Former deputy labor secretary challenges Hocker
A Selbyville Democrat has entered the race late in game, but he’s aiming to give Rep. Gerald Hocker a run for his money in the Tuesday, Nov. 6 general election. Rick Eakle, 68, filed Aug. 25, to run against Hocker, R-Ocean View, for the 20th District Senate seat.
Eakle said he never considered running for office until members of the Democratic Party, who had until Tuesday, Sept. 4 to nominate a candidate for the seat, approached him.
“I just think the people down here need someone strong in Dover to speak for them,” Eakle said.
If elected, Eakle said he would work to create jobs and stimulate the economy by promoting the district’s natural resources. Eakle said Delaware has a $6 billion tourism industry, mostly concentrated in Sussex County.
“Our bays and ocean are unique to this area,” he said. “Those natural resources draw a lot of people.”
Eakle said the state should establish more opportunities for aquaculture. “That industry could be a $28 million industry, plus the jobs associated with that,” he said. “We’ve got to bring more jobs to this area.”
Eakle also said he would support legislation to require landowners to justify rent increases on manufactured homeowners and offer more incentives to businesses that hire veterans.
Eakle said this is his first time running for election. “I was involved with politics a lot but never actually ran for political office,” he said.
Since 1992, Eakle said, he has split his time between his home near Fenwick Island and Washington, D.C., where he worked as an operations coordinator for a Navy submarine research program and for the National Missile Defense.
Eakle said he retired in 1999, and moved to Sussex County full-time.
Eakle was appointed by former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to work on a technology development task force, which was headed by Gov. Jack Markell before he became governor. The task force led to the development of the Department of Technology and Information, where Eakle was chief operating officer for more than three years.
Eakle then served as secretary of Department of Labor for three years before he retired for a second time in 2007.
Since 2000, Eakle has served on the board for Center for the Inland Bays. Since the organization is nonpolitical, Eakle said he took a leave of absence to run for Senate. He said he is now prepared to work as a full-time legislator.
“I’m not a politician,” Eakle said. He said he possesses strong leadership qualities that he believes will serve his constituents well. “That’s my strength, and that’s what I want to take to the Senate,” he said.
Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, held the SD 20 seat for 16 years; he announced in March he would not seek re-election.
In April, Hocker announced he would run to replace Bunting. Hocker, House Minority Whip, has served Representative District 38 since 2002.
Eakle will hold a campaign kickoff at 10 a.m., Monday, Sept. 10 at Bluecoast Seafood Grill, on Route 1, north of Bethany Beach. For more information, go to eakle-de20thsenateseat.org.
