Adam Duvernay

The News Journal

Correction: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect former title for Lisa Blunt Rochester and John Fluharty. It also had incorrect information about the Delaware Libertarian Party endorsement for Congress in 2012. This version has been corrected.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of profiles on candidates running for Delaware's at-large congressional seat.

Rose Izzo doesn't campaign, raise money or practice politics like the other candidates running for Delaware's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, a fact she says makes her the best choice and those at the top of her party say disqualify her from honest consideration.

Izzo has run for Congress in Delaware four times, most recently in 2014 when she was the sole Republican in a race she would lose by a 22-point margin to incumbent John Carney. Now that Carney wants to be governor and is abandoning his seat, Izzo says she'll win this time, even though Republicans have chosen Han Reigle to carry their banner.

The perennial candidate refused to meet in person for an interview with The News Journal about her campaign, and only yielded to a short phone conversation after repeated and initially declined requests. She hasn't submitted the paperwork necessary to appear on the ballot, but said she intends to compete in the September primary and win the November election.W

Four Democrats — U.S. Marine Corps veteran Sean Barney, former state Labor Secretary Lisa Blunt Rochester, State Sen. Bryan Townsend, accountant Mike Miller and businessman Scott Walker — also are running for the seat.

Izzo calls herself a "Kitchen Table Economist." Though she initially could not define this title when pressed to do so on the phone, a few hours later she wrote the News Journal an email saying it means she's a "staunch advocate for gathering around the kitchen table to hash out problems and pass on life lessons. Also an expert managing a budget, paying the bills and cutting off unnecessary expenses."

Izzo only made a real effort to answer questions about her candidacy through email. She railed against "Political Sugar Daddies," said she's dedicated to "Getting Money Out of Politics" and claims to be the "most qualified to represent the Middle Class."

"I support: Peace, Not War, the Fight for $15, Getting Money Out of Politics, No Cost Community College and Trade School Education, Fair Trade, Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition and the realization that Climate Change is real and caused by human activity."

If those ideas sound a little left of the Republican line, Izzo's answer doesn't really square the ideologies.

"The question should not be, why are you running as a Republican? The question should be, why does the Republican Party leadership not care about helping poor people?"

Asked to elaborate on how she'd accomplish her goals if elected, Izzo said she first needed a "voice at the table" and would succeed by "working with other people." She could not point to past experience with moving legislation or working through government channels.

STORY: Running for congress, Rochester draws on experience

STORY: Sean Barney hangs congressional run on military service

Izzo touts her aversion to fundraising as a positive.

"I will only accept donations from individual donors. If you are a corporation, bank or investor, we don’t want your money," she wrote.

Her Federal Election Commission filings show only $30 in individual contributions since January 2015. Reigle, her primary opponent, has raised $64,240 in individual contributions over the same time.

She's never won a race, though she's participated in many, even running as a Democrat for a representative position in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. She says it shouldn't matter what party ticket she's running on because it's "about the issues."

And while she said in her 2012 address to the state Libertarian Party she would be "going to Washington to get the federal government out of our daily lives," that'd she'd work to repeal the Affordable Care Act and get rid of the U.S. Department of Education, today she's pro-union, believes in a higher federal minimum wage and no-cost higher education, policies more associated with far-left politicians like presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

"This congressional race is not about me, it’s about us. We have the momentum, we are energized and we will win," Izzo wrote. "Am I a serious candidate? Ask the establishment that question."

The News Journal asked leading state GOP officials and received as an answer a resounding "no." Izzo called their response "nonsense."

Because she hasn't yet paid her $3,480 filing fee, state GOP Chairman Charles Copland said he doesn't consider Izzo a candidate for the Republican ticket (she has until July to file). Izzo is not listed on the state party website.

Sussex GOP Chairman Billy Carroll, like other state party members, was confused why he was being asked about Izzo. He said she's not a serious contender.

"If we'd had a strong candidate two years ago, we probably would have won that seat," Carroll said of Izzo's last bid for Congress when she was the only Republican on the ticket. "But we didn't."

Former state GOP Executive Director John Fluharty, now a party analyst, shares the opinion Izzo isn't someone to be taken seriously as a candidate, and said her disjointed policy points prove that even more than her invisibility from normal political functions.

"Republicans have little interest in having Bernice Sanders as their nominee. The economy needs new high paying jobs that grow the economy, and her efforts would produce the opposite with devastating effects on Delaware citizens," Fluharty said, leveling a dig at Izzo for appearing at events supporting Sanders and for backing many of his policies.

Scott Gesty is the state Libertarian Part candidate for Congress, as he was in 2012. The party backed Izzo as the candidate in her race against Republican Tom Kovach — who went on to win the party nomination — then because her positions were more closely aligned with theirs.

While some of her more recent issues still meet Libertarian muster, party spokesman John Machurek said most don't.

"That's a little different than how she presented herself in 2012," Machurek said.

The history of political races in the United States is rife with perennial candidates, individuals who make regular plays for office without ever gaining much traction.

They appear in races across the spectrum of state and federal governments, and they can be as serious about their message as perennial presidential candidate Ron Paul and his libertarian views or offer a satirical look at the nation's politics as does Vermin Supreme, a man who's been running for office since 2004, wears a boot on his head and wants to make teeth brushing mandatory.

Sam Hoff, a professor of political science at Delaware State University and an observer of statewide politics, said he knows something about perennial candidates, having himself run for president of the United States every election since 1988.

"I don't think it's a joke," Hoff said of Izzo's candidacy. "But she has to indicate at some point by her action and behavior she wants to hold the seat."

Her message aimed at taking money out of the political game especially, Hoff said, is reflected in her campaign finances. Sanders has much the same message, but Hoff said the difference is in translating that into actual votes.

If Izzo doesn't play the game of politics at least a little — for example, by generating name recognition by attending candidate forums or attending debates — Hoff said no one is going to hear her message.

In her own words

Izzo resisted multiple attempts to be interviewed about her policy positions. She asked The News Journal instead to send questions to her campaign email. Below are answers taken verbatim from those emails.

What issue matters most to you: "Helping people is the most important issue. Our manufacturing is gone, our jobs are gone and no politician in Washington, D.C., will ever bring them back. Only we have the power to change things. In America we have over 11 million people that are unemployed; we have 104 million people on welfare, 133 million people on food stamps, 33 American children that go to bed hungry each night including 35,000 just in the state of Delaware. This is caused by the lack of leadership we have in Washington, D.C., and this has to change."

What makes you qualified to serve in Congress: "In America we have two kinds of people, the very rich and everyone else. I understand how hard it is to live on a small income and having the fear that there is more money going out than there is coming in. The sad reality is American families across our country live knowing that they are one paycheck away from losing everything they worked hard for. To solve issues like poverty, we must care enough to place people over corporate greed. By not taking campaign funds from Wall Street, Big Banks or Political Sugar Daddies makes me the most qualified to represent the Middle Class in Washington, D.C."

You’ve raised almost no money this cycle. Are you soliciting donations: "One of my main issues is Getting Money Out of Politics. The political class doesn’t understand this issue. The election system is rigged so poor people are discouraged from running for political office. Somehow the political parties in the state of Delaware get to set the price on how much someone will have to pay to play. For Congress the fee is $3,480. This is my forth time running for this office and I haven’t raised much more than the filing fee each time and still managed to compete statewide."

Do you think you can win this race: "A serious candidate never quits. I first ran for this office on the same issues as today in 2010 against two multimillionaires in the GOP primary and received 3.7 percent of the vote, then again in 2012 against the entire Republican establishment and gained 35 percent in the GOP primary. In 2014, I became the Republican nominee and ran against the sitting two term congressman (John Carney) while the Delaware Republican State Committee sat on their hands and refused to help our campaign. I received 85,146 votes (37 percent) spending just .03 cents a vote."

Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 324-2785 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com.

U.S. House race

Name: Rose Izzo

Affiliation: Republican

Born: Brooklyn, New York

Age: 47

Prior service: Izzo has never held public office, but has run in elections in Pennsylvania and Delaware since at least 2004.