Why Should Delaware Care?
The feedback from voters coming from the polls can help to persuade future campaigning strategies in the state and influence how candidates think about issues once elected.
Tens of thousands of voters headed to the polls on a perfect, fall-like day Tuesday to cast ballots in the Democratic and Republican primaries – and one opinion seemed to be a consensus from dozens of conversations with voters statewide: they were glad it’s over.
The tenor of the primary campaign has increasingly turned sour in the past month, particularly between Democratic gubernatorial candidates New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, but also in some small legislative and county races.
Nearly all of that negative advertising has been funded by large political action committees, who have poured millions of dollars into races large and small this year to try to swing voter opinion.
It seems to have backfired for many voters, as many of the targets of those ad campaigns prevailed in their races anyway.
Joanna York made the trip to the West Park Place Elementary School poll in Newark to cast her vote.
York said she did not enjoy the “animosity” and “negative attacks” in this election cycle. She threw out mailers she received from PACs attacking one candidate or the other.
After doing research on the candidates, and the allegations, she said she came to her own conclusions about the election.
In Millsboro, Joyce Riolo voted for former DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara while friend Ann Jackson voted for Meyer.
Neither woman said the negative campaigning in the waning days of the race affected their thinking, though it reinforced the choice for Jackson.
Conversely, Janine Betts, of Millsboro, voted for Hall-Long at the Millsboro Fire Hall this morning. She said that she didn’t listen to all of negative advertising surrounding the governor’s race.
“I just don’t listen to any of that propaganda. I decide on my own, either from knowing them in the past or from just judging them myself,” she said.
Jennifer Noel and her daughter, Natalie, came out to vote in Smyrna to make sure that “the right people that we wanted to be in office made it to the office.”
The two have also laughed about this year’s political campaign advertisements, as Natalie said the advertisements “got a little too creative.”
“With Bethany Hall-Long, some of the ones they did for her were absolutely ridiculous and played it so much with the outright lies,” Jennifer Noel said.
Ed Lesser said the negative attack ads between Hall-Long and Meyer swayed his choice for governor significantly.
He cast his ballot for O’Mara on Tuesday afternoon at the Sports at the Beach complex in Georgetown.
“I couldn’t trust the other two,” Lesser said.
Valerie Harris, of Smyrna, likewise said she doesn’t like the political campaign advertisements that are harsh towards other candidates.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we’ve got to work together,” she said. “We only have one Earth, one life, so if everybody keeps fighting against each other where is it going to lead? Destruction.”
Land use concerns widespread
Betts, of Millsboro, said that her primary issue of concern is development. She said there is too little farmland and other open space for animals.
“Not just along the beaches, but right here on (Route) 24 or anywhere in Millsboro or Long Neck,” she said.
Brian Short says he always comes out to support Sussex County and keep it local. He emphasized that people need to vote after he cast his ballot outside of Seaford Middle School.
“You can’t complain if you don’t vote,” he said.
Short, a firefighter, was born and raised in Seaford and is concerned with preserving farmland in Sussex County.
Stephen Boyd cast his ballot at Aetna Fire Station 7 in Newark.
Boyd, who’s lived in Newark since he graduated from the University of Delaware in 2021, said an issue of concern was affordable housing.
“Newark has gotten far more expensive just in the seven years that I’ve lived here,” he said.
Abortion, LGBTQ rights on minds
Although Delaware has codified protections for abortion access into state law, many voters said that the issue remained a concern to them.
Harris, a mother and grandmother, said one of the issues that drove her to the polls was abortion rights.
“Let women be women. How dare you tell me what to do with my body, with my daughter’s body, with my granddaughter’s body,” Harris said.
Patricia Floyd, of Greenville, is concerned with the issue of health care, particularly women’s right’s over their bodies. She also makes it clear that she is not in favor of Project 2025.
“I’m against everything in it, even the paper it’s written on,” she said.
Miranda Roland, of Newark, said the issue she voted on was LGBTQ rights.
As a result, she said she cast her ballot for congressional hopeful Sarah McBride and gubernatorial candidate Matt Meyer.
Republicans seek change
Richard Haney, a 79-year-old Air Force veteran, emphasized cost of living as one of his main concerns after he submitted his ballot outside the Laurel Fire House. He’s living on a fixed income from his pension and social security.
“It’s tough,” he said.
He said that they have to get the Democratic Party out of here because Republicans have a better idea of what they’re doing, especially concerning finances.
Michael Perry, of Selbyville, was one of the lucky voters who did not receive any negative political mailers during the weeks before the primary election. But, he heard about them on local talk radio, which he listens to often while driving a school bus.
While listening to various shows, he also had heard Republican Mike Ramone speak about his campaign for governor. That piece of campaigning was enough to win Perry’s vote. Asked whether there was any single issue that motivated him to come to the polls, Perry said, “It’s my duty, first of all.”
But he also said that he fears that Selbyville will have to confront a homelessness crisis in near future.
“Milford and Georgetown are real bad. We don’t have anything here yet, but it’s only a matter of time, I guess,” he said.
Laura Putnam and her husband rode up to a polling site at the American Legion in Millsboro on the back of Spyder three-wheeled motorcycle that flew a Trump flag at its rear.
A retiree from Maine who has lived in Delaware for 10 years, Putnam said she’s voting to ensure that the “right people” make it into office, indicating that she prefers candidates who align themselves with former President Donald Trump. Her husband added that they “vote like a baby’s life depends on it,” referring to their pro-life stance.
Putnam also stated that the state should create better services for veterans, and particularly housing.
“We need to do something for our veterans. They need to have housing and they shouldn’t have to pay for anything,” she said.
