassadors over the next couple of days, and he said, he knows the first question out of each of their mouths was going to be, can a Cheeto-faced, short-fingered, vulgarian who is a serial developer of casinos and beauty pageants, be elected president.

A resounding, “No,” came from the crowd.

Fresh off a decisive win in a congressional race with six candidates, Lisa Blunt Rochester, the highest vote-getter in all three counties, said she appreciated Sussex County’s support, but emphasized the work was not done. She poked fun at the Republican party as well.

Now is not the time to fall asleep, she said. People in the Republican Party went to sleep, and they woke up with Christine O’Donnell, said Blunt Rochester, referencing O’Donnell’s surprise 2010 victory over longtime U.S. Representative and former Republican Gov. Michael Castle in the Republican primary for Vice President Joe Biden’s vacant Senate seat. Not surprisingly, this comment garnered laughter from the crowd.

Representative District 14 incumbent Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwarztkopf and Representative District 20 challenger Barbara Vaughan worked the crowd for support in the general election. Schwartzkopf will face Republican challenger James DeMartino, while Vaughan faces off against incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Smyk.

Some candidates entered the political arena late and were there trying to drum up support.

Gary Wolfe filed Aug. 30 for the 35th Representative District – just squeaking in under the Sept. 1 deadline for major party officials to file certificates of nomination for candidates for offices for which no member of their party has filed.

Wolfe will be facing off against GOP Rep. Dave Wilson. He said Mitch Crane, Sussex County Democratic Party chair, convinced him there were some unhappy folks in Wilson’s district, and a good Democratic challenger was needed.

Wolfe, who spent 10 years on the Milford School Board, has run in and lost races for Sussex County Council and the 18th Senatorial District. It’s a lot to run for office, he said, but he still thinks there’s a lot he can do.

“I think I could really offer some perspective in Dover,” he said.

Some of the jamboree’s attendees were there to support the best way they can.

Robin Emig, owner of Em-ing’s Barbeque in Bishopville, Md., was busy handing out plates to the long line of attendees. She said she’s been the caterer for at least eight years. This year, she said, she was told to prepare for 300 people.

“I love it,” she said. “I’m a Democrat, so I give them a good price.”