Delaware center stage at RNC

Sher Valenzuela, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, says her 10 minutes in the national spotlight will be something, next to having a baby, she’ll remember forever.

Valenzuela addressed her fellow Republicans, Tuesday night, at the party’s national convention in Tampa. Her message focused on small businesses, their role in job growth and creation and cutting down on the red tape she says, too often, inhibits their success.

“You’ve got regulation after regulation, permitting processes, obstacles that are thrown in the way of people that are already struggling to keep their doors open in a down economy,” said Valenzuela. “And this is creating the sustained joblessness that you see today.”

Valenzuela drew upon her own experience starting an upholstery business in Milford out of her garage. Twenty years later, First State Manufacturing now makes things like seat covers for restaurants and protective padding for baseball umpires out of a 70,000 square foot warehouse that employs more than 70 people.

“We’ve got to create a culture that encourages job growth for small businesses if we’re going to grow our communities effectively,” Valenzuela said.

Political underdog

Aside from chairing an economic development panel in Milford, Valenzuela’s depth of political experience is limited. However, she does not see this as an obstacle in her campaign to unseat incumbent Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, who would have run unopposed otherwise. 

“I stopped waiting for someone to show up,” Valenzuela said. “I was a job creator, and an involved citizen and an effective mom – raised three kids – so I figured I could bring that to the table and government and bring in some common sense.”

Once a relative political unknown, Valenzuela’s appearance at the Republican National Convention has put her name front and center not only on the national stage, but also here in Delaware. 

“We’re excited to be able to bring in support from every angle across the country for what we’re doing one state at a time – to turn the country around – and we intend to focus on making it our business to grow Delaware, just like we grew our business.”

You can view Sher Valenzuela’s speech at the RNC below.