#Delaware Politics

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Orion Rummler at The 19th:

WILMINGTON — Sarah McBride won Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat on Tuesday, Decision Desk HQ projects. She campaigned on expanding Delawareans’ access to health care — an effort on which she has focused her career in the state’s 1st Senate district. In January, McBride will be sworn in as the first out transgender member of Congress. 

McBride’s ascension marks yet another milestone for the millennial state legislator. As the country’s first out transgender state senator, the first transgender person to speak at the Democratic National Convention and the first out trans woman to intern at the White House, McBride has repeatedly broken barriers in politics and proven that voters are ready to elect transgender candidates into elected office.   Although McBride didn’t run for Congress to make history, the significance of her campaign for transgender Americans during a time of intense political backlash has propelled a national following behind her. That includes Daisy Hollman and Jimmy Fitzpatrick, two Californians who knocked on hundreds of doors for McBride across Delaware the week before Election Day. 

[...] This election for Delaware’s seat in the House of Representatives had no incumbent for the first time in years, as U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester stepped down to run for Delaware’s open Senate seat. McBride was projected to be the winner early on; she had robust fundraising and amassed key endorsements from state political leaders, including Blunt Rochester. Democrats have held Delaware’s at-large House seat for over a decade.  On the campaign trail, McBride called for increased federal investments to support nurses, primary care physicians and independent health care clinics in Delaware. She touted her accomplishments as a state senator, including the passage of a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program and a recently signed law that is expected to generate more than $100 million in new Medicaid funding for Delaware. 

She faced a Republican opponent who endorsed transphobic policies. John Whalen III, a retired police officer, staked his campaign on cutting federal spending and restricting immigration. He also publicly endorsed Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump administration. The plan equates the act of being transgender — or “transgender ideology” — to pornography. 

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D) made herstory by being the first trans person to be elected to Congress by winning the DE-AL seat.

[destielmemenews]

"Despite running in a reliably blue state, McBride emphasized her work leading a bipartisan push to pass paid family and medical leave in the state. She also touted support from unions and work to raise the state minimum wage. Though she didn’t lean on the historic nature of her run, she alluded to a broader theme of respect – specifically, that everyone deserves a member of Congress that respects them and their families."

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[batboyblog]

BREAKING NEWS! RED ALART! WAKE THE FUCK UP CHILDREN!

Sarah McBride, the first openly trans person elected to a State Senate is running to be the FIRST! trans Member of Congress! and she's got a real shot, in 2024 we could elect a trans woman to Congress, I repeat we are on the edge of a HUGE moment in trans rights in America, holy fuck!

Sarah McBride for Congress

[j-mysticalien]

I know the big election is scary right now but I’d like to highlight that we’re on our way to having the first trans member of Congress in Sarah McBride and that’s so so so exciting

[mysharona1987]

Now this is a question when we consider Biden’s empathy.

Sorry, it is.

13,000 child are dead, Joe.

That two year old girl you lost? That toddler girl in Palestine was her.

[cherryaire]

Stop equating trans with good person. Sarah Mcbride, the first trans Delaware Congresswoman is a Zionist founded by AIPAC. Yall need to actually look into things before being excited. This is NOT a win for anybody but monsters.

[politijohn]

Source

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As of 6/1, this asinine legislation is moving forward for a vote.

[loveerran]

Tammy Baldwin was the first openly LGBT non-incumbent to be elected to Congress in 1999 (and the first to be elected to the Senate in the Year of Our Lord 2013). The second openly LGBT non-incumbent member of the House, Jared Polaris, was elected in 2009.

Since then, in just 15 years, 19 openly LGBT members of Congress have been elected. 12 (12!!) will be simultaneously serving in the House when the new Congress is sworn in. One of those will be the first openly LGBT person elected in the South. Her name is Julie Johnson and she's from Texas!

And, of course, the first openly transgender member of Congress was just elected! Sarah McBride from Delaware:

[fakeoldmanfucker]

Trans people have representation in the House now!!!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jeff Singer at Daily Kos:

The end of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign brings with it the end of a long political career that almost never came about in the first place. As is our tradition at Daily Kos Elections, we're taking a look at Biden's rapid and surprising rise in Delaware politics that began in the early 1970s, when he went up against a pair of Republican incumbents whom almost everyone else thought were unbeatable. The First State was far from the Democratic bastion it is now back in 1970 when Biden, then a 27-year-old attorney, first sought a seat on the New Castle County Council. Richard Nixon had in fact narrowly taken Delaware's three electoral votes two years earlier by beating Democrat Hubert Humphrey 45-42; the balance went to George Wallace, the longtime segregationist who was campaigning on a third-party ticket. Democrats were in worse shape further down the ballot. Republicans held both of Delaware's U.S. Senate seats and its lone House district, and the 1968 elections had left them in control of the governorship and with large majorities in both chambers of the legislature. And Democrats didn't seem to be in any position to make gains in the foreseeable future.

[...] The first-time candidate wound up proving the naysayers wrong and beating the odds. While 1970 was another rough year for Delaware Democrats, including Daniello, Biden scored an upset 55-43 victory against Messick even though Republicans retained control of the County Council. (The two former rivals later became friends; Messick met then-Vice President Biden at the White House in 2016 shortly before his death.) It didn't take long, though, for Biden to display an early predilection for the type of ill-considered statements and verbal miscues that would become an unwanted trademark during his five decades on the national stage. [...]

That senator was Caleb Boggs, a former congressman and governor who was one of the most popular politicians in Delaware. But Boggs, a liberal Republican who would be 63 on Election Day, didn't want to run against Biden―or anyone else. Longtime Boggs aide William Hildenbrand would tell the United States Senate Historical Office in 1985 that his boss (who was often referred to as "Cale"), had already decided several years earlier that his current term would be his last. That was not welcome news for Nixon, though, who badly wanted to avoid a potentially nasty primary between du Pont and Wilmington Mayor Harry Haskell. Republican leaders also feared that, without the popular Boggs on the ticket, Gov. Russell Peterson wouldn't be able to win reelection, despite the GOP's dominance in the state. To avoid this scenario, Nixon convened a meeting in 1971 at the Delaware home of financier John Rollins, who had served as lieutenant governor under Boggs in the 1950s. Participants included Boggs, du Pont, Sen. Bill Roth (who was the state's other senator), and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole. Nixon ultimately managed to convince the reluctant Boggs to seek a third term the next year, a move that seemed to secure the GOP's hold on his Senate seat.

[...] Biden went on to pull off an upset for the ages, unseating Boggs in a 50-49 squeaker even as Nixon was carrying Delaware in a 60-39 rout as part of his 49-state landslide. (Peterson, the governor who was supposed to benefit from Boggs' decision to put off his retirement, lost reelection 51-48 to Democrat Sherman Cooper.) Hildenbrand ruefully remembered that the president "never did one thing to help" his Boggs, though Kirtley insisted Nixon had urged the senator to film footage of the two at the White House. But while the New York Times took notice of the Democrat who was poised to become the youngest person ever elected to the Senate, Biden almost didn't take office following a tragedy that would mark him for the rest of his life: the death of his wife Neilia and their infant daughter, Naomi, in a car accident that left their sons, Beau and Hunter, badly injured.

In the early 1970’s, when Delaware was a Red state (albeit of a moderate GOP flavor), Joe Biden scored two upset victories: he unseated Republican incumbent Lawrence Messick in the 1970 New Castle County Council race and Republican incumbent Caleb Boggs in the US Senate race in 1972.

These two upset victories fueled Biden’s rise on the national stage: his long Senate tenure eventually led to 2 failed Presidential runs in 1988 and 2008 and a Vice President ticket placement by Barack Obama. The Obama/Biden ticket won two terms in 2008 and 2012.

He then ran for President a 3rd time for the 2020 elections, and this time, it was the charm, as he won the Democratic Party’s nomination and ultimately the election.

[lady-raziel]

This is the nightmare blunt rotation

(And yes, this is a real photo: link to article)

[speedygal]

Congrats Lisa Rochester!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - September 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon!

1. Rescue Dog Who Helped Raise Dozens of Foster Puppies Finds Forever Home

“Three and a half years ago, Noel arrived at Lucky Dog as a pregnant pooch pulled from [an] animal control shelter. […] Once the puppies were old enough to start life on their own, Lucky Dog found homes for all of them. […] Noel was an "amazing mom" to over two dozen foster puppies while staying at [a foster] house.”

2. Radiant cooling device uses significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning

“Testing of the device […] showed the cooling device capable of cooling the skin by approximately 7.3°C. It also showed that it consumed 50.4% less energy than an average air-conditioner of comparable ability. The research team notes that the device can also be run in reverse, to serve as a radiant heater.”

3. How a Native elections official is breaking down voting barriers in Arizona

“Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder, [… ran for office in 2020] to represent people who were being ignored by the democratic system and denied the right to vote. […] “People started getting the voter registration cards back, getting their voter IDs in the mail, and they were so excited to show me or thank me for helping them register,” she said.”

4. Scientists are growing [coral] babies in a lab to save animals from extinction

“Each August, corals in Florida release their eggs and sperm into the water[, … but “they] can’t reproduce on their own anymore.” [So, researchers are] collecting and freezing the spawn and growing them into genetically diverse baby corals that can be replanted into the wild[….] These resilient corals could pass important adaptations to their babies[….]”

5. New Legislation Will Accelerate Offshore Wind Energy in Delaware

““The responsible development of offshore wind and the transition to renewable energy is essential for the protection of wildlife, habitats, and communities from the havoc of climate change[….]” “This legislation is the product of careful consideration and input from multiple state agencies, industry experts, energy researchers and environmental advocates[….]””

6. Removal of Apache Trout from Endangered Species List Due to Collaborative Conservation Efforts

“[A]fter more than five decades of recovery efforts by federal, state and Tribal partners, […] the restoration of Arizona’s state fish marks the first […] trout delisted due to recovery, a significant conservation success[….] The Apache trout is found exclusively in streams of the White Mountains in the eastern part of Arizona […] and is sacred to the White Mountain Apache Tribe.”

7. [Texas] State court rules Austin must release files on police complaint

“Under the act, records of any complaint – even if no disciplinary action was taken – must be handed over to the civilian-led Office of Police Oversight. [… T]he ruling ushers in a new level of oversight of the complaint process and the department writ-large.”

8. Super-rare hairy-nosed wombat caught waddling through a woodland in Australia

“Ecologists at Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) say the video footage provides exciting evidence wombats are breeding in the refuge again. […] There are only 400 of them in the world, making them rarer than the giant panda and the Sumatran tiger. […] “Although this isn’t the first joey born at the refuge, it is the first juvenile spotted for a few years.””

9. The country’s biggest electric school-bus fleet will also feed the grid

“[The] country’s first all-electric school-bus fleet[,…] which serve the district’s special-needs students, […] can charge with low-cost power and discharge spare capacity at times of grid stress[…. V]ehicle-to-grid charging is something for which electric school buses are particularly well suited.”

10. The Push to Save Horseshoe Crabs Is Gaining Momentum

“Conservationists hope new restrictions on harvesting and synthetic alternatives to a crab-blood compound used in biomedical testing can turn the tide for the ancient arthropods, whose eggs are a vital food source for Red Knots [threatened migratory birds]. […] Now conservationists are in the thick of a multi-pronged push to save both species.”

August 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[jacks-weird-world]

💋: @sizzabel