I am writing in response to the Letter to the Editor regarding Sen. Ernie Lopez appearing Friday, April 26. I do not concur with the endorsement of the letter writer who wrote in favor of Sen. Lopez's being re-elected to the General Assembly. In my opinion, he is not representing all of the constituents of this district.
As an example, I will remind the members of our community that, while he swore an oath to represent all the people of our district, he voted against the Marriage Equality Bill and made a passionate, condemning and unnecessary speech from the floor of the Senate as to why he would not vote in favor of the bill even though there were many in his district in favor of and requesting him to vote in favor of the bill. The record of his testimony stands for itself.
It was clear from his speech (and I was present and heard it with my own ears) that he holds members of the LGBT community, our friends, family and allies residing in his district in and with contempt for what he perceived as alleged negative campaigning against him during his initial run for Senate. I do not believe at this point that he has been able to move beyond his ill feelings for that experience nor for the fallout that came about in his voting no for equality here in Delaware.
Furthermore, as stated in my previous letter to this newspaper, he was unresponsive to requests for his position on this bill. I know of many others in addition to myself who he did not bother to respond to even though, when I met with him face to face he assured me that he would respond to our e-mails.
Mr. Lopez takes all of this as a personal and negative attack against him. I understand that he often takes an adversarial position against anyone who chastises or does not agree with him or his agenda and places it on a very personal level which I believe blinds him of what is best for us. Let the voters decide who is the best candidate to represent us in Dover. We need to look elsewhere and I for one will be voting for Claire Snyder-Hall. It's time for a change and for someone who can act like a professional with new and fresh ideas who will represent all the people of the district!
Jon J. Rania
Rehoboth Beach
