I gave you a rundown of the Delaware Campaign Finance Reporting deadlines yesterday in our opening article on the campaign fundraising in all races in Delaware this year. The Federal Election Commission deadlines are a little different and a little more straight forward than Delaware’s screwed up system. U.S. House and U.S. Senate candidates have to file quarterly reports. The first quarter report is due on April 15, the second on July 15, and the third on October 15. Candidates then have to file a Pre General Report on October 22, and a Post General Report on December 3.
The problem, however, is the FEC. As with all Federal agencies and departments during this era, they are now all underfunded and understaffed due to the Trump Administration’s negligence, incompetence and malfeasance. So as you will see below, we don’t have reports for some candidates and we don’t really know if the candidate has missed the deadline or if the FEC just hasn’t processed the filing yet. They tell you as much.
For a statewide Republican, insane person and former drug mule Lauren Witzke has raised a respectable amount through the end of June, but the problem is she has spend all but $17,000 out of $109,000 raised. I am going to have to look at her expenditures. I sense a Christine O’Donnell situation here.
The party endorsed candidate, James DeMartino, has raised only $38,000, but has $23,000 cash on hand, more than Witzke.
There has been filed for the third party candidates, Libertarian Nadine Frost and Independent Mark Turley, but I don’t know if that is their fault or the FEC’s.
The marquee race is the Democratic Primary between incumbent Democratic Senator Chris Coons and progressive Jess Scarane. Coons is a fundraising juggernaut as you can see, and he has been spending those millions on a flood of mailers everyday to our mailboxes and TV ads thanking essential workers that seem to air every hour on cable. So Coons is flooding the zone to beat down this primary challenge so he won’t be caught flat footed as Mike Castle was in 2010.
To her credit, Scarane has raised a very respectable amount and is putting out mailers as well (I have received two so far). She also bought cable air time for the above ad that air during the one of the conventions. She has been very engaging on social media. It will be a tough hill to climb but she seems to have a very good grassroots campaign going.
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester doesn’t have a primary opponent and she is sitting on a good pile of cash for the general. The Republican primary been former actor Lee Murphy and Trumpist and reformed gay basher Matthew Morris. I have no idea who is going to win this race, and not just because we don’t have any information for Morris. Given each candidate’s backgrounds (or lack thereof), I would think that Murphy has the edge, but then again, his fundraising is not at all impressive for a Congressional race, and he is the guy who LOST to tree vandal and slum landlord Scott Walker in 2018. So I would not be at all surprised if Morris has tapped into the Trump Train with Witke and is steaming for a victory.
Interesting Scarane bought time for that ad. She’s been excoriated on social media for using the images of BLM protests and protesters without permission. The argument back was essentially, “we were there too to support you, don’t be mad at allies”. Not cool. If you have crew present working on a campaign related video, you have to get the right releases from the people you are filming. Stealing the expressions of pain from rally or march participants to further your own ends is literally part of what BLM is in the streets for.
Stealing the expressions of pain from rally or march participants to further your own ends is literally part of what BLM is in the streets for.
Really? It’s not because police are shooting unarmed people? Because if I’m wrong about that I won’t bother supporting your movement anymore. I had no idea it was about making mountains out of molehills.
Also, just by the by, they were protesting in public. No releases are needed. Look up the law.
Guess it was a matter of time before the “economically distressed” showed up. And trying to define BLM too. Even a quick read of the BLM website would tell you that they exist to “…end State-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever.”
We can tell which one you showed up here for.
Whether or not video of a public event is really public, this candidate did not make any friends among key elements of the organizers of these marches by not telling them their images would show up in a video implying support for her. Not a good move for someone asking for votes.
Seriously:)? PUBLIC is the operative word!!! Have you even seen any republican ads?
FWIW, here are some articles on the Senate races I found intriguing
https://delawarestatenews.net/government/republican-senate-primary-foes-calling-for-law-and-order-no-lockdowns/
https://delawarestatenews.net/government/democratic-senate-primary-progressive-challenger-seeks-to-upset-incumbent/