Three of the six people who are vying for the Republican nomination for governor are from western Sussex County.
Dave Bosco lives in Greenwood and Julianne Murray and Bryant Richardson both are residents of Seaford.
Bosco filed as a candidate May 26, Richardson June 1 and Murray June 11. The deadline for filing was July 14.
Other candidates for the GOP nomination are state Sen. Colin Bonini, Camden; David C. Graham, Smyrna; and Scott Walker, Wilmington. Neil Shea, also of Wilmington, withdrew his candidacy July 16.
The Delaware GOP will hold its primary Tuesday, Sept. 15. The winner will face the Democrats’ choice, either Gov. John Carney or his challenger, David Lamar Williams, Jr., in November.
Bosco– Dave Bosco and his wife, Amy, have three adult children. A native of New Castle, he graduated from Delcastle Technical High School in 1991. That same year, he started a business in Wilmington, repossessing vehicles for non-payment of bank loans.
He moved to Greenwood in 2004 and in 2013 opened a paintball field, 911 Airsoft. “Our facility has seen players from a wide variety of states, as far away as Indiana, Florida, Texas and Maine,” he said.
While Bosco has never held any public office, he has been active in the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department, serving as line officer from 2006 to 2009, secretary in 2007 and chief engineer from 2011 to 2013.
Bosco was spurred to run for governor by the state of emergency that Gov. Carney declared at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “As I watched the state slowly creep into financial disaster during the COVID crisis, I began to look at that and other things such as how poorly our education system is structured and run,” he said. “Our police departments are underfunded and rely on officers to spend their own money for training. Small businesses face permanent closure because they are closed through no fault of their own and promised support has been grossly deficient. Families cannot pay rent or mortgage payments because they have been out of work for months.”
Bosco said that his experience as a parent with children in public schools will help him deal with the state’s education system. In addition, his experience in running his repo company, which covered several states, has given him an understanding of how businesses operate that will help him guide the state.
“Because of my past experience and business knowledge, I can think fast on my feet and react quickly but not recklessly,” he said. “Our state needs a leader who knows what goes on in the streets, not just what goes on behind closed government doors.”
Murray– Julianne Murray is an attorney at the Georgetown office of Murray, Phillips and Gay. Like Bosco, this is her first run for political office. (Her husband, Patrick, unsuccessfully challenged state Rep. Dan Short in the Republican primary in 2012.)
A native of Alexandria, Va., she grew up in Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in human resource management. After moving back to Virginia, she started work in a law firm as a paralegal.
In 2010, while working as a paralegal at the Georgetown firm Tunnell & Raysor, she started classes at Widener School of Law (now Widener University Delaware Law School). While there, she served an externship with Supreme Court Justice Henry du Pont Ridgely.
She graduated from Widener in 2011 and opened her law firm, concentrating on estate planning and constitutional law, the next year.
In May, after Gov. Carney banned short-term rentals as part of the state of emergency, Murray, representing her husband, filed a lawsuit, claiming that such a ban is unconstitutional. The ban was ended June 1. The lawsuit, which originally asked for a restraining order and, after the ban was dropped, was amended to seek only a declaratory judgement, is still pending in U.S. District Court.
“When I filed the lawsuit, I was contacted by hundreds of people in support,” Murray said. “Many encouraged me to get into the governor’s race. I consulted with people inside and outside politics to discuss the viability of a political outsider with my skill set beating Carney, and was advised to pursue it.”
Murray said that she is well-prepared to serve as governor. “My education as an attorney and defender of the U.S. and Delaware constitutions uniquely situates me to protect and defend Delaware,” she said. “In addition, [my] negotiation skills as an attorney will allow me to work with the General Assembly.”
Richardson– Bryant Richardson and his wife, Carol, are owners of Morning Star Publications, which publishes several papers including the Seaford Star and Laurel Star. He is serving his second four-year term as state senator for the 21st District.
Bryant and Carol have three children and five grandchildren and are long-time supporters of a child in Ethiopia.
A native of Federalsburg, Richardson has taken some college courses and business and journalism seminars. But he is “mostly self-taught,” he said. “I love to learn about American history, especially the U.S. Constitution and other founding documents.”
Richardson started Morning Star Publications in 1996, after working for the former Chesapeake Publishing Corporation (now APG Media of Chesapeake), where he was general manager of The Leader and State Register newspapers in Seaford and Laurel. He is also former owner of Banner Publications, Seaford.
In the Senate, he serves on the Senate Finance, Joint Finance, Veterans Affairs, Elections and Government Affairs and Agriculture committees. Bills that he has written, and that have become law, have addressed issues including human trafficking, drug use, in particular among youth, and expanding opportunities for television and movie production in the state. He got state funding for the Home of Hope, a Bridgeville-area residential treatment center for women, and voted against all tax increases. “I have been the leading voice in the General Assembly on the pro-life issue, made protecting the Second Amendment a priority, supported efforts to increase funding for the state police and voted for increased benefits for veterans,” he said.
Even so, Richardson said that as just one of 62 legislators in the state, he is limited in what he can accomplish. As governor, he said, he could do more.
“There are so many issues that need to be addressed,” he said. His “Contract for Delaware,” which he plans to present to voters, will be a “blueprint for a better future where the basic human desires to be respected, to have equal opportunities for meaningful work experiences and to live in a safe and secure environment are priorities. My lifelong commitment is to honor God, protect life and preserve liberty for as long as the great citizens of Delaware give me the privilege of serving.”
Richardson said that he feels qualified to serve as governor of Delaware. He said that his experience in the state Senate, in particular on the Joint Finance Committee, gives him “a better understanding of the requirements needed for improvement in the areas of public safety, education, private-sector job growth and responsible government.”
