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Hey there, Neighbor.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to check in on the campaign.
Since the last election, I’ve been keeping busy working with the neighborhood associations, community centers, and citizen advocacy groups that contribute so much to the 2nd House District, and I must say that I’ve never been prouder to be a part of the 2nd District Community.
Even in the face of daunting economic and social challenges, lifeless political leadership, and the apathy that such circumstances cause to spread our Community has soldiered on, demonstrating an enviable resiliency and a remarkable appetite for new ideas. I’ve had the privilege of watching and at times advising my neighbors throughout the District as they’ve grappled with consequential decisions en route to realizing the dreams that they have for their neighborhoods. They have yet to disappoint, and that’s why I’m confident that they won’t do so on September 10th of this year when we all vote on who will stand for us in the House of Representatives.
The call of the question is clear: will we elect lively new leadership that helps us to seize a bright new future or will we re-elect lethargic leadership and remain trapped in the past?
To help further clarify the choice, I’ve put together a list of answers to the questions that I’m most frequently asked when I’m out working in the community. Feel free to skim through the list to get to the answer you’re most interested in. If you don’t find what you’re looking for below, either check out the About Me and Platform pages or reach out via e-mail or phone and I’ll answer you personally.
See you on the campaign trail!
– James
“You need me to vote for you in November, right?”
I need you to vote for me on September 10, 2024 and on November 5, 2024. Think of it like a two-part interview: the September election is when you decide who you’re going to give a second interview. The November election is when you decide whether to hire them. Remember, November means nothing without September.
“Well, where have you been? I haven’t seen you.”
I’ve been around working for you, your family, and all of our community. Among other things, I’ve fought for the residency requirement in the City of Wilmington, worked with Green for the Greater Good on retaining community gardens, advocated for English Language Learning students and Spanish Language Learning Students with the Red Clay Spanish Immersion Advocates, and did financial literacy workshops with the Walnut Street YMCA. Soooo… I’ve been around lol.
“Why are you running? How are you better than the incumbent?”
I’m running because as Dr. King once said, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. … [T]here is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for … complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
I’m running because if the 2nd District wants to secure its future it will have to stop clinging to the past and elect someone with the energy, policy perspective, and creativity necessary to move the District forward.
I’m the better candidate because a comparison of my opponent’s work and mine over the last 18 months demonstrates that I have these qualifications and she no longer does. I’ve been attending community and advocacy meetings for over a year and have already begun the work on some of the community initiatives I plan to champion once elected. People in the community know and expect to see me when things are happening. The same can’t be said of my opponent. There’s no doubt that Representative Bolden was formidable in her day or that her place in history should be celebrated and her wisdom consulted, but veneration is not a good enough reason to slide into stagnation, and stagnation is all that certain parts of the 2nd District have seen during her last few terms in office.
“Tell me about your platform. What are you hoping to accomplish and how will you get it done?”
My platform is aimed at making the 2nd District healthier, wealthier, and more prepared Here’s what I mean by each:
- Healthy: Making sure that constituents can access quality preventive health and that they get relief from the environmental inequities at the root of our most common health issues as soon as possible.
- Wealthy: Working to ensure that consumers get a square deal on unavoidable expenses such as housing and food, and ensuring that educational and job training resources render all of our constituents, especially our children and reentering neighbors, well prepared to navigate today’s and tomorrow’s economy.
- More United: Addressing the societal issues that leave us vulnerable to disinformation and division.
I have already begun working on these goals by consulting with community stakeholders to identify pain points, workshop solutions, and then connect them with appropriate out-of-state resources. Once elected I’ll use the office to expand this portfolio and ensure that worthy projects are considered for State funding. I’ll also propose legislation that cracks down on monopolies and price gouging in key industries, expands DNREC’s ability to regulate new construction projects, and regulates inefficiency in the management of government operations.
“Do you have any experience?”
I have experience in politics and policy creation, and in management in both the public and non-profit sectors. I am currently the vice chair of the Wilmington Democrats’ 4th Ward Committee, and before moving back to Wilmington in 2020, I worked briefly in the U.S. Senate in Chris Coons’s office while I was earning my master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. After leaving Sen. Coons’s office I worked at the German Marshall Fund and National Defense Industrial Association. Prior to that, I was the Director of Curriculum for the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League’s James H. Gilliam Fellowship and a Steering Committee member at Network Delaware where I co-chaired the Civic Engagement Team, supported organizing against Wilmington City Council’s 2018 Blight Bill, advised issue campaigns, and spurred the creation of the issue campaign that was the predecessor of Black Mothers in Power.
“Are you a Democrat? You’re not one of those ‘wokies’ are you?!”
I am a member of the Democratic Party and I consider myself to be a “Pragmatic Progressive”. What that means is that I am a card-carrying activist who knows all of the tactics and has absolutely no qualms whatsoever about making things difficult for a politician or party standing in the way of good policy, but I won’t do anything before I’ve done my homework on an issue or advocacy plan. For me, that includes factoring in the views and lived experiences of so-called “non-elite” communities and thinking through the long- and short-term financial costs and equity considerations. I take these commitments very very seriously and that often keeps me from moving on given progressive policies as quickly as some would like because those policies haven’t been sufficiently adjusted to account for the realities that exist in Delaware.
“Are you a person of faith? Can you tell me about your core beliefs?”
I prefer to think of myself as a person of conscience, which is to say that I cling to the core principles of my Christian faith but I don’t belong to any particular church and I don’t attend religious services as regularly as I did when I was growing up (please, nobody tell my Godmother lol). If I had to give my top three core beliefs, I’d say that they are…
- Leadership is service, and service is about sacrifice, never one’s desires or ego.
- One’s wealth or capabilities may make one more fit to purpose than another in some contexts, but no person is intrinsically worth more than another.
- We develop our intellectual capabilities and capacity to discern so that we are better able to help others, not lend credibility to our condemnation of them.
“Are you from here?”
I am PROUD to be able to say that I am Delaware-born, Wilmington-bred, and have lived or worked in every part of the District that I’m running to represent. Moreover, my father’s family has been in Delaware since before the turn of the last century and my maternal family has been in Delaware since the 1950s when my great-great grandparents moved from Northern Virginia to 10th & Lombard on the historic Eastside of Wilmington. As a result of my lineal and experiential ties to the district’s neighborhoods, I think of myself as being a sort of representative of the 2nd District already.
“Where did you go to high school?”
I went to A.I. High School and graduated in the class of 2005.
“Who are you endorsed by?”
It’s still too early for any state-level candidates to have any endorsements. That said, it’s critical that the 2nd District get a Representative who will favor it over special interests and advocacy groups. It’s been my experience that many if not most endorsements and donations come with attached strings that are intended to make the recipient into a puppet. Because of this, I’ve decided that I will not actively seek any endorsements and will only accept them provided that it’s understood that an endorsement will not influence my votes in the legislature. I intend to work for the constituents and the constituents alone, and I intend to respect their wishes — even if others disagree with them — until I leave office.
That said, it’s my policy to answer any questionnaires that are sent to me as candidly and as honestly as possible, as I believe that voters have a right to truly know who is seeking to represent them.
“Where can I donate or sign up to volunteer?”
You can click the donate button on the left if you’d like to donate. If you’d like to volunteer please send us an e-mail Campaign.Manager@JamesForDelaware.com and we’ll get you connected!
— James
James Taylor is a Democrat running for State House of Representatives in the 2nd district, which covers East Wilmington, Northeast Boulevard, Midtown Brandywine, Trinity Vicinity, Lower Market, the Riverfront, Browntown, Ashley Heights, and East Newport.
