Democrat Tom Carper defeats progressives in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del. – Outgoing President Tom Carper won Thursday's nomination to the Delaware Senate, rejecting a first unexpected challenge from a progressive who was threatening his quest for reelection.

Carper's victory facilitates his move to a fourth term in the Senate, where he has set a record and a reputation for moderate business.

In November, he faces the winner of the Republican Senate, elected by county councilor Rob Arlett, and former PayPal director Gene Truono. Carper is a big favorite to triumph – starting with his 1976 victory in a race for the state treasurer, he won 13 of 13 statewide elections.

After three terms in the Treasurer's Office, Carper, 71, served 10 terms in the US House (Delaware has one seat in the House) and two Governor's terms before being elected in the Senate in 2000.

Her first victory disappointed progressive activists who rallied behind the new candidacy of Kerri Evelyn Harris, a 38-year-old community organizer who challenged Carper from the left. Harris, who has been in economic trouble since an injury ended his military career, has garnered national attention and volunteers after progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked a powerful member of the New Democratic Chamber of Democrats. York end of June.

In Delaware, "the most likely outcome has occurred," said Geoffrey Skelley, an electoral analyst at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "It does not necessarily mean that progressive energy is not significant. The fact that [Carper] had a first progressive challenge that led us to watch things is remarkable. "

Carper, who served in the navy during the Vietnam War, was a reliable progressive vote in the Senate on social issues such as LGBTQ rights and abortion. And unlike some of his more conservative Democrat colleagues, he supported flagship measures of the Obama administration such as the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Bill.

As a Democrat member of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, Carper also sought GOP opposition to two of the most senior appointments of President Donald Trump to the Environmental Protection. Trump subsequently withdrew the candidates.

At the same time, Carper's ideological profile mirrors that of other Delaware politicians who have fiercely defended the state's status as a tax haven for large corporations. It is a bipartisan political tradition of moderation, friendliness and friendliness toward the big corporations known as the Delaware Way.

As a principal adherent to this approach, Carper has consistently sought to dilute the rules that affect large financial institutions and pharmaceutical companies based in his state. More recently, he was one of 17 Democratic senators who joined the Republicans to pass a law overturning a key element of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Carper's relatively pro-Waller record and the history of the confirmation of Republican candidates to cabinet and the judiciary have made him a mature target for the Progressive branch of the Democratic Party. A particularly painful point is Carper's 2006 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the federal judiciary, which has prepared Trump to appoint him to the Supreme Court (Carper said his past support for Kavanaugh was a mistake).

Another point of contention during the first phase was Carper's confidence in corporate fundraising at a time when 116 Democratic congressional candidates pledged not to accept corporate donations. Carper received more than $ 1.7 million from company-supported political action committees during the election cycle alone.

In an impromptu interview with HuffPost Thursday during his visit to Bayard Middle School, a diverse racial polling station in western Wilmington, Carper repeated a defense he had deployed throughout the campaign: federal candidates by the CAP bias.

I asked if, in the future, he would still consider voluntarily denying corporate PAC donations. I reminded him that activist groups, like End Citizens United, had managed to get promises from candidates from all walks of life.

"Well, I never say never," he said before supporting his support for various campaign finance reform policies.

Harris, a biracial homosexual air force veteran, initially drew little national attention after she announced her race against Carper in February. But Ocasio-Cortez's victory – and the New Yorker's subsequent decision to approve and campaign for Harris – gave the Delaware challenger new life.

Harris received the help of Justice Democrats, a group of elders from the 2016 presidential campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who helped win Ocasio-Cortez.

Sanders campaign veteran Claire Sandberg, who recently participated in the Democratic Progressive Democratic Party's bid for the Democratic Governor's nomination, also came to Delaware to help Harris. Sandberg oversaw a campaign expense of $ 100,000 on behalf of Harris by Working Families Party, a progressive group that seeks to push Democrats to the left.

And Winnie Wong, co-founder of the People for Bernie Sanders and the National Women's March, led 2 minutes digital video advertising for the Harris campaign that went viral.

Despite a modest influx of political money after Ocasio-Cortez's victory, Harris was far behind Carper in fundraising. By mid-August, she had just over $ 51,000 in cash; Carper, who, unlike Harris, accepts donations from corporate political action committees, had more than a million dollars.

Harris and his allies relied on a slice of progressive electorate – voters more racially and economically diverse than the stereotype of the state seeking more than the Delaware Way. If participation remained relatively low, as at Ocasio The Cortez race, Harris, saw a chance to surpass his weight with the digital and field organization and to mobilize just enough voters to win.

Despite Delaware's distinguished political culture, the state has not been inoculated with national polarization trends. In 2010, Republican Republican Mike Castle, a moderate, unexpectedly lost a Senate primary to conservative activist Christine O'Donnell, who then lost to Democratic Democrat Chris Coons during that otherwise Republican year. Carper told the New York Times that he had consulted Castle about the loss, and the Republican said he simply did not take O'Donnell seriously enough.

Carper decided not to make the same mistake: he criss-crossed the state in his Chrysler minivan in 2001, covered the airwaves and accepted a televised debate with Harris.

At Bayard Middle School, the forces of Carper's and Harris were exposed.

Shalynne Rogers-Bryant voted for Harris versus Carper because she wanted a change, citing poverty, violence and lack of resources in Wilmington. "Fresh is good," she said.

She was also impressed when a Harris campaign solicitor knocked on her door. His daughter, T'Shay Brooks, who also voted for Harris, received a call from one of Harris' volunteers. The Carper team did not either

At the same time, some polling station voters knew absolutely nothing about Harris.

LaTonya Allen voted for Carper because he is "familiar" and is "a man" who has been good in the state of Delaware.

In the end, the recognition of Carper's name, the plentiful money of the campaign, and the decision to leave little room for chance surpassed the efforts of the Harris insurgents. The Delaware Way survived another day.

Progressives may perhaps take the courage that the primary pushed the incumbent to the left. He is now supporting a federal minimum wage of $ 15, which he has already opposed, and the decriminalization of marijuana.