It’s about to be another short campaign season in Sussex County, as newly-chosen nominees of the two major political parties prepare to pound the pavement and rally their constituents for an election that is barely more than a month away.
The Democratic nominee, chosen on Saturday, is Georgetown resident and public defender Robert Robinson Jr. On Sunday, county Republican officials announced Sussex County Association of Realtors’ Executive Vice President Ruth Briggs King as their candidate.
Both said their main focus in the short term is reaching as many voters as possible.
“Grass-roots,” Briggs King said. “You’ve got to have a group of volunteers who are very active and involved.”
“People expect to meet their representatives face-to-face,” said Robinson. “I plan to get out as much as possible.”
The primary issue facing the district, both candidates said, is the same thing that has been dominating headlines for months now: jobs and the economy.
“I think we need to get to work on the budget right away,” Robinson said. “There are a lot of state workers in this district. We need to find a way to restore state workers’ salaries and get taxes back down.”
“A lot of our local businesses are suffering,” Briggs King said. “We had a lot of tax increases for small businesses last year… we have to be looking at diversifying our job base and also supporting the businesses we have.”
The special election for the 37th District will take place Sept. 12. At stake is potential Democratic supermajority control (three-fifths) of the state House, something Democrats have already seen realized in the Senate.
37TH DISTRICT, DEL. —
