New Castle, Wilmington Democrats select nominees for vacated seats

Upstate Democrats selected nominees to replace Senate seats vacated by two senators who were elected to higher office.

Caucuses were held by Democrats to replace Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington, who was elected to Congress, and Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Heatherbrooke, who won for lieutenant governor.

Selected to replace McBride was Dan Cruce, chief operating officer with the United Way of Delaware. Former legislator Ray Seigfried will seek the seat of Evans Gay. Seigfried served as a representative from 2018-20, and worked for ChristianaCare.

Gov.-elect Matt Meyer had called for an open primary to fill the seat, but Democrats said in a press release that candidates were selected according to processes outlined by Delaware code and party rules.

Party chairs said the candidate nomination process was successful, and offered more resident engagement than required by the law or Delaware Democratic Party rules. However, they said it also brought forward an important public discourse about whether the General Assembly and governor-elect will amend the process in the future – an idea posed by the governor-elect that the chairs do not oppose. 

“While detractors may continue to criticize the party, their issue is with the code itself. We should focus on continually improving and expanding voter access instead of taking cynical stands that drive voters away and distract from the issue at hand: in order to make progress for all Delawareans, we must elect strong Democrats to the state Senate, who will support efforts to ensure every eligible voter has equitable access to elections. While our current, longstanding system rewards participation, we must acknowledge participation does require privilege, and we appreciate the opportunity to more thoroughly discuss how our party can be more accessible, while we ensure voters do not go long periods without representation,” officials wrote in a statement.

“[T]hose who would try to put a finger on the scales of this just process, or suggest that it was done in secrecy, fail to recognize the meaningful moral imperative that our party tasks itself, and its candidates, to uphold.” 

The special elections will occur at a date determined upon the filing of a writ of election by the Senate president pro tempore or the governor. Winning senators-elect will serve for two years, the remainder of each departing senator’s term.