‘Trump orange’: Meyer challenges Ramone’s claim to be Delaware ‘yellow’ in gubernatorial debate

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The issue was climate change, but Republican Mike Ramone used part of his allotted debate time to focus on a color — a hue he takes every opportunity to highlight in his bid to become governor of Delaware.

“Instead of blue or red, we’re yellow. We’re Delaware,’’ said the House minority leader and entrepreneur, eager to continue positioning himself as the moderate problem solver who’s not aligned with either Donald Trump’s MAGA red or the blue of the state’s uber-powerful Democrats.

Democrat Matt Meyer immediately pounced, however, eager to erase Ramone’s plea to independent voters and disaffected Democrats who might be tired of one-party rule.

“My opponent keeps saying he’s yellow, he’s not red. He’s actually the leader of the red,’’ two-term New Castle County Executive Meyer said, calling his GOP opponent a state legislative leader in blocking investments in schools and roads on behalf of corporate interests.

“You know what happens when you combine red and yellow, you get orange, Trump orange. Don’t be deceived, Delaware,” Meyer said.

But Ramone took the jibe in stride. “I got him wearing yellow ties,’’ Ramone retorted, a reference to Meyer’s attire on the debate stage and Ramone’s own necktie. “So come on,  we’re getting there.”

That exchange stood out Thursday night during a mostly civil 90-minute debate at the University of Delaware’s Mitchell Hall.

But the candidates’ conversation about yellow vs. red vs. blue vs. orange did illustrate Ramone’s challenge as he tries to break the Democrats’ stranglehold on all nine statewide elective offices and both chambers of the General Assembly. Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1 in voter registration rolls in Delaware.

A UD poll last month revealed that Meyer, fresh off his commanding victory in the Democratic primary over Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and former state environmental protection chief Collin O’Mara, had a 19-point lead over Ramone, who rolled to victory in the GOP primary over two first-time candidates.

Meyer received 51% of the votes in the survey of 400 registered voters, compared with 32% for Ramone. Another 17% of those polled did not choose either candidate.

The debate, hosted by UD’s Center for Political Communication and Delaware Public Media, had no live audience but was broadcast online.

Ramone, who has represented the heavily Democratic Pike Creek area in the state House since 2008, peppered many of his answers to questions on topics such as education, housing and government accountability. He contends that bipartisan governing, with him at the helm of the state’s $6 billion budget and state agencies, would help Delaware address poor student performance, rising rents and other problems.

“You need to work it within a bipartisan way. We have a one-party rule,’’ Ramone declared. “Some say that’s great, we should have even more superpower and take over the world. Others feel balance in Delaware has always worked.”

While the candidates agreed that Delaware’s public education system and student performance are inadequate, that housing is too expensive, and that the nation’s lowest-lying state is vulnerable to more frequent storms and floods, among other issues, they made clear that their approaches to finding solutions are different.

While both said they support consolidating some of Delaware’s 19 public school districts, they differ on whether the state should start letting parents receive vouchers to help pay tuition for their children to attend private schools.

Ramone said he supports the concept in a limited way.

“I absolutely believe if a child and their family’s only ability is to go to a failing public school, they should have the ability to go somewhere else, whether they have to get a tax voucher to offset that cost or whatever,’’ Ramone said.

“I don’t think it’s everyone, do whatever. I think it’s very defined and the resources would be used for those who have no other choice,” he said. “That’s our obligation, to allow children to go to a school that works.”

Meyer countered that he favors smart investment in “the public spaces’’ to address learning deficiencies.

“Voucher programs are very dangerous. It’s something that [former President] Trump and [former U.S. education secretary] Betsy DeVos tried to do nationally, taking money from our public education system,” said Meyer, who spent a couple of years as a public school math teacher before running successfully for county executive in 2017.

“All sorts of studies show what it does is it takes a school system where they’re already winners and losers, and increases the number of losers who are left behind in schools where they cannot learn, that are further underfunded,” Meyer said. “Furthermore, it’s a right-wing attempt, a Republican attempt, to drain the public school of resources and get tax breaks for wealthy people who are already sending their kids to private school.”

Solving the housing affordability crisis is another area where the candidates would take different approaches.

Ramone tied high costs to excessive regulations for developers.

“We have counties, we have municipalities, that have created so many regulatory hurdles for builders to be able to build a community in a way that is affordable,’’ Ramone said. “If you’re making them have all these regulatory byproducts that they have to put in a home, they will never be able to produce affordable homes and they’re only going to produce what makes money. That’s the way businessmen work.”

Ramone also suggested reducing the real estate transfer tax from 4% to 3% to help prospective buyers afford a home.

Meyer disagreed, saying he favors partnering with developers and banks to find ways to help more people pay their rent or get into their own homes.

“I don’t think tax cuts are a solution to our crisis of affordability,’’ he said. “I think there are Delawareans out there really struggling. The rent is too damn high, and we’ve got to get up as leaders and get shit done.”

But just as Ramone said about school vouchers, Meyer left room for relief for some people looking to purchase a home.

“There does need to be opportunities for first-time homebuyers, including possibly reducing taxes, but only for those working people who truly need it.”

Early voting begins at selected polling places on Oct. 25. Election Day is Nov. 5.

Here’s who’s on the ballot in contested races in Delaware’s 2024 general election.