Paulette Rappa steps into the ring for Round 2
Four hours before officially announcing her candidacy March 30 for Representative District 37, Paulette Rappa was in good spirits.
“The stories haven’t gone away,” said the Long Neck resident, laughing when asked why she was running again against Republican incumbent Ruth Briggs King. “I’m invested in making the lives of the people in this district better.”
Rappa, a 54-year-old mother of eight and former educator, lost to King in 2014 by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, garnering 2,214 votes to King's 4,173.
Ten days after the loss, a resolute Rappa addressed the Eastern Sussex Democrats Club, saying her campaign was the first of a string of Democratic campaigns to get swept up in a wave of Republicanism rolling across Sussex County.
At that meeting, Rappa pointed to example after example of the wave swallowing up the county’s Democrats – Delaware State Treasurer Ken Simpler's vote total doubled Democratic challenger Sean Barney in Sussex County, while he managed only about 50 percent of the votes in the other two counties; the wins of Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Laurel, and Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro, over Democratic incumbents Robert Venables and John Atkins; and the comfortable wins of Republican incumbents Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, and Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton, over Democratic challengers Claire Snyder-Hall and Marie Mayor.
Two years later, Rappa said voters in her district have heard a lot of talk, but not seen much action. Using a similarly ocean-themed analogy, she said it’s been like sitting on the beach with a group of people, seeing four people drowning, everyone agreeing that those people are all drowning, but then not doing anything about it, she said.
“There’s been no measurable change,” she said. “Clearly, the frustration is still there.”
Rappa said the district, and the county as a whole, is continuing to grow older and those residents need more access to affordable housing, transportation, and medical resources. She also said Sussex needs better-paying jobs for residents raising families, so they can choose to live and work in Eastern Sussex if they want – instead of being forced to live in Western Sussex while working in Eastern Sussex because pay hasn’t kept up with the cost of housing.
Rappa said we’re living at time when internet access is vital. Yet, she said, large swaths of Western Sussex don’t have the required infrastructure to provide meaningful service.
As in her first campaign, Rappa said manufactured housing issues still need more work. She recognizes legislation has been adopted on rent justification, but, she said more can be done.
Rappa said she’ll roll out action plans in the coming months, but in the meantime it’s time for people to “get past the crazy.” She said it’s not about labeling something left or right; it’s about doing what for the good of the people.
District 37 represents the residents of Georgetown and Long Neck.
The filing deadline for the primary is noon, Tuesday, July 12. The deadline to register to vote for the Tuesday, Sept. 13 state primary is Saturday, Aug. 20.
The deadline to register for the Tuesday, April 26 presidential primary was Saturday, April 2.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
