Kyle Evans Gay and Ruth Briggs King are fighting for votes to become Delaware’s next lieutenant governor

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

Delaware will elect a new governor and lieutenant governor this November. In the final weeks of campaigning, the two candidates for second in command are battling it out in the First State.

The candidates

State Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Wilmington, and former Rep. Ruth Briggs King, R-Georgetown, are running to replace current Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who has held the position since 2017. Hall-Long lost her bid for governor in September’s primary to New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and is term-limited. Meyer faces GOP nominee Mike Ramone in next month’s election.

Briggs King said she’s the best person for the job because she is a voice for change.

“Somebody that understands Delaware, that’s a hard worker and has a good reputation,” she said. “Someone for transparency, someone for accountability, who had demonstrated integrity, and a strong reputation.”

Gay said she would bring her leadership from the legislature and her ability to make structural changes in the state.

“To really move the needle, I have seen that we need cooperation and collaboration and data-driven solutions from the administration and the legislature working together,” she said. “I want to be a part of that connection.”

Briggs King said she would focus on education, as well as public safety and business development. Gay said her top priority would be education, pointing to investments in early childhood education during her time in elected office.

Experience

Both candidates have spent time in the state legislature. Gay, an attorney, was elected in 2020, representing the 5th Senate District. Her experience includes time as a deputy attorney general in the Delaware Department of Justice, clerking in the Delaware Superior Court and in private practice.

Briggs King served in the Delaware House representing the 37th District from 2009 to 2023, when she left office because she moved out of the district. She is a former teacher and previously worked as a finance executive.

Working across party lines

With the governor and the lieutenant governor offices elected separately, Gay or Briggs King may have to work with a governor of a different party. Gay said she would be an asset to the Republican challenger if he were to become the next governor.

“I would use the office regardless of party, to ensure that I could be the most effective like I have proven to be in the state Senate,” she said.

Briggs King also said she would be an asset to a governor of the opposite party. She said she’s spent her legislative career working across the aisle, including her experience on the joint budget committee.

“It’s that reputation, once again, of being a hard worker, being a team player, and just wanting the best outcome for Delaware,” she said. “Once I’m elected, I know my role is to represent the people, and I would do that regardless of who the governor is.”

Hall-Long is currently outgoing Gov. John Carney’s designee as the co-chair of the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission, which approves grant funding requests to combat the opioid epidemic. Hall-Long and the commission have recently come under fire for its process of approving and overseeing grants from the fund. The Delaware Attorney General is the other co-chair.

Gay said she would want to serve on the commission on behalf of the next governor.

“We have had litigation to try to make sure that monies are spent to help people who are affected, but we as a state and as a nation continue to be affected by the lingering aspects of the epidemic, including increases in opioid and synthetic drug trafficking and use throughout our state,” she said. “We have so much work to do and I would be honored to continue that work.”

Briggs King said she would be the ideal person to continue serving as the next governor’s designee.

“I’ve been so engaged on many issues related to substance exposure for infants, substance abuse, mental health and different things in our community,” she said.

Board of Pardons

Delaware’s lieutenant governor also heads the state Board of Pardons, which makes recommendations to the governor about whether they should give an inmate a pardon, reprieve, sentence commutations of sentence or clemency.

Briggs King said she would encourage the board to add a previously incarcerated person to the board as a stakeholder and work to address racial disparities in the state’s criminal justice system. Gay said she would balance her role of giving inmates second chances with the rights of crime victims.

Early voting in Delaware starts Oct. 25. The general election nationwide is Tuesday, Nov. 5.