Sussex legislators to head Republican House caucus

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Short, Dukes
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Two downstate legislators will serve as leaders of the 15-member Republican caucus of the Delaware House of  Representatives.

State Rep. Danny Short, R-Seaford, was selected as House Minority Leader. The longest-serving  member of the House Republican Caucus,  Short was first elected in 2006 and has served as House Minority Leader since 2012. Short is an insurance agent.

“It’s an honor to be elected as leader of this caucus,” Rep. Short said. “I look forward to working with this fine group in the historic 150th General Assembly.” 

State Rep. Tim Dukes, R-Laurel, was chosen to serve as House Minority Whip. This is the first caucus leadership position for Rep. Dukes, who was elected to his first term in office in 2012 as a member of the 147th General Assembly. Dukes is a pastor.

He succeeds Deborah Hudson, north Wilmington,  who lost  her re-election bid. 

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Rep. Dukes said House Republicans will not let their minority status deter them from proposing public policy initiatives. “We have an obligation to introduce legislation regarding the issues that we believe are important to our constituents and the state as a whole,” he said. “Our challenge is to convince our colleagues on the other side of the aisle of the importance of each proposal, its merit, and viability.”

Although state lawmakers are not scheduled to meet as a body until the second Tuesday in January, the legislators that ran in yesterday’s elections began their terms of office as soon as the ballots were tallied. The unusual practice is aimed at avoiding lame duck sessions that in some cases lead to efforts to curb powers of incoming officials.

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