Nov. 5, 2014 - Issue 10

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The Review The University of Delaware’s independent student newspaper since 1882

FOR BREAKING NEWS AND MORE VISIT UDREVIEW.COM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2014 VOLUME 141, ISSUE 10

KIRK SMITH/THE REVIEW Attorney General Matt Denn with the Delaware Democratic Party at the Christiana Hilton in Newcastle, Del. Below, the party reacts to results.

KIRK SMITH/THE REVIEW Democratic candidate Chris Coons wins the race for Senate. Coons speaks at the Christiana Hilton Newcastle, Del. after receiving the results.

Democrats maintain national seats, but Republicans make noise in midterms MATT BUTLER Managing News Editor Despite many national pundits predicting a wave of congressional change in favor of Republicans, Chris Coons and John Carney maintained their Congressional positions, though the Democratic grasp on Delaware legislature loosened a bit when midterm elections were held Tuesday. In total, Democrats won three of five total statewide seats. Democrats and Republicans split the 10 elections for state senate seats, with both parties winning five each. As for state representative seats,

Democrats won 25, while Republicans won 16. Delaware has been garnering a strongly liberal reputation, and the election cycle for national seats told no different. Despite Republican challenger Kevin Wade holding an early lead, Coons held onto his Senatorial seat by a margin of 58 percent to 40 percent at press time. Third party candidate Andrew Groff, a member of the Green Party, also earned 2 percent of the total. Major news networks were comfortable enough with that outcome that they projected a Coons victory just minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Republicans were able to snag two statewide seats. Kenneth Simpler defeated Democrat Sean Barney by a nine point margin for the state treasurer seat, while Democrat Brenda Mayrack was bested by challenger R. Thomas Wagner by seven points. Locally, Republicans were pleased with the results of the elections, due to victories in both the State Treasurer and Auditor races, said John Fluharty executive director of Delaware’s Republican party. “It’s a great day to be a Republican in the state of Delaware. It’s a great day to be a taxpayer,” Fluharty said. “People sent a sign

that they want responsibility and accountability in their government. They also said balance is good.” Fluharty said they had indications that Simpler would win as he built a voter coalition statewide, particularly in Wilmington, a first for a Republican candidate in Delaware, Fluharty said. Fluharty added that having two parties at the state level is good and that the state will benefit positively. “Democrats had gotten sloppy and arrogant and had really lost touch with the people they represented.” Fluharty said. “But now Delaware will have balance

in government, and that’s great.” These results were much more in line with what took place in midterm elections across the rest of the nation, as Republicans rode public discontent at the previously democratic Senate to win the Senate, while also maintaining control of the House. Laura Thien, the national committeewoman for Delaware Young Democrats, said the change to a more Republican Congress could spell further gridlock, as conservatives in Congress seek to stall President Obama’s progress during his final two years in office. See MARKELL page 4

Republicans now hold majority in Senate after winning key races JAY PANANDIKER & CADY ZUVICH News Assignment Editor & Executive Editor The Republican Party on Tuesday won the six seats needed to take the majority in the Senate, beating Democrats in contested tossup races deemed key in this year’s election. The GOP won races in Colorado, Arkansas, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia to secure Senate majority. Though Republicans won a number of the tossup races, incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) held her seat in a tight

New Hampshire race against Scott Brown, who two years ago lost to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the incumbent, narrowly won his seat against Ed Gillespie, holding on by less than one percentage point at presstime. “My reaction is very positive, a lot of the races are going our way,” said junior Andrew Lipman, a member of the university’s College Republicans. “We won in Colorado, and are in close races in New Hampshire and Virginia.” Lipman said he was most surprised by the Senate race in Virginia, where Republican Gillespie was down by as much as ten percent in recent polls.

The actual results were within one percentage point. Lipman said the Republicans did better in 2014 because they ran experienced candidates who did not make gaffes on the campaign trail. “Looking back to 2012, there were a lot of Republicans who said stupid things on the national scale,” Lipman said. The GOP lead in Tuesday’s election started early on in the night with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) securing an early victory in the Republican-leaning Kentucky race. McConnell’s win against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes means he will emerge as Majority Leader in a Republican-controlled Senate,

taking over a position currently held by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The sixth win to secure Senate majority was made in North Carolina, as Sen. Kay Hagan (DNC) was defeated by Republican Thom Tillis. The Senate will not be fully decided until December’s Louisiana runoff election, as none of the candidates could secure a 50 percent majority. The Georgia’s Senate race could have gone to runoff, but Republican David Perdue held an edge over Democrat Michelle Nunn. In the House, Republicans will keep their majority, making gains to increase GOP representation.

Meanwhile in the 36 governor races nationwide, Democrats managed to pull off a win in nearby Pennsylvania. Current Republican Gov. Tom Corbett lost to Democrat Tom Wolf by a ten-point margin in a race the incumbent was projected to secure. By winning both houses of Congress, the Republicans will have an advantage in the 2016 presidential election, Lipman said. “The Republicans will be able to put bills on Obama’s desk, which he will have to veto. He can no longer hide behind Harry Reid,” he said.

The fight for existence as a third party in Blue state Delaware MATT BUTLER Managing News Editor In today’s fiercely competitive political landscape, Democrats and Republicans have long dominated the national conversation and controlled the direction of the country. However, growing resentment over congressional gridlock and political stagnation has caused some voters to consider alternative parties outside of the existing power structures. In Delaware, a state normally considered heavily liberal and containing 48 percent Democratic registered voters, the competition for the secondary spot is actually much closer than conventional thought would support. According to registration totals from the state government, 24 percent of registered voters statewide identify as “Other” while about 28 percent of registered voters identify as “Republican.” In the upper echelon of those “Other” parties is the Green Party of Delaware, which entered candidates in four out

of five state races. Andrew Groff and Bernie August were both candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives respectively, while Catherine Damavandi ran for Attorney General and David Chandler vied for State Treasurer. David McCorquodale, the Green Party candidate for the State House of Representatives seat for the 21st District and the only Green candidate for state legislature, said the Green candidates in the state do their own work and campaigning without much help from the party structure, since they do not have the resources of the major parties. McCorquodale, who is nominally the state’s Green Party chairman, said minority parties face different challenges beyond the ones faced by Democrats or Republicans, especially when it comes to name recognition and exposure. He said in particular, it hurt the party to be excluded from the debates held at the university, despite being on the ballot. “At the forum at the University of Delaware, John

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Carney was speaking to an empty chair,” he said. “Our candidate, Bernie August, wasn’t allowed to be there, and neither was the libertarian candidate. It’s a little ridiculous when you have a Democrat up there talking to nobody.” Damavandi, who spent most of her career in the attorney general’s office, said she has also faced some complications regarding her campaign, though she has been able to fight through them. What her campaign lacks in financial support and wealthy benefactors, it has made up for in volunteer contributions, she said. She also said if more people knew about the Green Party and examined what the party stands for, they would be much more amenable to voting for them come election day. Journalist and WDEL broadcaster Allan Loudell said Damavandi had arguably the most impressive showing of any candidate at the Attorney general debates. Loudell said though they will most likely not win any seats, he thinks the

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Green Party candidates will serve as one of the main recipients of voters who are angry with the current power in place. Before election results were announced, this effect may be most evident in the Senate race, of which incumbent Chris Coons is the presumptive winner. Loudall said Green candidate Andrew Groff could be perceived as the safe alternative for progressive voters who want to send a message to Democrats but do not want to vote for Republican Kevin Wade. “It’s difficult to see how a third party can get enough traction to become major unless one of two things happen,” Loudell said. “If someone with name recognition suddenly bolts to a third party or if a few people in the money start bankrolling it so they can compete even-steven in terms of billboards and commercials.” Despite the media taking notice of her performance in the Attorney General debate, Damavandi said she would not want to betray her beliefs or values by taking a less difficult road. She said media figures like

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WDEL broadcaster Rick Jensen have said she would win if she was running as a Republican or Democrat. “I’ve never been a Democrat or a Republican. I’ve been an unaffiliated voter my entire life,” she said. “As a matter of principle, I don’t think I could do that. But yes, it is the much easier way because you have the party machine behind you, the party income, the PAC money— there’s a lot of structural support there.” McCorquodale also said it is hard to relay the Green Party message when working within the political system, since most news networks and voters are more familiar with the two parties. When given a platform, he said the Green Party is an entity based on four founding principles: sustainability, peace, economic justice and grassroots democracy. While he thinks these tenets may attract some voters away from the bigger parties, he said, they are at times unable to effectively spread the word to gain support. See MCCORQUODALE page 3

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