New Sussex County House and Senate seats approved

A bill that will change Delaware elections for the next decade passed both chambers of the 146th General Assembly in the closing days of session.  The legislation finalizes the reconfiguration of 21 Senatorial and 41 Representative districts to include a new district in the Cape Region in both houses.

Representative District 20 will move from Hockessin in northern New Castle County to Sussex County, where it will include Lewes, Milton and Harbeson.  The proposal will also change House District 37 to encompass all of Georgetown, meaning the Hispanic population will rise from more than 17 percent to more than 19 percent.

Senate District 6 will move from northern New Castle County to Sussex County.  The district will contain Dewey Beach, Rehoboth Beach, Henlopen Acres, Lewes and Milton.  None of Sussex County’s sitting Senators live in the area that will become the new district.

The Senate also modified Republican Sen. Joe Booth’s District 19 to include a Hispanic population of more than 15 percent.

The 50-page bill, which spelled out the boundaries of House and Senate districts, passed the House on June 28.  Twenty-six Democrats approved the bill; 10 Republicans voted against passage of the bill and five Republicans did not vote.

According to House Majority Caucus Communications Director Andrew Volturo, debate was brief, but House Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, spoke out briefly against the bill.  Lavelle, who also voted not to release the bill from committee June 22, will lose District 11 in the Talleyville area of northern New Castle County, to the Middletown area between southern New Castle and northern Kent counties.

Lavelle said in an email that contrary to rumor, he has no plans to move out of his district and has not yet decided whether to run for Representative District 12, Senate District 4 or any other state office.  “There will be plenty of time to make those decisions as the session just ended.  I'm busy catching up at work…and enjoying the summer with my family,” Lavelle wrote.

The bill passed the Senate June 30, in the finals hours of the 146^th General Assembly, in a vote of 15-6.  Senate Majority Caucus Legislative Assistant Valerie McCartan said there was no debate over the bill when it came before the Senate.  “I would say the Senate as a whole was satisfied in the end,” McCartan said.

Every 10 years, all local, state and federal electoral districts must be remapped to account for changes in population. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population in Sussex County has grown by 26 percent, or 40,500 people in the last 10 years.

According to Delaware law, House districts must have an average of 21,900 residents; Senate districts needed to be remapped to include an average of 42,759 residents, give or take five percent.  In Sussex County, five of the eight representative districts were more than 12 percent over the average population.  Three of the four senatorial districts in Sussex County had as much as 26 percent more people than the average district.

House of Representatives

House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, championed the redistricting process in the House with majority caucus Chief of Staff Erik Schramm and staffer Matt Pazoles, who became the trio’s computer software aficionado.  “He was very valuable to the process,” Schwartzkopf said.

Attorney Bill Bush provided legal counsel during the redistricting process.  “There’s a lot of legal issues involved in redistricting,” Schwartzkopf said.  “You can’t stop people from sueing you, but you can make it defensible in court.”

Schwartzkopf said redistricting the state was a heavier task than he expected, but he would happily do it again.  “I’m glad it’s not something we do every year,” he said.

Under the proposal, Dewey Beach will move from Rep. Gerald Hocker’s 38^th district into Schwartzkopf’s District 14, even though, Schwartzkopf said Dewey Beach contains more Republicans than Democrats. “It was the right thing to do.  They should not have to go to Bethany Beach to vote,” Schwartzkopf said of Dewey Beach residents.

Schwartzkopf said one of the main reasons he first ran for office 10 years ago was because he felt Dewey Beach voters had been disenfranchised after redistricting.  “I didn’t do it for votes,” he said.

A primary complaint at a May 27 public hearing on Schwartzkopf’s redistricting proposal was the House’s failure to use an independent commission to redraw district lines.  Schwartzkopf said he thinks his team completed the task as well as an independent commission would have.  “I don’t think you could find a truly independent commission,” he said.  “I think we did a pretty fair job.”

Senate

Senate staffers Dick Carter, McCartan and attorney Frank Murphy formulated new district lines for the Senate.  A June 2 public hearing on the Senate’s proposed map had few residents speak in opposition to the proposal.

“Overall, I believe it was a fair and open process that welcomed input from all Senators as well as the general public.  I think we did a very good job of being responsive to all the questions and concerns that were raised either through public comment at the June 2 hearing or direct email inquiries from the public,” McCartan said in an email.

McCartan said the team’s top priority was complying with the Federal Voting Rights Act.  “I think we accomplished this goal quite decisively, maintaining two minority majority districts in Wilmington, despite the decrease in the city's population over the last 10 years, and with our eye on districts that are emerging as ones of minority influence,” McCartan wrote.

McCartan said despite the challenges of the task, she hopes to be considered for the assignment again if she is still with the Senate in 2021.

Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, said in an email he was disappointed to lose Rehoboth Beach, where he has owned and operated a branch of State Farm Insurance since 1974.  Bunting said he was also unhappy to lose a major portion of manufactured tenant communities that he has served in Rehoboth Beach since taking office.  “Redistricting is definitely political, but I deal with what I am dealt,” Bunting wrote.

Sen. Robert Venables, D-Laurel, said he was glad to see his district remain one of the most conservative in the state.  “I’m real happy with it,” he said.

Venables said most of his constituents are like-minded and especially support his position on moral and religious issues. “Most of them around here think pretty much like I do.”

Venables, who pointed-out he is the oldest sitting member of the General Assembly, said when he decides to stop running for office, there are plenty of good candidates lined-up to represent District 21.  “They’re all waiting for me to retire,” he said.

House and Senate district maps can be viewed on the General Assembly website at delaware.gov.