We have endured a couple of instances recently with lawmakers either not living in or moving out of their districts. Melanie George Smith and David McBride come to mind as examples. It is not something that is a Democratic or Republican issue. Lawmakers representing a district should actually live in that district, with their neighbors that they represent. And owning a property in the district and staying their occasionally is not sufficient.
House Bill 183 is a bill that creates a process for the Commissioner of Elections to determine if a candidate or an incumbent elected official for a State or county elected office are residents of the district or area they represent or seek to represent. The purpose of this Act is to require all candidates for State or county elected offices and incumbent elected officials to have their primary residential address in the area or district they represent or seek to represent.
Now, one thing you will notice from the sponsorship names below is that most of them are Republicans. I understand that this is a new bill and that the devil is in the details, and the details of this proposed process need to be fleshed out, but the purpose behind this bill is good. And there needs to be more Democrats on this bill.
| House Bill 183 Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| Hensley, Briggs King, Collins, Dukes, Gray, Longhurst, Ramone, D.Short, M.Smith, Yearicck | ||
| Wilson, Hocker, Lawson | ||
| Current Status — House Administration 5/12/21 |
I believe you will see a D Senator of note as a Senate sponsor or so I have been told :).
This is an old Delaware tradition and has been going on since I can remember, to make it stop would require that they actually do something when it is found out.