Meet Our Candidates James DeMartino for U.S Senate

Hi, Jane Brady here, Chair of the Delaware Republican Party, and with us today is Jim DeMartino, Republican candidate for the United States Senate. Hello there, Jim. Hi, Jane. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with everyone, and I would just like to say happy Fourth of July. We're coming into that weekend, and it's one of my special days of the year, the favorite holiday. It's our independence, and as you know, my background as a former Marine Corps officer, you know, I celebrate not only the Marine Corps birthday on the 10th of November, but every Fourth of July. It's a significant day for all of us. We need to maintain... It's a great time to celebrate America and all that is great about her, and there is a lot to celebrate. You're right. So, Jim, this is going to be presented on social media, and to the delegates and alternates, what would you like to tell us about yourself? Well, I think many of you know, and I just mentioned that I am a former Marine, Marine Corps officer in the intelligence field. I started out as a judge advocate and continued for about 15 years as an intelligence officer and finished up in the reserves as a civil affairs officer, training in basically special operations and nation building. So, after that, I've been a defense contractor. I supported the Department of Navy and other agencies around the government. And finally, I'm in private practice as an attorney. I do some criminal work and intellectual property, especially copyright law for young artists and writers to protect their interests and their creativity. Great. What motivated you to run for the United States Senate? Why this office? Well, especially this time, I really decided in January to run against Senator Coons. One, it was after the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings where I heard Senator Coons talk about his guilt before he... And he had to prove his innocence. To me, that is ridiculous. It's absurd. And it's definitely counter to our judicial system. Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. But that wasn't the concept that Senator Coons was promoting during the confirmation hearings. And that really ignited my desire to challenge him for US Senate. And as we continue my campaign, it's also because I've served, I've prepared to serve our country, our community all my life. And that's what I've done, both as a Marine and as an attorney, defending, representing people less fortunate than us across the spectrum of challenges or arrests that they might have been charged with. So I've always had the urge to serve. And now we're at the opportunity as the US Senator to serve as Senator. I am trained for it. I have the experience for it. I've worked with, like I said, many different government agencies from the Marine Corps to the Department of Defense to representing Oracle Corporation in contracts with the various agencies, both the intelligence community and commercial industries. So you've had some exposure to federal issues. What are the primary issues that you would address if you're elected US Senator from Delaware? Well, there are several. And the two primary functions of a US Senator is one, as I previously mentioned, confirmation hearings for justices, whether the Supreme Court or the federal level. And that is significant because that is something that will last for hopefully decades. And I am a conservative. I'm a strict constitutionalist, which is priority in my opinion, especially in the judicial system. We have to have conservative judges, and we need to enforce the law, read the Constitution as written, interpreted as such, and enforce the laws as written. So that's priority. Second, as a Senator, which is the ratification of treaties negotiated by the President. And that is significant also, because that develops our international partners from commercial to defense. And that also is a priority. National security is a priority issue, especially in these days, these past 12 to 15 weeks between the COVID crisis, and now with the law enforcement and protesting. We need to develop our international partners to defend ourselves, our interests. That is significant. So negotiating treaties and ratifying treaties, I would look out for the priority of the US first. That is first and foremost, such as President Trump has been doing over his term of office, and representing Delaware's interests. We have to look out. I will look out for Delaware's interests in the economy, in trade. We have the Port of Wilmington, can be an excellent facility for trade. We need to develop that. So we create jobs here in Delaware. We have to look out for the economy in Delaware, for our people, our civil liberties in Delaware. So those are the aspects that I am concerned about. Immigration is a big issue, because again, from protecting our borders, protecting our jobs, and protecting our citizens, it is significant and vital to the function of a US Senator. And that's exactly what I'll do. I have the experience for it, the background and the knowledge on how to negotiate and represent our interests, which that's exactly what I will do. The three areas that I'm concerned about, and one are our federal judges as a judge. I will support conservative judges, nominations by the President Trump. Two, with my defense background, both as a Marine and in the intelligence community, I understand international relations, the necessity for defense and our partnerships, both for national security and for trade. And third, that's the aspect we need to work on, is the economy, developing that international trade, not only benefiting the US, but definitely Delaware also. Great. This is going out to, as I said, to all the delegates. What specific message would you like to give to them, as you seek their endorsement at the convention in July? This is a very important convention. This is a very important election year for Republicans. And your decision at the convention will be key as to who goes forward and challenges the incumbents. In my case, Senator Coons, we are representing not only the federal government as a senator, but Delaware as a state. But significantly, I will be representing the Republican Party, which is critical this year. We need to have quality Republicans challenging the Democrats. They are going to come at us at full force, and they need to have quality challenges, such as myself against Senator Coons. It's background, it's experience, and it's credibility that Republicans need to bring to the ballot box this year, because we need to win over those Democrats to win, especially statewide offices. But we also have to protect our incumbent legislators. We need to have a strong Republican message and strong Republican candidates, so we can all win up and down the ticket. This is not just individual offices, which we do need to win. I need to win the U.S. Senate to represent our state in the next President Trump administration. That's the only way we're going to benefit Delaware. So that's the reason this is important. I ask for your vote. I ask for your endorsement. It's not for me at all. It's for our party, it's for our state, and it's for our country. And I do ask for your vote. Great, Jim. Thanks so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you at the convention. Thanks very much, Jane. Have a great day, and a happy 4th of July. Happy 4th.