As summer draws to a close, more and more attention is focused on the upcoming primary and general elections.
Three candidates are running to replace state Rep. Pete Schwarzkopf, a longtime LGBTQ supporter, in Delaware’s 14th Congressional District, which includes Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach and South Lewes.
Kathy McGuinness, Claire Snyder-Hall and Marty Rendon are all hoping to win the seat held by former House speaker who announced he would not run for re-election after 20 years in office.
It’s an embarrassment of riches for the local LGBTQ community. Two of the three candidates, Claire Snyder Hall and Marty Rendon, identify as members of the LGBTQ community. McGuinness is a strong LGBTQ ally.
Snyder-Hall is a lesbian and has a long history in the 14th District and in politics. With her leadership in the Delaware office of Common Cause, a national organization dedicated to protecting and strengthening democracy, and her 20 years of experience as a political science professor at George Mason University, she has extensive experience in the political field. I have experience.
“I represent the district, but I also represent the entire community,” Snyder-Hall said in an interview with the Washington Blade. “The LGBTQ+ community is very large. It’s not just the mile-by-mile Rehoboth Beach, or even unincorporated Rehoboth Beach. It’s expanding south into West Sussex. Many people are joining the General Assembly. I don’t have representation because the Republican Party represents them. I consider myself to represent the entire community.”
Snyder-Hall said he has spent his life fighting for this community.
“I have been working on LGBTQ+ rights for decades,” she said. “My wife and I were lobby captains for the Maryland Equality Movement before moving to Rehoboth. I ran a phone bank with Chris Beagle at CAMP Rehoboth for many months.”
She said this experience, combined with the current dynamics of the country’s political system, led to her decision to run.
“This is the most important election of our lifetimes. The choice is on the ballot. LGBTQ+ rights are on the ballot. As we face a series of crises that threaten our prosperity and quality of life, Democracy is on the ballot, and indeed the American Dream itself is on the ballot.”
The 14th District’s complex community is diverse and needs representatives who understand the area’s sensitive issues, Snyder-Hall explained. Of these issues, health care in Delaware is a major focus of her campaign.
“Health care, including both reproductive health and gender-affirming care protections, is extremely important across the state of Delaware,” the former professor said. “There is a severe shortage of health workers in east Sussex and we hear voices like this on our doorsteps all the time. I have knocked on thousands of doors and it is common. We need to ensure that reproductive choices are protected, and I support constitutional amendments to protect abortion and protect reproductive freedoms, including access to abortion.”
In addition to abortion protections, Snyder-Hall emphasized another aspect of health policy she wants to address: gender-affirming care. She supports protecting the right to gender-affirming health care as states across the country begin passing laws to limit and regulate transgender health care.
“We are becoming a state that accepts large numbers of so-called ‘refugees’ from other states that persecute transgender people,” she said. “I think it’s really important to extend the protections that are already in place around reproductive health care to providers of gender-affirming care. So for a variety of reasons, health care has become really pressing. Masu.”
Snyder-Hall added that he is encouraging states to pass legislation that protects the LGBTQ community.
“I want a constitutional amendment that protects sexual orientation, gender identity, expression and disability,” she said. “This was introduced a few years ago and didn’t move, but now we have a new Speaker of the House called Valerie Longhurst, and she was the sponsor of that bill, so I’m very excited about this bill. I feel more optimistic about the future.”
Marty Rendon, also running for office, emphasized that protecting LGBTQ Delawareans is a key issue in his campaign. Rendon, a gay Mexican-American, spent most of his career working in Washington as a congressional aide and Congressional Communications Director for UNICEF.
Rendon remembers a time when Rehoboth wasn’t so welcoming to the LGBTQ community.
“I remember when there were signs that said, ‘Keep Rehoboth a Family Town.’ I remember when there were homophobic attacks, physical attacks, slurs.” Rendon recalled. “It wasn’t always a welcoming place, but over time, thanks to the efforts of other groups like CAMP Rehoboth and the Washington Blade, they helped plant the flag for us. …We’re a very viable part of the community now. I think this shows how far we’ve come. Openly gay men like me are winning seats. , the fact that it is very likely to represent everyone, not just our community.”
Rendon added that an openly gay candidate winning a seat would be a welcome step in the right direction.
“It’s not every day you get an opportunity to put someone from the LGBTQ+ community into an elected position, especially in Rehoboth Beach, where we have a very strong LGBTQ+ community,” Rendon said. “Why not send someone from our community?”
The Movement Advancement Project, which tracks more than 50 LGBTQ-related laws and policies in every state in the United States, ranked Delaware as having “medium overall LGBTQ policies.” The project notes that while there are protections for marriage for same-sex couples, they are not as comprehensive as other states when it comes to other LGBTQ issues, such as health care, adoption, and anti-bullying laws.
In addition to advocating for LGBTQ protections, Rendon said climate change and health care are his two biggest issues, saying they affect everyone, regardless of sexuality, income, or background.
“One of the biggest challenges we face as a coastal state is the effects of climate change,” Rendon began. “Right now, every time there’s a hurricane warning, we worry about tornadoes coming. We worry that our coastline is so low, we worry about sea levels rising. We worry about inland waterways. I’m worried about being shut down. I think climate is a huge concern for us here and everyone is affected by it.”
His opinions on health care issues echoed those of Snyder Hall, with a particular emphasis on accessibility in Delaware.
“Health care costs are important, but when you knock on doors here and talk to people, the biggest issue is access to health care,” he said. “Especially when you’re here in southern Delaware, what do we do? [get access]?Let’s say you need an expert. Well, do you have to go to Wilmington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC? Where do you find the experts? You have to bring in the experts, but then your regular primary health care providers, We need more physician assistants, nurses, etc., and we need them to come here. ”
He told the Blade that his solution is already underway and achievable with continued effort. This will benefit everyone in the community, but especially some of Sussex County’s most vulnerable (and growing) demographics, including: Come to the beach to retire.
“One of the ways that many people have thought might be part of the solution is the idea of establishing a medical school here, specifically in Sussex County. And now that idea is no longer a pipe dream… We have people working on it, and development people in Sussex are working on it too.”
“We should also think about incentives to encourage people to come to areas that are underserved compared to other areas,” Rendon added. “We don’t want to send people to Philadelphia for school and then stay there to pay off medical school debt.”
A third candidate running for state representative, Kathy McGuinness, also described health care in District 14 as central to her campaign. McGuinness, a third-generation Rehoboth Beach local, studied biology and DNA research in college and eventually headed to Northeast Boston to earn a degree in pharmacy. After earning her degree, she returned to Rehoboth to start a family and “bought a run-down old pharmacy.”
Mr McGuinness worked in healthcare for 30 years before eventually moving into local government. She served as a Rehoboth City Commissioner from 2000 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2018. She explained that this experience gave her an up-close look at community issues and how to address them.
“I think the most pressing issue is bringing resources to District 14,” she said. “When I say District 14, we need funding for infrastructure and transportation. Thirty years ago, we were an underserved area in the medical world; We’re even more underserved. We’re recognized by the federal government as underserved. We’re in a crisis. As a pharmacist, I see it first hand.
“We see a lot of people moving here without support.”[Delaware] Taxes are low. I’m retiring,’ but I still have to go back to New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia to see a doctor because I can’t get an appointment here. ”
Incumbent Congressman Pete Schwarzkopf endorsed McGuinness. Schwarzkopf has a long history of supporting LGBTQ issues, even though he is not a member of the community himself. McGuinness told the Blade this was why he decided to support her campaign.
“I think that’s why Pete supported me, because he knows I align with his ideas. He wants me to continue to do the good work and advocate for the LGBTQ community.” And I know that supporting the LGBTQ community, and I know that includes transgender youth and gender identities, and I’m there as a supporter, and I’m avid. I will continue to advocate, co-advocate, and support those who are enacting good laws to protect us.”
Rendon says his strong sense of independence makes him ideal for the job.
“At this point in my life, I’m retired,” Rendon said. “It’s my complete job. There’s nothing to distract me. I have no special interests. I’m kind of dangerous because no one controls me. PAC won’t control me. I don’t have any special interests. I’m not doing this for a law firm, insurance company, real estate, etc. I’m just doing this to serve.”
Snyder-Hall emphasizes that her experience within the community is what makes her a great representative. She pointed out that people sometimes disagree when creating laws, but that’s where the work begins.
“When you’re trying to pass legislation, there are no shortcuts. You have to try to reason with people. You try to appeal to their humanity. Like we did with the marriage equality fight. Try to appeal to reason, to people’s hearts, to their humanity, to their interests.”
The primary election is September 10th. For more information about elections, visit elections.delaware.gov. For information on each candidate, please visit the following websites: mcguinessfordelaware.com, martyrendon.com, and clairesnyderhall.com.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
