Schaeffer wins Sussex council District 3 seat
According to the updated Delaware Department of Elections website, all votes are counted in the Sussex County Council District 3 race. Republican primary winner Mark Schaeffer of Lewes is the winner with 16,547 votes to unaffiliated write-in candidate Patti Drago’s 10,402 votes.
Schaeffer, the former mayor of Smyrna, defeated incumbent Councilman Irwin “I.G.” Burton and appeared to be the choice to take the seat. However, unaffiliated Drago of Lewes filed as a write-in candidate six weeks ago, forcing a race in the general election.
In the Sussex County Council District 1 race, unofficial results show Republican Sussex County Council President Mike Vincent of Seaford with 11,603 votes (65.3 percent) and Seaford Democrat challenger Hunter Hastings with 6,171 votes (34.7 percent).
In District 2, Republican Cindy Green did not have an opponent and will take the seat held by the retiring Sam Wilson.
Schaeffer: Hit the ground running
“I'm happy with the overwhelming support and I'm ready to work for everyone in District 3,” Schaeffer said.
Schaeffer said his ideas resonated with voters, including more financial support for the volunteer fire service, preservation of the Sussex County lifestyle, protecting farmland by limiting sprawl and fixing traffic congestion.
Schaeffer said he had close to 100 volunteers working for him. “I want to thank them for all of their hard work. We had a blast meeting people at the polls. The most wonderful thing about running for office is that you meet so many nice and diverse people. This is an amazing place to live,” he said,
He said his background in politics will allow him to hit the ground running when he's sworn in. He said among his priorities will be to start discussions on an industrial revenue bond program, which would create a special fee on new development requiring a developer and individuals moving into the area to pay for transportation and other improvements when development takes place, not after development occurs.
In addition, he supports a new transportation improvement district as proposed by Councilman John Rieley in the area of the Route 54 corridor.
Schaeffer will be sworn in at the first county council meeting in January.
Drago: Energy for change
Drago, who ran for office for the first time, said she's disappointed in the final outcome but has no regrets. “It has been an incredible experience, and I would not have done anything differently,” she said.
Drago said there is growing energy among residents that things need to be handled better before what people love about this area is destroyed. “People are tired of the same-old, same-old and are looking for change. I plan to look at leveraging that energy, possibly through organizations I volunteer with,” she said.
“We learned that we have to educate people a lot more about Sussex County government and how it affects their lives. People have to remain vigilant and hold their elected officials accountable,” Drago said.
“I feel proud of my volunteer team who put on a great race. In a very short time, we were able to connect with more than 10,000 voters. We could not reach every household in six weeks. I wish we could have had longer,” she said.
Democrats win big across state
Democrats won by nearly 60 percent to Republicans’ 40 percent in all the statewide contests.
Gov. John Carney was elected to a second term with 292,161 votes, or 59 percent, to Republican opponent Julianne Murray’s 38 percent of the vote at 189,724.
The candidates offered opposing plans for Delaware, with Carney standing by his cautious route for reopening Delaware as COVID-19 is showing a fall resurgence, and Murray who had said if elected she would end the state of emergency that has shut down swaths of the state economy.
"Tonight is a victory for Delawareans across our state. We came together and voted to follow the science. We voted to listen to the experts. We voted to keep our most vulnerable citizens safe,” said Carney in an acceptance email. “Thank you for placing your trust in me to continue the job we started. We will continue to confront COVID-19 and focus on the issues that matter to every Delaware family – good jobs, world-class schools and great communities.”
The ballot results played out the same for lieutenant governor, insurance commissioner, U.S. senator, and U.S. representative.
Incumbent Democrat Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long defeated Republican challenger Donyale Hall, 59 percent to 40 percent; incumbent Democrat Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro defeated Republican challenger Julia Pillsbury, 59 percent to 40 percent; incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Chris Coons defeated Republican Lauren Witzke, 59 percent to 37 percent; and incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester defeated Republican Lee Murphy, 57 percent to 40 percent.
Republican incumbents retained their seats in challenged races in the 35th and 36th districts by large margins. Incumbent Republican Bryan Shupe won 63 percent of the vote for his Milford-area seat over Democrat challenger Greg Fuller’s 36 percent, and incumbent Republican Jesse Vanderwende won reelection to his Bridgeville-area seat over Democrat Darrynn Harris, 68 percent to 31 percent.
In District 20, incumbent Republican Steve Smyk of Lewes has a large lead over write-in candidate Lisa Truitt.
Sussex County legislators who were unopposed will head back to the state Legislature in January, but the Senate will have two fewer Republican members after two upstate districts went to Democrats. Incumbent Republican Catherine Cloutier lost her District 5 seat to Democrat challenger Kyle Evans Gay, 47 percent to 52 percent; and incumbent Republican Anthony Delcollo lost his District 7 seat to Democrat Spiros Mantzavinos, 48 percent to 51 percent.
