How political newcomer Kamela Smith pulled off the Delaware primary’s biggest upset over House speaker Val Longhurst

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Delaware House Speaker Valerie Longhurst lost her seat to newcomer Kamela Smith in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election.

Smith beat Longhurst for the District 15 seat in Bear with more than 53% of the vote.

Longhurst was first elected to the state House in 2004. She rose to majority leader in 2012 and was selected as House speaker in 2023, becoming the first female speaker in Delaware history.

Smith, the director of community education and engagement for ChristianaCare Health Systems, currently faces no Republican general election opponent. A challenger could still get on the ballot as a write-in if they submit a form with the Department of Elections by 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 20. If not, Smith will be the de-facto winner.

She credits door-knocking with helping her make a good impression on voters as she visited homes multiple times.

“It was an impactful journey, just connecting with maybe some first time voters and those who felt unheard in past elections,” Smith said. “So I think that made a difference.”

She was endorsed by the Working Families Party, a progressive group, which spent $20,000 on a direct mail campaign for her.

Karl Stomberg, Delaware political director for the Working Families Party, said he doesn’t believe Longhurst represented the district any longer, which he said has become more diverse and working class.

“I think the district has definitely changed, and that’s a part of it, but also I think that the way Val Longhurst was operating in Dover was out of step with what the people in the district wanted from the representative,” he said.

Longhurst did not respond to a request for comment.

Steve Tanzer, political news blogger for DelawareLiberal.net, volunteered on Smith’s campaign. Tanzer said he was motivated by Smith’s candidacy and the opportunity to oust Longhurst, who he said fired him years ago from his job in the General Assembly.

“I was highly motivated to not just see her out, but to see someone like Kamela Smith, who has incredible empathy — that’s what struck me about her from the very beginning,” he said. “She was the kind of person who, if she hit somebody at the door and they really had a problem or an issue, she wasn’t going anywhere until she could see what she could do to try to help solve it.”

If elected, Smith said she wanted to focus on housing affordability, universal free school meals and accountability measures.

“I really want to begin to work on rent stabilization, making sure that people’s income or lack thereof does not force them out of their homes,” she said. “The other thing is to make sure that all children have access to food while they’re at school.”

Stomberg and Tanzer said people are looking for a change this election cycle, citing New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer’s defeat of Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and first-time candidate Collin O’Mara in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The latter will face Republican State Rep. Mike Ramone in November.

“They want bold policy that is actually going to benefit people, and I think we’ve seen that now in all three counties in very key and typical leadership elections,” Stomberg said. “I’m hoping that’ll reflect in how the next governor and how the next General Assembly chooses to govern.”

The general election is Nov. 5.