Republican Mark Blake to run again for New Castle County executive

Republican Mark Blake will run for New Castle County executive four years after being defeated by Democrat Thomas P. Gordon in the general election for the seat.

Blake this year will face Republican Barry Nahe, chief of building operations and maintenance for county government, in the Sept. 13 primary. The winner on Nov. 8 will face either Gordon or Wilmington attorney Matt Meyer, who are in the Democratic primary.

Blake was the only county candidate to file for office on Tuesday, the deadline to run for a county seat on a party ticket.

"I've been getting a lot of calls and emails asking me whether or not I was going to," said Blake, a Hockessin resident. "A lot of people are saying we just don't want this to be a walk off and runaway for Gordon if he prevails in the primary. They want someone else to vote for."

Gordon defeated Blake with 65 percent of the vote in the 2012 primary. Blake said a repeat of that is unlikely after four years of Gordon leading county government.

"From what I have seen and heard, there are a lot of disgruntled voters that are willing to try something different this year," Blake said. "I realize we have had three years of the same old same old with no new jobs, no new opportunity, more employers leaving and there is no plan to turn things around."

His 2012 bid for county executive was his first political campaign. He has been involved with the Greater Hockessin Area Development Association for years, and is vice president and land use chairman of the civic group. Blake operates a property management firm.

He said his campaign will focus on pitching himself as someone who can use county government to spur economic development by recruiting employers and emphasizing training in both blue collar and high-tech fields.

He said he wants to establish "a real office of economic development where we are going to work hard to keep the employers we have in New Castle County growing and prospering and adding jobs" as well as "actively seeking new businesses to come here and grow our economy."

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Nahe, his Republican opponent, is running on a similar campaign of cutting administrative positions in county government and using the savings to create a new job-training function within local government.

The winner between Blake and Nahe is assured a tough road in the general election, as Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one in New Castle County. The last Republican elected county executive was Rita Justice in 1984.

Blake said unhappiness with Gordon's administration will give Republicans a boost.

"People are unhappy with the ways things have gone the past four years," Blake said.

With the passing of Tuesday's deadline to enter local races, the slate of candidates vying for office is set barring any dropouts, write-in campaigns or party nominations from local Republican party officials.

The New Castle County Council President seat is being sought by Democrats Karen Hartley Nagle, Penrose Hollins and Dave Roberts.

Each of the incumbent New Castle County councilmen up for re-election have filed to retain their seats and have no challenger from either party. They are Councilmen George Smiley, John Cartier, Timothy Sheldon, Jea Street, David Tackett and Bill Bell. All are Democrats.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.