Why Should Delaware Care?
The race for the House District 36 seat could be a pivotal one in this year’s general election, and it has quickly become one of the most heated in Delaware. That contention comes in part from the support of developers who have switched political parties in seeking to unseat the incumbent representative.
One of Delaware’s most contentious statehouse races has heated up in Milford, pitting an incumbent Republican against an upstart Democrat with a local family of developers weighing into the fray.
House District 36, which covers south Milford to Ellendale and down to Broadkill Beach, has been represented by Republicans for 40 years, but Rep. Bryan Shupe only narrowly held his seat by 12 votes in a primary challenge in September.
He now faces Democrat Rony Baltazar-Lopez in a district that has become increasingly purple, with Republicans only holding a 154-voter edge in registrations as of Oct. 1, according to Department of Elections data. Unaffiliated voters make up nearly 30% of voters in the district.
On top of that difficult race, Shupe now also faces continued opposition from the Fannins, a family of prominent Sussex County homebuilders who backed his Republican challenger Patrick Smith and are now supporting Baltazar-Lopez.
Elmer, Brent and Michael Fannin each maxed out the individual donor contribution of $600 toward Baltazar-Lopez’s campaign in October, totaling $1,800, according to campaign finance reports released this month. They were among the few individuals to max out their donations to the young Democrat in his three-month campaign, and represented more than 10% of all the funds he had raised to date.
In several social media posts, Shupe has alleged that the Fannin family was “running” Baltazar-Lopez’s campaign — a claim that the Democrat denies.
The opponents have traded social media barbs in recent weeks, as a joint debate or town hall event has yet to be agreed upon by both candidates.
Shupe said he’s concerned about the similarity in talking points that he’s heard from developers and Baltazar-Lopez against him.
“I worry that (Baltazar-Lopez) does not understand, as a first-time resident running for office, that money from somebody of their nature means that there are strings attached to it,” he added.
Baltazar-Lopez held a meeting with the Fannin family after they had expressed interest in contributing to his campaign, he said.
“I made it very clear to them that my vote cannot be bought,” Baltazar-Lopez told Spotlight Delaware. “If they believed in who I was and what I stood for, then I would not refuse contributions, that was at their stake. It’s not at mine.”
Baltazar-Lopez added that he will hold any developer, person or political action committee (PAC) that contributes to his campaign accountable to the same standards as everyone else.
“If Representative Shupe wants to continue defaming me or mischaracterizing the truth, that’s on him,” said Baltazar-Lopez, who previously served as a board member for the Milford School District Board of Education and currently serves as the director of legislative affairs and communication with the Delaware Department of State.
A race that has grown ‘personal’
The Fannin family previously contributed over $5,000 to Smith, Shupe’s challenger in the September Republican primary. The family also contributed to Smith’s 2022 primary campaign, which he similarly lost to Shupe, according to campaign finance reports.
In 2023, Elmer Fannin contributed $10,000 to Preserve Sussex, a Republican-affiliated PAC that poured tens of thousands of dollars into Sussex County Council elections. The PAC involvement indicated an unprecedented move of influence on local elections in the state.
It is our firm belief that everyone should have the right to participate in the political process without fear of retribution or public vilification.
elmer fannin
In August, Shupe raised concerns about the PAC and its influence on local elections. At that time, Smith had raised nearly the same amount of money as Shupe in their primary campaigns.
Shupe won this year’s primary over Smith with a razor-thin 12-vote edge. A Democratic primary election was not held in the district, with only Baltazar-Lopez running.
The opposition between Shupe and Fannin purportedly dates back to at least 2019, when the legislator passed on concerns from residents of Hearthstone Manor, a Fannin-built development of Milford homes, to the Delaware Department of Justice regarding some allegedly improperly supported balconies.
Hearthstone Manor is one of the communities developed by Country Life Homes, a company-owned by the Fannin family. Shupe cited the exchange as an example of him standing up to developers.
“I understand why the Fannins don’t like me — It’s personal,” Shupe said. “They want to protect their investment, they want to protect their money, but my job as a state representative is to protect the people.”
The Fannin family did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
In a Sept. 6 letter to the Cape Gazette newspaper, Elmer Fannin defended his family’s contributions to Smith “in the spirit of civic engagement,” and emphasized his stance that a conservative should represent District 36. He also called Shupe hypocritical for accepting donations from other “developers, builders, real estate organizations, lobbyists, big pharmaceutical companies, political action committees and more.”
“The First Amendment guarantees every person the right to free speech and to support causes and candidates of their choosing,” Fannin wrote. “It is our firm belief that everyone should have the right to participate in the political process without fear of retribution or public vilification.”
Whether the more than 18,000 registered voters in District 36 will ever get to see the candidates debate the issues together remains to be seen with just a few weeks until Election Day.
Shupe did not attend a town hall debate with Baltazar-Lopez on Oct. 14 because there was “never a serious proposition” presented to him with specifics regarding time, place and moderator, he said.
Likewise, Baltazar-Lopez declined to attend an Oct. 17 town hall forum organized by the Convention of States Action, a conservative lobbying group, because he said there was no outline of impartial rules or procedures provided beforehand.
As of Oct. 7, Baltazar-Lopez still held a roughly $2,700 advantage over Shupe in campaign fundraising, despite also outspending the Republican opponent by nearly $3,000 in the weeks after the primary election.
The general election to decide the district’s legislative seat will be held on Nov. 5. Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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