Thirteen businesspeople – developers, large landowners, Realtors, contractors, mortgage lenders and others – have pooled their contributions in a political action committee to re-elect Mark Schaeffer. Starting in 2023, they assembled a war chest of $105,000, double the funding that Schaeffer has raised for his own campaign committee in 2024. Their PAC has the misleading name of Preserve Sussex and might better be labeled Preserve Sussex Developers.
The PAC also supported Cindy Green, who in nearly four years on Sussex County Council voted with Schaeffer 99% of the time. Green lost her primary election. Now the group is campaigning for Schaeffer with mailers. We are likely to see more in the remaining days of the campaign.
One mailer praised Schaeffer’s leadership in stopping the Royal Farms project on Route 24, claiming he leads efforts to oppose growth and protect the environment. Those who have watched Schaeffer closely over three years would disagree. He says the right things to groups critical of growth, and he backs the county’s open space programs. He points to the 20 times he has voted against developments but ignores the 200 votes he has cast in favor. You can be part of the problem, part or the solution, or part of the problem while pretending to be part of the solution.
The money these developers are willing to invest in getting Schaeffer re-elected speaks volumes. Under Delaware’s campaign finance rules, members of this pro-growth group could each contribute $600 to Schaeffer’s campaign. Instead, under the guidelines for PACs, they can contribute unlimited amounts that can be spent in praising or criticizing a candidate but not in explicitly urging you to vote for or against that person. Thus far, Preserve Sussex has adhered to those rules, but why would one donor contribute $25,000, two donors give $15,000 each, or three provide $10,000 each if they did not think the investment would pay off?
Sure, they might be friends of Mark Schaeffer, and sure, they might love the natural beauty of Sussex, but businesspersons normally expect something in return for their money. And in this case, some have given 25 to 40 times the maximum contribution allowed to a candidate’s campaign. Common sense suggests something more is at work here. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.
On his website, Schaeffer refers to this as a conspiracy theory. Instead, it is a highly plausible theory supported by lots of evidence. A commercial Realtor seeking an office with final say on county land use backed by persons in the same industry hoping that highly favorable policies will continue if this candidate is re-elected. It is not far-fetched at all.
Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Don’t get fooled this time.
Campaign finance reports can be found at https://elections.delaware.gov/candidates/campaignfinance/campaignfinancesys.shtml.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
