Xerxes Wilson

The News Journal

Matt Meyer and Thomas P. Gordon are in the Democratic primary for New Castle County executive.

Gordon is seeking a fourth term and Meyer is a political newcomer.

The county executive oversees a $300 million annual budget and Delaware's most populated county.

Matt Meyer didn't have to convince Wilmington resident Maggie Anton that she should vote for him. He had only to utter two words:

"Tom Gordon," Meyer said in response to Anton's question about whom he was running against for the New Castle County executive office.

"Oh, I can't stand him," she told Meyer, a Wilmington attorney who was stumping in her Triangle neighborhood. "You totally have my support."

Heading into the Sept. 13 Democratic primary, political newcomer Meyer commissioned a county poll that he says documents a wall of negative sentiment against Gordon. He's banking on the votes of people like Anton who are frustrated with how they see government working under Gordon, a longtime local government official running for an unprecedented fourth term leading Delaware's most influential local government. The winner of their contest will face Republican Barry Nahe in the general election.

The county executive pulls the strings on $300 million annual budget covering police, sewer, library, parks and land development services for the county's 550,000 residents. The highest rungs of county government have been a jumping off point for several state and federal politicians, including Congressman John Carney, Sen. Chris Coons and Vice President Joe Biden.

Gordon isn't running for higher office but is the longest-serving executive in New Castle County's history.

"I know what he is saying negative about me is wrong," Gordon said of Meyer. "Had he not gone negative, I would have thought much more of him."

On Meyer's poll, Gordon said he "can't imagine the numbers are that bad" and suspects "it was a push poll where they trash [me] and ask you questions."

Observers say Gordon's name is connected to almost every county park or building established in the past 20 years, is well-known in the community and has a record of never raising county taxes. All that will make him hard to beat, especially by someone new to the political game.

"He hasn't raised their taxes, and he knows a lot of people," said Rich Heffron, director of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. "That is why he wins. He has a good instinct for seeing issues and seeking out where the public is. He's a good politician."

Meyer sees an opening, however. He takes every opportunity to mention Gordon's 2004 federal indictment on racketeering charges. All felony charges were dropped. Gordon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tax-reporting violation dealing with two employees who did campaign work on county time. Gordon has said the indictment was the product of a "witch hunt."

"I know Tom Gordon's history, and we can do better, can't we?" Anton said.

Meyer rolls his eyes when Gordon is labeled the favorite. His confidence is nursed by numbers from a telephone poll his campaign commissioned in May of 749 New Castle County likely Democratic primary voters.

In a head-to-head competition, Gordon beat Meyer by 3 percentage points, garnering 33 percent support of those polled. Meyer had 30 percent, and 38 percent were undecided.

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A particular boost to the Meyer campaign, the poll showed Gordon trailing by 2 percentage points when voters were asked if they'd like to re-elect the executive or if "it's time for someone new."

"It indicates we are in a much better position than we, the most optimistic, thought we were in," Meyer said.

When asked about the poll, Gordon flashed the sarcastic confidence of a politician who has won three countywide races and helped a number of others come to power.

"Yeah, sure. I’ve got [a poll], too. Want to see mine?"

Gordon took a piece of scrap paper and scribbled "Gordon: 70, Meyer: 30."

Hitting the doors

Meyer's poll was conducted by Raleigh, North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling, which has conducted surveys by political candidates across the U.S. and for news organizations, including The News Journal. The poll also showed 37 percent of those asked had a favorable opinion of the incumbent, while 30 percent had an unfavorable view and 33 percent were unsure.

Paul Brewer, director of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware, said the numbers show Meyer, without much name recognition, has the potential to grow.



"It suggests a potentially close race and the potential for things to break either way," Brewer said.

Meyer's campaign director, Rashad Taylor, believes the poll shows an electorate unexcited at re-electing the incumbent.



"Gordon has nearly 100 percent name recognition here in the county. He has had a government job for the past 30 or 40 years," said Taylor, who worked on Capitol Hill and campaigns for Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia. "For less than 40 percent of voters to be ready to re-elect him is shocking for an incumbent."





Meyer's biggest hurdle is the fact nobody knows who he is, said Fred Sears, a former Wilmington City councilman and past president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit aid organization known as the Delaware Community Foundation.



"He has got to get out and do a lot more hustling," Sears said.



Since he launched his campaign in March, Meyer said he has hit the doors of 3,000 likely Democratic voters countywide. His goal is to reach 10,000 by September. He declined to disclose how much money his campaign has raised.

"In the insider world, I have no chance," Meyer said. "Ask the people out here, though."

To be successful, Heffron said Meyer will need to use to his advantage the ongoing drama between Gordon and his former chief administrative officer, David Grimaldi.

Gordon fired Grimaldi in October, setting off a feud in which Grimaldi has sued Gordon for wrongful termination and, in a separate suit, Gordon's daughter for online defamation. Grimaldi has also released embarrassing audio of phone conversations with Gordon that he covertly recording before he was fired.

"[Meyer] needs to make people aware that there is a situation in the county executive's suite that is, I don't want to say illegal, but not very orderly," Heffron said.

Meyer has said he wants to use county government to create the “seeds of a Silicon Valley for engineering” in Delaware. He is still working on a detailed economic development plan, he said.

The issues tab on his Meyer's campaign website has one tab: ethics.

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His message to voters has been largely concentrated on painting Gordon as bent on using government resources to perpetuate his own political career. For example, he's hit out at Gordon's loaning of $3 million in county reserves to an upstart company to start a stock exchange in Wilmington calling it a "dumb investment" and suggested the executive simply wanted a campaign plank to attract city voters.



"We decided to do ethics first because that is the core of what I’m hearing from everyone," Meyer said. "Whether it is insiders, even Tom Gordon allies, or the doors I’m knocking on, there is just no transparency and no sense our county is doing the right thing the right way."

'We have a record'

Gordon acknowledged Meyer can be a threat.



"If a record doesn’t matter, then I will probably lose," Gordon said. "How does one distort that record: corruption, cronyism, financial breakdown, spending like a drunken sailor, whatever. None of it is true."



Gordon said he didn't truly start campaigning until July 4. He said he has no paid campaign staff currently and about $70,000 to $80,000 in his war chest. County Risk Manager Cheryl McDonaugh is listed as his campaign treasurer on election documents.



"I don’t have a platform," Gordon said. "We have a record. ... So what am I going to do? We are going to do what we have done the past 12 years."

Gordon rattled off a laundry list of libraries, parks and government buildings he's been responsible for building.



"It is clear what I have done," Gordon said. "Government is not going bankrupt. I have done nothing in 12 years but have the best libraries and parks … and kept [residents] safe and did it all without raising taxes."



The no-tax push has been a hallmark of Gordon's three successful campaigns for county executive.

State Sen. Harris McDowell, D-Wilmington North, who chairs the Joint Finance Committee, which writes the state budget, has recently sparred with Gordon over the share of public services paid for by the county versus the state. He called Gordon the favorite to win.

"He does a good job at the primary job he is asked to do, which is manage that government," McDowell said.

As Meyer canvassed the Triangle neighborhood, he seized on the home of incumbent Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart. Her front yard is home to multiple Tom Gordon signs.

Meyer was greeted by Stewart, who was eating dinner. Meyer asked why she wouldn't back him.

After a long, contemplative pause to chew her food, she replied: “Gordon is sincere and a good manager. He just seems to instinctively know how to get to the heart of an issue that helps the most people … I don’t know you that well.”

Gordon recently got the endorsement of the county's Democratic Party Committee, a change from his previous campaign. He expects to make gains in parts of the county that favored his opponent in 2012.

For example, he said voters in Pike Creek will swing for him because of his fight to limit a 288-home development on the former Three Little Bakers Country Club. A county lawsuit eventually went to the Supreme Court, which upheld a lower court's ruling that a large portion of the land must be preserved.



"I’m going to remind everybody I bought Glasgow Park," Gordon said. "That is 140,000 people [in the park's vicinity]. They will be reminded."

The county bought the property for $15 million in 2003.

Political observers say the wildcard in stoking any potential unfavorability Gordon may have is Grimaldi, who declined comment for this article.

Grimaldi said he has hundreds of recordings of Gordon unfiltered. To date, he has broadcast a recording that showed he was fired directly after he questioned the influence McDonaugh has over Gordon. Other recordings have shown evidence of cronyism, which Gordon denies.

"What negative stories out there really stick?" Gordon said.

Heffron agreed, but noted the potential for damage from what he called a "strange dance."

"The back and forth between Tom and Grimaldi is entertaining, but [voters] don't see anything awful or any corruption," Heffron said. "[Meyer] has to wait and see if anything pops up that makes people rethink who Tom Gordon is."

The foundation

Political observers say Wilmington is the foundation for any successful countywide race.

Wilmington's Sept. 13 mayoral primary is the same day is the county primary, and a field of eight Democratic candidates vying for mayor has many expecting the city will again carry more weight than its population suggests.

The city's population is 71,000 while the county has about 550,000 residents. Despite this, city voters could account for 30 to 35 percent countywide primary votes. About 35,000 Democrats voted in the 2012 countywide primary for county executive.

"I think [countywide candidates] have to campaign there, hit it hard, be at every event, get people to know you and get the name recognition there," Sears said.

Gordon has been at city events pitching his advocacy for a new container port just south of Wilmington. He's also noted his stock exchange loan, saying the upstart will boost the city's corporate job base.

"From day one, I’ve worked hard on city issues," Gordon said.

Meyer, a Trinity Vicinity resident, has accused Gordon of making "irresponsible" promises with his port pitch. State and port officials are currently deciding how dock operations might expand.

Taylor, Meyer's campaign manager, said they have put some emphasis on canvassing in the city because it has consistent voters that are packed tightly together.

After a short, front-porch conversation about union support with Jerry Potter, state Rep. Charles Potter's brother, Meyer had another vote in the bag while knocking on doors.

"He is out here. That is number one," Jerry Potter said after Meyer. "He keeps doing what he's doing, there might be an upset."

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

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