Outline

 

 

Preamble

The IPoD's platform is guided by the enduring principles of the Declaration of Independence and the structural framework of the Constitution - committed to liberty, justice, and accountable government.  We seek to identify underlying causes of societal and political challenges, and craft upstream solutions for lasting impact.  We respect our common humanity and strive to bring people together rather than divide. 

The American experiment is a balance between liberty and a practical need for government.  We believe in personal responsibility as well as compassion, freedom as well as consumer protections and regulation when needed, and that although government cannot guarantee our happiness, it should secure the right to pursue it. 

On markets and economic systems government's role is to establish the rules that allow voluntary exchange, competition, property rights, and price signals to function - and intervene prudently only when those mechanisms genuinely break down, or to protect consumers, the environment and the general public.   Economic policy should not unnecessarily interfere with properly functioning markets or replace choices the market can make itself, but should be implemented when unique conditions have prevented a market from proper functioning.

We reject extreme ideologies, disinformation, bigotry and polarization.  We believe in freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition, and a government that derives its power solely from the consent of the governed. 

The IPoD platform aims to restore the balance of power back to the People instead of the special interests, and implement positive solutions for societal problems.

 

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Structural Reform and Government Accountability

The Problem:

Government should be efficient, responsive, and limited to what is necessary - instead, many elected officials spend the bulk of their time fundraising, serving donors and special interests rather than the people they were elected to represent.  

  • Whether 0%, or 100% of Americans are in favor of a bill, there is a 30% chance Congress will pass it.  
  • The average U.S. Senator spends 70% of their time fundraising - not solving problems for their constituents.
  • Politics is now a multi-billion-dollar industry - the Democratic/Republican Parties and their wealth-building career politicians have financial conflicts of interest. 
  • Too often public office is used as a path to personal wealth - leveraging industry-funded campaigns to represent the interests of those industries rather than the People.  Public service should be an honor, not a career built on political power and financial gain.
The Cause:

The Democratic/Republican Parties are led by corporations (DNC and RNC) and are largely funded by other corporations, special interests, or big donors with a personal agenda.  These financial backers invest in politicians - who are effectively party employees - in exchange for loyalty, influence, and favorable policy.

This deep industry influence, corruption, and hyper-partisanship have led to legislative gridlock, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and a growing disconnect between government and its electorate.  This mismanagement disrespects citizens, taxpayers, and erodes public trust. 

The current system is built on dependence - not independence.

The Path Forward:
  • Term Limits for Congress and General Assembly
    • Encourages citizens with real-world experience and the right motivations to step forward and serve. 
    • Reduces entrenched power and the long-standing ties between candidates and special interests.
    • Brings fresh perspectives and prioritizes public service over political survival. 
  • Congressional and Federal Official Stock Trading Ban
    • Prohibit members of Congress from trading individual securities while in office and for a set period afterward.
    • Removes obvious conflicts of interest.
    • Ensures elected officials serve the public - not their portfolios. 
  • Single Issue Bills Only, for Congress
    • The big reason why "Congress can't get anything done!"  Multi-issue bills are used for Political Theater - one team will take a universally popular policy, package it with a policy the other team doesn't like, to then turn it into mainstream media/social media headliners in an attempt to blast the other team.  We are better than this...
  • "Revolving Door" Restrictions
    • (The "revolving door" is a term used to describe the "government-job-to-industry job-pipeline").
    • Ban U.S. Senators from ever becoming lobbyists. 
    • Ban, or at minimum, require significant "cooling off" periods before any other elected official can work as a lobbyist. 
    • Do the same for government officials in regulatory positions-to-the industries they regulate. 
  • Lobbying Control
    • Corporate special interest groups have undue and inordinate influence and direction over legislation, public policy and administration through an elaborate system of lobbying, gifts and other considerations.  These activities corrupt the political process.  All forms of gifting should be outright banned, current restrictions (if any) strengthened to the maximum degree, and exploited loopholes closed. 
  • Campaign Finance Transparency and Regulation
    • Dark money has no place in our elections.  Full transparency required.
    • Support legislation that gets the corrupting influence of money out of our politics. 
    • Support candidates who are qualified, independent servant leaders - free from financial conflicts of interest and genuinely committed to public service, not personal or party gain.
  • ELECTED Inspector(s) General
    • Independent, non-partisan oversight positions at all levels of government to ensure real accountability.
    • The People deserve an effective public advocate charged with defense of public integrity in the face of public corruption, waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse of power.  We believe in a State Office of Inspector(s) General having investigative, subpoena and prosecutorial powers over state and local government corruption.
  • Initiative, Referendum and Recall
    • Delaware is the only state in which the General Assembly can amend the state constitution without submitting the amendment to voters for ratification.  Every other state requires voters to approve legislature-proposed constitutional amendments before they become effective.  Modern Delaware government must, at all levels, be restructured away from special interests towards the greater common interest. We hereby propose and advocate state constitutional amendments establishing:
      • Initiative – The right of citizens to draft and propose legislation;
      • Referendum – The right of citizens to ultimately vote on legislation and constitutional amendments
      • Recall - The right of citizens to dismiss elected officials for just cause.
  • County Government Reform
    • All Delawareans should have the opportunity to vote for a County President.  In Sussex County Council and Kent Levy Court, make this position one that is elected at-large by the constituents of the County (it is already this way in NCC). 

 

Accountability isn’t partisan - it’s essential.  Together, we can build a government of, by and for the people that works efficiently, transparently, and in the best interests of Delawareans.  Let's return to the ideal of Citizen Servant Leaders - leaders who answer to the people - not party bosses, donors, or personal financial incentives.

 

 

Election Reform

  • Independent Redistricting Commissions
    • End partisan gerrymandering.  Right now, it is the incumbents and the Speaker of the House that get to decide how to redraw their districts, and they choose the manner that is best for themselves and their Party - not what is fair for the People.  Replace this corrupt method with independent redistricting commissions.
  • Rank Choice Voting
    • Plain and simple - RCV is a better way for a group of people to make a decision when there are more than two options. 
      • It ensures everyone's vote gets counted in the final say. 
      • It gives voters the freedom to vote for whom they truly think is the best candidate - not out of fear. 
      • It reduces tribalism, as candidates now need to become a voter's second choice if not their first. 
  • Non-Partisan, open primaries
    • Our current system of closed, partisan primaries is an immense underlying cause of the hyperpolarization we see in our politics (and society). 
      • Only ~20% of registered voters vote in the primaries.  A large portion of these voters tend to be the most partisan members of the population. 
      • Thus, it is the "hardcore" Democrats, and the "hardcore" Republicans (a very small portion of the general public overall) that dictate the candidates the rest of us have to pick from in the general election. 
    • By law, only Major Parties nominate by Primaries.  These Primaries are a taxpayer funded expense - yet almost 300,000 Delawareans are legally blocked from voting in them.  That is wrong - (and a great example of how entrenched the power of the Democratic/Republican Parties have inside our government). 
    • In non-partisan primaries, Parties still retain their right to endorse a candidate internally chosen only by Party members. 
    • Voters will see all candidates running for an elected position on the ballot and will be able to see which candidate has the endorsement of the political party they affiliate with. 
    • Rank Choice Voting is used, and the Top 'x' number of candidates advance to the general election ballot.

 

 

Fiscal Health and Inflation

The Problem:

Our nation’s fiscal outlook is unsustainable.
Delaware, too, is on a path toward a growing budget deficit unless meaningful action is taken.  When governments continually spend more than they bring in, they put long-term financial stability at risk.

The Cause:

  • Irresponsible and Wasteful Spending
    Chronic overspending leads to structural deficits and a growing debt burden.

  • Rising Interest Costs on National Debt
    As debt increases, so does the cost of interest - eating up more of the budget and crowding out essential services.

  • Money Printing and Inflation
    Financing deficits by printing more money devalues the dollar by reducing its scarcity.  The "hidden cost" to all this money-printing is inflation... disproportionately affecting everyday consumers, diminishing purchasing power, and compromising economic stability.

The Path Forward:

  • Smarter, More Responsible Budgeting
    Eliminate wasteful spending and prioritize a balanced budget - or at minimum, ensure that the cost of interest on debt is shrinking as a percentage of total revenue.

  • Promote Financial and Economic Literacy
    Empower the public - especially students - with a strong foundation in financial and economic education. Informed voters are essential to demanding and sustaining fiscal responsibility from their elected officials.

 

Fiscal responsibility is not a partisan issue - it’s a survival issue.  To secure a stable future, we must act now with discipline, transparency, and long-term thinking.

 

 

Consumer Protection

Consumer protection is a foundation of a healthy free market.  The Independent Party of Delaware rejects the false choice between an unregulated marketplace dominated by powerful corporations and a complicated regulatory system that burdens honest local businesses while major interests exploit loopholes.  We support clear rules of fair dealing, strong enforcement against bad actors, meaningful consumer choice, and simplified compliance for businesses acting in good faith. Consumers deserve honest prices, understandable contracts, informed consent, control over their personal information, the freedom to cancel services, the right to repair products they own, reasonable product safety, and a meaningful remedy when the rules are broken.  Government should protect consumers and fair competition - not politically connected industries. 

IPoD’s agenda would modernize Delaware’s protections across pricing and subscription practices, data privacy, artificial intelligence, unsafe products, emerging contaminants such as microplastics and PFAS, financial services, healthcare, insurance, housing, automobiles, utilities, telecommunications, and online marketplaces.  It calls for all-in pricing, easy cancellation, restrictions on digital manipulation and surveillance-based pricing, a meaningful right to repair, transparent medical and insurance decisions, qualified human review of algorithmic denials, comprehensive Medical Loss Ratio reporting across payer-owned subsidiaries, and an end to permanent life-insurance practices that penalize people for family medical history they cannot control.

Our standard is practical: protect people from demonstrated harm, preserve legitimate innovation and competition, hold the responsible party - not taxpayers - accountable, and ensure every consumer right comes with a real remedy.     

Consumer Protection - full page link

 

 

Individual Property Rights

We support strengthening Delaware’s constitutional protections for private property by enshrining the state’s existing safeguards against eminent-domain abuse in the Delaware Constitution.  Private property should not be taken merely for private economic development, to increase tax revenues or the tax base, to create jobs, or to benefit another private party.  Eminent domain should be reserved for genuine and necessary public uses, with affected property owners receiving just compensation and full due process.

We also believe that Delawareans should be free to make reasonable use of their own property without arbitrary, capricious, or unnecessarily burdensome government interference.  Zoning, permitting, and land-use regulations should serve legitimate public purposes, be clear and predictable, and be applied fairly and consistently.  Property owners should have meaningful due process and an effective avenue to challenge government actions that unreasonably restrict the lawful use of their property.

Private property rights are fundamental to individual liberty, economic security, and responsible stewardship.  Government has a legitimate role in protecting public health, safety, infrastructure, the environment, and the rights of neighboring property owners - but those powers should be exercised reasonably, transparently, and with respect for the rights of the individual.

This includes datacenters.  Emerging data shows that datacenters emit a frequency so low it is not audible to the human ear called infrasound (<20Hz), and that prolonged exposure and a distance too close is producing negative human health and mental health effects such as anxiety, irritability, decreased sleep quality, and potentially more serious neurological conditions in children. 

Innocent until proven guilty is for humans - not chemicals, food additives, or potentially harmful emerging datacenter infrasound waves.  In these instances, government should err on the side of caution until these emerging technologies are better studied, and potential side effects/consequences better known.  If datacenters are built, the limited data available thus far points to restrictions maintaining a minimum distance from residential property of ~1300-1500 feet being necessary to protect human health and the rights of nearby property owners. 

 

 

Smart Growth and Zoning Reform

We support a smarter, more deliberate approach to growth - one that modernizes outdated zoning laws, places development where it makes sense, and ensures roads, schools, utilities, emergency services, and other infrastructure are prepared before major projects are approved.  We believe communities should grow in ways that protect their character, quality of life, and natural heritage by preserving green space, mature trees, woodlands, native plants, wildlife habitats, and environmentally responsible landscapes.  Delawareans must also have meaningful input into decisions with lasting consequences, including the opportunity for citizen referendums on qualifying major development and land-use issues.

Our approach is simple: Pause. Plan. Proceed. Put the right development in the right place at the right time - and judge every proposal by one guiding question: Will this make life better for the people who already live here?

Smart Growth and Zoning Reform - full page link

 

 

Education

The Problem:

Delaware ranks 6th in the nation for education spending - yet falls to 45th in achievement.
Teachers consistently report: “Too many students are entering the system already behind.”
The long-term cost of playing catch-up - both for the individual and for society - is enormous. And with job-displacing AI rapidly transforming the future of work, we can no longer afford an education system that fails to help every student reach their full potential.

The Causes:
  • Excessive and inefficient administrative overhead
  • Unmet developmental and educational needs in the most critical early years of brain growth
The Path Forward:

Early Childhood Education & Parenting Resource Programs

  • Start Sooner
    Brain development in the earliest weeks, months, and years of life is critical. A statewide early education program will provide age-appropriate learning and development opportunities for every child, regardless of zip code or socioeconomic status.

  • Spend Smarter
    Consolidate Delaware’s 19 school districts to reduce redundant administrative costs.  Reallocate those funds not towards administrative bloat, but classroom level initiatives and programs that directly benefit students - starting at birth.

  • Support Parents
    Offer parenting resources grounded in evidence-based techniques that support brain development, literacy, and emotional well-being. These programs help parents become active, empowered participants in their child’s education.

  • Improve Long-Term Outcomes
    Early education is not just academic - it’s the foundation of mental health, social development, and lifelong learning. Early detection and individualized support for mental health needs can dramatically improve student outcomes later in life.

 

Education reform must begin where development begins.  By investing in early childhood education and smarter spending, we can ensure every Delaware child has a real chance to succeed—in school, in life, and in a rapidly changing world.

 

 

Healthcare

The Problem:

We have a broken healthcare system.
Doctors face overwhelming patient loads and administrative burdens. Patients endure surprise billing, life-altering medical debt, a lack of price transparency, and a system that prioritizes profits over health. Meanwhile, large corporations and middlemen make decisions driven by dollars - not care.

Despite ~$2 trillion in annual federal healthcare spending, our country continues to get sicker. While treatment for illness and injury is often effective, preventative care and whole-person health are severely lacking.

The Cause:

Financial incentives are misaligned.  Profit-driven payers benefit from rising premiums and higher costs, while patient outcomes and long-term health are sidelined.  The flow of healthcare dollars prioritizes short-term gains for corporations over sustainable, community-wide well-being.

The Path Forward:

  • Patient-Centered Healthcare Systems
    Align financial incentives between providers and payers with the long-term health of individuals and communities.  Emphasize prevention, wellness, and total health - not just treating illness.

  • Streamline and Integrate Systems
    Promote operational efficiency through integrated, community-based healthcare models. Focus on population health and wellness across the full life spectrum, while maintaining accountability through competition, consumer choice, and smart regulation where necessary.

  • Restructure Medicare and Medicaid
    Eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. Open these programs to market competition that drives quality, innovation, and patient-centered outcomes - without sacrificing care for cost-cutting.

 

Health should never be a byproduct of profit.  It’s time to realign our system around what truly matters: the well-being of our people and communities.

 

 

Economy and Small Business

Economic growth should be built from the ground up by rewarding hard work, strengthening small businesses, expanding opportunity, and putting Delaware communities ahead of political insiders and special interests.  We support reducing unnecessary red tape, simplifying licensing and permitting, lowering the cost of doing business, expanding access to capital, and connecting Delawareans with apprenticeships, skilled trades, technical education, and other practical pathways to good-paying careers.  Delaware must protect its nationally important corporate franchise and the integrity of the Court of Chancery while diversifying the economy and ensuring public incentives are transparent, accountable, and tied to measurable benefits such as quality jobs, fair wages, local hiring, and long-term investment.  We also support revitalizing Main Streets, strengthening tourism and agriculture, encouraging innovation and local manufacturing, and making Delaware a place where young people can afford to live, start businesses, raise families, and build a future. 

Our goal is a Delaware economy that is pro-worker, pro-small business, pro-entrepreneur, pro-taxpayer, and pro-community - where opportunity is available to everyone willing to build it.

Economy and Small Business - full page link

 

 

Energy and Energy Affordability

The IPoD believes energy policy should put the people who pay the bills first by ensuring energy remains affordable, reliable, transparent, and environmentally responsible.  We support requiring clear affordability reviews before new mandates, rate increases, or infrastructure plans are approved; holding monopoly utilities accountable for performance and long-term cost control; and giving consumers plain-language explanations of every charge on their bills.  Delaware should pursue a practical, technology-neutral, all-of-the-above energy strategy - including natural gas, SMRs/nuclear power, renewables, storage, efficiency, and emerging technologies - based on reliability, cost, and measurable benefits rather than political ideology.  We also support stronger weatherization and energy-assistance programs, protections for seniors and vulnerable households, responsible grid modernization, storm and cybersecurity preparedness, and greater access to cost-effective local energy solutions.  Energy mandates must include realistic timelines, transparent costs, and meaningful ratepayer protections. 

Affordable and dependable energy is not a luxury - it is essential to stable households, competitive businesses, a strong economy, and a livable future for Delaware.

Energy and Affordability - full page link

 

 

Housing and Affordability

The IPoD believes every person who works, serves, raises a family, retires, or builds a life in Delaware should have a fair chance to afford a safe and stable home.  Our approach focuses on increasing the supply and variety of housing, modernizing outdated zoning, streamlining permitting, lowering unnecessary construction costs, and directing responsible development toward areas where roads, utilities, schools, and other infrastructure can support it.  We support more starter homes, townhomes, duplexes, apartments, senior housing, manufactured homes, accessory dwelling units, and other attainable options - while opposing taxpayer-funded down-payment giveaways that inflate demand without reducing the actual cost of housing.  Delaware must also help seniors remain in their homes, preserve existing affordable housing, protect renters from abusive practices, support responsible small landlords, address homelessness with housing and coordinated services, strengthen the construction trades, and hold every publicly funded program accountable for measurable results. 

The goal is a practical statewide housing strategy that delivers more homes, lower costs, stronger communities, and responsible homeownership without sacrificing neighborhood character, infrastructure, environmental responsibility, or taxpayer accountability.

Housing and Affordability - full page link

 

 

Environment and Conservation

Protecting the environment and protecting working families must go hand in hand.  We support a practical, affordable conservation agenda that safeguards Delaware’s clean water, beaches, bays, wetlands, forests, farmland, and rural communities while respecting the people who live, work, farm, fish, and build businesses here.  Delaware should upgrade aging water and wastewater infrastructure, improve pollution testing and transparency, hold polluters accountable, strengthen coastal protection and flood mitigation, expand voluntary farmland preservation, and treat farmers as essential conservation partners.  Growth should be directed toward appropriate areas with sufficient roads, schools, drainage, utilities, and public services, and new development should account for its true infrastructure and environmental costs rather than leaving taxpayers to pay the bill. Environmental policies must produce clear, measurable benefits without imposing unaffordable mandates that drive up housing, energy, food, insurance, or utility costs.  We also support open permitting and land-use decisions, meaningful public input, stronger agency oversight, and transparent reporting on conservation spending. 

Environmental stewardship is not a left-versus-right issue - it is a responsibility to preserve Delaware’s natural heritage, strengthen our communities, and leave a healthier, more affordable state for future generations.

Environment and Conservation - full page link

 

 

Agriculture and Rural Delaware

Agriculture is essential to Delaware’s economy, identity, food supply, and rural character, and that farmers and residents of Kent and Sussex Counties deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their future.  We support a farmer-first approach that reduces unnecessary regulatory burdens, protects family farms, strengthens local food systems, expands agricultural training and innovation, and helps farms remain viable for the next generation.  Delaware should expand voluntary farmland preservation, respect private property rights, direct growth toward areas with adequate infrastructure, and prevent unchecked sprawl from permanently consuming productive farmland and open space.  Rural communities also deserve reliable broadband, safer roads, better drainage and flood protection, responsible water and sewer planning, stronger emergency services, improved healthcare access, and fair attention in state budgeting.  Environmental policy should be practical, science-based, and applied fairly across agriculture, industry, transportation, and development, with farmers treated as conservation partners rather than scapegoats.  We also support a balanced approach to poultry and agribusiness that protects jobs and family farms while promoting accountability, worker safety, public health, cleaner technology, and responsible environmental practices. 

Agriculture is Delaware’s heritage, and rural communities are its backbone - protecting both is essential to preserving our state’s character, independence, and prosperity.

Agriculture and Rural Delaware - full page link

 

 

Veterans

Veterans deserve more than ceremonial recognition - they deserve an organized, responsive, and accountable state government that helps them access care, housing, benefits, employment, and opportunity with dignity.  Delaware should create a clear, no-wrong-door veterans support system with stronger state-level leadership, a single resource portal, better coordination among agencies and community partners, and transparent reporting on services and outcomes.  We support expanding healthcare access in Sussex County through a major veteran's medical facility, reducing long-distance travel burdens, ending veteran homelessness, and strengthening mental health, suicide prevention, addiction recovery, transportation, and long-term care services.  Delaware should also help veterans translate military experience into good civilian careers, support veteran-owned small businesses, recognize the needs of military families and caregivers, simplify access to earned benefits, and protect veterans from scams and exploitation.

Delaware’s veterans kept their promise to serve; now Delaware must keep its promise to them by ensuring that access to care, stability, opportunity, and dignity never depend on ZIP code, party politics, or bureaucratic confusion.

Veterans - full page link

 

 

First Responders

Supporting first responders is a fundamental responsibility of government, not a partisan issue.  Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, 911 dispatchers, correctional officers, emergency managers, and volunteer responders deserve the staffing, training, equipment, compensation, and support necessary to protect Delaware communities safely and effectively.  We support stronger recruitment pipelines through schools, technical programs, colleges, veterans’ programs, and public safety academies; competitive pay, benefits, and working conditions that improve retention; and greater state support for Delaware’s essential volunteer fire and EMS system.  First responders must also have confidential mental health care, peer support, trauma counseling, suicide-prevention resources, and family assistance to address the physical and emotional demands of their work.  Delaware should invest responsibly in modern communications, protective equipment, emergency vehicles, medical technology, training facilities, and properly staffed 911 centers, with funding directed toward measurable front-line needs.  Supporting first responders must go hand in hand with high professional standards, constitutional protections, transparency, fair accountability, and public trust.  Public safety policy should be shaped by operational realities and community needs - not political slogans or special interests. 

Delaware’s first responders answer the call for us; it is time for Delaware to answer the call for them.

First Responders - full page link

 

 

Infrastructure and Transportation

Safe roads, sound bridges, reliable public transit, modern broadband, and responsible long-term planning are basic functions of government that must serve today’s residents while preparing wisely for future growth.  We support a “fix it first” approach that prioritizes maintenance, dangerous intersections, drainage, structurally deficient infrastructure, and timely repairs before taxpayer dollars are committed to expensive new projects.  Delaware must also connect development approvals to realistic traffic, emergency-response, school transportation, and infrastructure impacts, requiring developers to contribute fairly rather than shifting the full cost of growth onto existing taxpayers.  Public transit should be practical, reliable, affordable, and designed around access to jobs, schools, healthcare, and essential services, while rural and underserved communities must receive dependable high-speed internet with providers held accountable for promised speeds, pricing, and coverage.  We also support transparent project scoring, public reporting, competitive bidding, cost controls, independent review of overruns, and coordinated statewide planning that protects farmland, rural communities, coastal areas, small businesses, and Delaware’s quality of life. 

Delaware needs infrastructure that keeps people safe, reduces congestion, connects communities, expands opportunity, and prepares our state for the future - without wasteful spending, political favoritism, reckless development, or the loss of the character that makes Delaware home.

Infrastructure and Transportation - full page link

 

Criminal Justice and Reentry

Public safety, accountability, fairness, and second chances are not competing goals but essential parts of an effective criminal justice system.  Delaware should focus law-enforcement and justice resources on violent crime, repeat dangerous offenders, domestic violence, organized theft, drug trafficking, and crimes against children and seniors, while ensuring sentencing is fair, consistent, proportionate, and responsive to the facts of each case.  We support expanding drug courts, mental-health courts, treatment, diversion, and crisis-response programs for appropriate nonviolent offenders whose criminal behavior is driven by addiction or untreated mental illness - without excusing harmful conduct or diminishing victims’ rights.  Because most incarcerated people eventually return home, Delaware must provide effective reentry support, including identification, housing, employment, job training, transportation, treatment, family assistance, and clear supervision, so people who have paid their debt can become productive, law-abiding members of society.  The state should measure success by lower repeat-offense rates, fewer victims, safer communities, responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and greater transparency and accountability throughout policing, prosecution, sentencing, corrections, probation, and parole. 

The goal is a justice system that is firm where necessary, fair in its decisions, supportive of victims, effective at rehabilitation, and worthy of the public’s trust.

Criminal Justice and Reentry - full page link

 

 

Mental Health and Addiction

Mental health and addiction should be treated as public health challenges - not simply criminal justice problems - and that Delawareans should be able to receive timely, affordable care wherever they live. We support expanding outpatient counseling, psychiatric care, medication-assisted treatment, detoxification, residential treatment, and recovery services, particularly in underserved areas of Kent and Sussex Counties, while addressing shortages of qualified behavioral health professionals.  Delaware should build a stronger crisis-response system with mobile crisis teams, stabilization centers, peer-support specialists, and round-the-clock access to trained professionals, so police and emergency rooms are not the default response to every behavioral health emergency.  Because recovery requires more than short-term intervention, we also support sober housing, transportation, employment assistance, family services, peer mentorship, and continued access to treatment.  Delaware must strengthen school-based counseling, early screening, suicide prevention, and family involvement to protect youth mental health.  Publicly funded programs should be measured by whether they reduce overdoses, repeated crises, homelessness, incarceration, hospital use, and family disruption—not simply by how much money is spent. 

Our goal is a practical, compassionate, and accountable system that expands treatment, supports lasting recovery, protects communities, and gives families a clear place to turn before a crisis becomes a tragedy.

Mental Health and Addiction - full page link

 

 

Seniors and Aging

Seniors should be able to age with dignity, independence, safety, and financial security in the homes and communities they helped build.  We support expanding home-based care, caregiver assistance, home safety improvements, meal delivery, and community services that make aging in place a realistic option, while strengthening oversight, staffing accountability, and transparency in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and other long-term care settings.  Delaware should provide responsible, targeted property-tax relief and other protections for fixed-income seniors at risk of being priced out of their homes without unfairly shifting costs onto working families.  We also support reducing prescription-drug burdens, improving coordination among healthcare providers, insurers, pharmacies, and state programs, and making senior transportation more reliable in cities, suburbs, and rural communities.  Delaware must take stronger action against elder abuse, fraud, identity theft, scams, and financial exploitation through prevention, public education, faster reporting, law-enforcement coordination, and meaningful penalties. 

Our seniors took care of Delaware; Delaware should honor their contributions by helping them remain independent, protected, connected, and secure throughout their later years.

Seniors and Aging - full page link