There are some real differences between me and my opponent for Lieutenant Governor.  One is that he has much nicer suits than I do.  This will not change between now and election day, unless my children develop a sudden taste for Ramen noodles or their pre-school adopts a “two for the price of one” clearance sale for the summer.  A second difference  is that I’ve actually worked with members of both parties to get things done in the Delaware General Assembly.  Now let’s stop for a reality check here: I am not a member of the Delaware General Assembly.  He is—has been for six years.  So he is the one who is supposed to be passing bills, not me.  But the fact is, I’ve actually gotten some very important things done in the General Assembly.  He hasn’t.

I bring it up this week because some of our efforts are coming to fruition.  This week the Republican-run House of Representatives passed a homeowners insurance protection bill I wrote (which my opponent voted against when he had a chance) that will make Delaware one of the toughest states in America when it comes to protecting homeowners from having their policies cancelled.  This was a three year fight where we had our share of setbacks along the way, but by holding our ground, and working with legislators of both parties, we ended up with an even tougher bill than the one I wrote back in 2005.  The bill should be approved by the State Senate today or next week.  Special thanks to Senator Dave Sokola and Representative Val Longhurst, who worked hard to negotiate a bill we could get through the House, but still makes us one of the best states in America when it comes to protecting homeowners.

We also had a signing ceremony yesterday for a bi-partisan bill I wrote to use our state’s free and reduced price lunch program to expand enrollment in the CHIP program that provides low-cost health insurance to kids whose families are between 100% and 200% of poverty. This is an area where we have to do better–as I have said during the campaign, we need to get every kid covered when it comes to health insurance, and half of our uninsured kids are eligible for either CHIP or Medicaid. This bill is another step toward fulfilling that goal.

More success stories are on the way before June 30^th of this year.  I’ve had some bills that I was unable to pass–most significantly my health insurance reform bills that have been buried in a desk drawer in the House of Representatives.  But there are an awful lot of success stories, real things I was able to get done for Delawareans by working across party lines to pass important bills.  These are good things for the people of Delaware, but they also reveal a lot about the Lieutenant Governor’s race.  I think people have had enough of typical Dover politicians beating their chests, holding press conferences, calling their opponents names (other than “nice suit wearer,” which I think is acceptable), and then siding with the special interests to create gridlock in the General Assembly.  They want elected officials who will go to Dover and get things done.  That’s what I’ve done for the last four years, and I think people will see that when they are making their choice in November.