Common Cause shuts down Delaware office

When Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall decided to run for the 14th District seat in the House of Representatives, she stepped down from her role as executive director of Common Cause Delaware.

The position was never filled, and the group is no longer operating in Delaware.

“It’s unfortunate, because even though Delaware is a small state and a blue state, and therefore more open to democracy reform issues, we still have a lot of changes to be made. We have a lot of things that could be improved upon. I think it’s unfortunate that they are not keeping the Delaware office open,” she said.

Snyder-Hall was elected in November to serve in the House after beating Republican challenger Mike Simpler. Snyder-Hall will serve in the seat held by former Speaker of the House Pete Schwartzkopf, who retired from office.

Snyder-Hall served as executive director for Common Cause from 2021 to 2024, and a shorter stint as director from 2015 to 2016.

After some leadership change at the national level, she said she heard from the state board that the national board decided to reallocate national resources and had other priorities.

“In the reconnoitering of what they were going to do moving forward, they decided that they would put their resources into other states, and I guess they thought it wasn’t worth it to fund the Delaware office,” she said.

Board members Jeff Raffel and Don Peterson could not be reached for comment.