DeMartino’s candidacy for Rep. District 14 denied

Republican James DeMartino has been denied his 14th Representative District candidacy and he’s accusing Sussex County election officials of playing party favorites.

“Just another Democrat tactic to prevent qualified candidates from challenging the Speaker of the House Representative Pete Schwartzkopf,” stated DeMartino in a prepared statement June 12. “Democrats know the speaker is vulnerable this election cycle, and they will do all they can to prevent Schwartzkopf from losing his seat. It doesn’t matter to them that they’re denying the constitutional right of a citizen to pursue public office. It’s not about the law and justice, it’s about control.”

In March, DeMartino, a former Marine and attorney, announced his intention to challenge Schwartzkopf, a Rehoboth Democrat who has represented the district since 2002 and the only Democrat in Dover from Sussex County. He said June 13 that he attempted to make his candidacy official June 10 at the Sussex County Department of Elections but was denied by Kenneth McDowell, county elections director, after being told he didn’t meet the 3-year residency requirement.

Beginning with a copy of an employment offer from Rehoboth’s Tommy Bahama dated Oct. 25, 2013, DeMartino, who most recently lived in Washington, D.C., said he provided to McDowell four pieces of evidence with a Lewes home address dated more than three years prior to this year’s Nov. 9 General Election. The evidence included a pay stub from the retailer for a pay period of Oct. 28 to Nov. 10, 2013, and two copies of U.S. Post Service-delivered envelopes with yellow forwarding address labels to his residence, both dated November 2013.

DeMartino said McDowell called his residency into question because his Delaware driver’s license and his voter registration, the two most commonly used methods for proof of residency, are dated March 2014.

“It’s the same information I used at the DMV to get my driver’s license,” said DeMartino. “How can it be good at one time, but not good for another?”

McDowell said he was surprised by DeMartino’s comments. He said the pay stub doesn’t mean a whole lot to him.

“I could live in Delaware and work in Maryland,” said McDowell.

McDowell said a candidate has to be a resident of Delaware for three years and a resident of the district for one. DeMartino meets one of those requirements, he said.

State Election Commissioner Elaine Manlove said June 13 she was familiar with the situation. She said 99 percent of the time a driver’s license or voter registration work to prove a potential candidate’s residency.

Manlove said the department will continue to look into DeMartino’s case, but as far as she knows, records indicate he’s been a resident in Delaware for two years. She said she already has called into District of Columbia Board of Elections to see when DeMartino last voted in Washington, D.C.

The state’s constitution mandates the lieutenant governor must be a resident of the state for 12 years, the last six consecutively before the election. McGuiness, one of six Democrats running for the office, has been a Cape Region resident her entire life, but she also owned a condominium in Park City, Utah. According to the state’s Department of Elections website, McGuiness filed to run for lieutenant governor Sept. 4, 2015. In January, after residency issues were raised, Manlove ruled McGuiness met the residency requirement and was eligible to run for office.

Manlove said she resents the comments being made by some Republican officials. She said she and her staff investigated McGuiness’ residency, delaying the process process for a couple of months.

“Kathy provided us with any and all the information we requested. She was very forthcoming,” said Manlove. “It’s our responsibility to handle the job in a nonpartisan fashion. This is the standard process, and the voters expect my office to do our due diligence in providing them a list of candidates who meet all requirements.”

Sussex County Republican Committee Chair Billy Carroll agreed with DeMartino the Sussex County election office was playing party politics. He said Kathy McGuiness, a Democrat from Rehoboth Beach running for lieutenant governor, has the same residency issues, but she was allowed to file.

“I think there’s clearly a double standard,” he said.

Sussex County Democratic Committee Chair Mitch Crane said he wasn’t surprised Republicans were accusing the county elections office of playing unfairly. He said he’s worked with the office for years, and they have always done their jobs in an unbiased fashion.

“I don’t question their impartiality at all,” he said. “We live in an era where when people don’t get their way, they think there’s a conspiracy against them.”

The deadline to file for the election is noon, July 12.

McDowell said he submitted the pay stub to the Attorney General’s Office for a ruling, and that he would follow whatever they decide.

DeMartino said he intends on staying in the race and will wait to see what the AG rules before he decides what his next step is.

The 14th Representative District includes Rehoboth, Dewey and the Angola area.