Senate Leadership Remains Intact for 148Th General Assembly

Senate leadership remains intact for 148th General Assembly Blevins poised to take the Senate’s helm in January

For Immediate Release: Nov. 12, 2014 Contact Patrick Jackson at 744-4046 Or Dick Carter at 744-4155

DOVER – Senate Democrats voted Wednesday to keep their leadership team intact when the 148th General Assembly goes to work in December.

Senate President Pro Tempore Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, will have added work during the new session. She will serve as the Senate’s presiding officer because Lt. Gov. Matt Denn will give up the office in January when he’s sworn in as attorney general.

Blevins is expected to be voted in as pro tem when the Senate meets in special session next month to hold a confirmation vote for a successor to Supreme Court Justice James Vaughn Jr. as president judge of Superior Court. Because it is the Senate’s top legislative post, the office of pro tempore is voted on by the full Senate.

“It is a tremendous honor to have my colleagues in the majority caucus again put my name before the full Senate to serve as president pro tem,” Blevins said. “During my time in the Senate, I’ve had the privilege of seeing some excellent presiding officers at work, and I will take those lessons to heart in January. Our sessions will be fairly run and I hope I can reflect the finest traditions of Senate leadership.”

Senators also voted to return Sen. David McBride, D-Hawks Nest, as majority leader and Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, as majority whip.

“I am pleased that members of the caucus think that I have been an effective leader and voted to return me,” McBride said. “I look forward to working with them during the 148th General Assembly to continue pushing Delaware ahead.”

Henry also said she was pleased to be returned to her post.

“It’s always humbling to be named by your colleagues to a leadership position,” Henry said. “I will continue working with them to maintain a smooth-running caucus that comes together to meet the challenges ahead of us during the next two years.”