Mike Ramone, one of Delaware’s leading Republicans, is running for Governor

ETHAN GRANDIN
Political Coordinator

Delaware House Minority Leader, Rep. Mike Ramone (R-Pike Creek South), announced his bid for the governorship this past Monday, May 6 in Georgetown, Dover and Wilmington.

The minority leader has been a Republican (GOP) representative for over half a decade, serving both Newark and Pike Creek South.

“The country has gotten to such a point of polarization and that’s not my world,” Ramone said. “I think there’s a way that we can all get along, we don’t have to make you hate someone so that you don’t vote for them.”

The minority leader expressed how he has focused on his own party’s unity while also working with the opposite side of the aisle. 

“We can do better,” Ramone said. “We just need to be a little more compassionate. Use a little more common sense.”

Ramone’s platform consists of a strong emphasis on education reform and the value that education brings to Delaware. He stressed the prevalence of the lack of choice parents have when it comes to deciding how or where to educate their children.

Ramone stated that lack of choice may be for a myriad of reasons, whether it be socio-economic or busy working schedules for parents.

“Bring more control and power into the schools,” Ramone said. “You bring more of the money that is going to the districts into the children’s classrooms so that the teachers have the resources.”

Ramone asserted that those schools doing well deserve support, whether it is a charter school or not.

“Why do we have so many charter schools, just as an example, who won’t take any more children and don’t have the room because they’re doing that good?” the minority leader said. “If you’re doing that good, let’s make sure they have more room so people have a choice to go to the schools they want to go to.”

He argues that the legality of abortion in the state of Delaware has already been made clear and that, despite his personal beliefs as a Catholic, he has no goal of getting rid of something that in the state of Delaware is indeed legal.

“The state of Delaware has made it clear what they want,” Ramone said. “I have no intention of changing something our state has said they want in such a high turnout. That’s not my right.

“The reality is, I got a beautiful daughter, daughter-in-law. I have three beautiful granddaughters. I want them to be able to have that same right and flexibility.”

In a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll “The Rise of Fascism and Extremism” topped the list of one the biggest concerns for United States adults. 

“I would look at it a little differently,” Ramone said. “I think we have a constitution and I believe we should follow it. I believe I’ve digested an enormous amount of frustration.”

Ramone addressed the democratic majority in Delaware and how the lack of a balanced legislature can lead to some of these frustrations. 

“That’s why I don’t care if it’s all Republicans or all Democrats,” the minority leader said. “One-party rule is sometimes toxic because you lose sight of your balance.” 

Ramone joins one more Republican running, Jerry Price, a former New York Police and Rehoboth Beach Police Officer and political newcomer.

Julianne Murray, Delaware GOP Chair, announced for the governorship and then retracted once Rep. Ramone decided on his run.

The Democratic field has three candidates: Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control Secretary Collin O’Mara.

“I think that I will be able to stay focused on Delawareans and not politics to bring Delaware to the level it needs to be and get us back to being one of the top states in the nation,” Ramone said. 

Delaware’s primary election is four months away on Tuesday, Sept. 10 which will set up those candidates who compete in the general election for governor on Tuesday, Nov. 5.