Bethany Hall-Long makes history as Delaware’s second female governor in brief stint in job

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long was sworn in Tuesday for her brief stint as Delaware’s 75th governor. She’s the second woman to assume the position, with Gov. Ruth Minner becoming the first in 2001.

Dozens of current and former elected officials, community leaders and others packed into the Old State House in Dover to witness the inauguration. Hall-Long said she chose the location in part to honor her ancestor David Hall, who was the state’s 15th governor from 1802 to 1805.

She said she is proud to be Delaware’s first “nurse governor.”

“As a professor and clinician for over four decades, I have enjoyed working closely with so many nurses at bedside, in research, or teaching – seeing humanity at its best and its most challenging,” she said. “Caring for the unhoused on the streets with Dr. [Sandra] Gibney and others delivering lifesaving Narcan, and doing this all while the pandemic surged around us.”

Hall-Long is being elevated to governor for just the next two weeks, succeeding Gov. John Carney after he resigned early to take the helm as mayor of the city of Wilmington. Both served eight years and are term-limited from continuing in those roles. Carney resigned at noon and will be sworn in Tuesday night. Hall was first elected to the state House in 2002.

Hall-Long ran for governor last year, losing in the Democratic primary to New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer after her candidacy was plagued by campaign finance scandals. Meyer is set to take office on Jan. 21.

The state’s new governor said she planned some new ideas for her time in office, including a foster care initiative and considering a nurses bill of rights.

“During the two weeks, you give a nurse a job, she gets it done, or he gets it done, and we’re going to be getting some things done and accomplished,” she said.

Hall-Long is the fourth Delaware lieutenant governor to hold the office for a couple of weeks in January when the governor assumes a new position.

In January 1961, Lt. Gov. Dave Buckson took over the state’s top job when Gov. J. Caleb Boggs resigned to join the U.S. Senate.

Gov. Mike Castle resigned in January 1993 to become Delaware’s lone congressman, leaving Lt. Gov. Dale Wolf to become governor.

And before her own official term would begin, Lt. Gov. Minner took office early in January 2001 after Gov. Tom Carper resigned early to join the U.S. Senate.