Meet Our Candidates Bryant Richardson for Governor

Hi, Jane Brady here, chair of the Delaware Republican Party, and with me today is Bryant Richardson, state senator who's running for governor of Delaware. Hello there, Bryant. Hello, Jane. Hope you're doing well. I am, thank you. So tell us a little bit about yourself, Bryant. Okay, well, God bless me with a wonderful wife who's been with me for 50 years now. When I was elected to office, she took over my ED seat, so she's involved in politics just like me. We have three children. Two of them are graduates of the University of Delaware. One is a graduate of Liberty University and got his master's at Regent. We have five grandchildren. I served in the Army Reserves for six years. I served as president of the Greater Seaford Chamber of Commerce, the Seaford Qantas Club, and the Western Sussex County Citizens for Life. I ran for office four times. The first time I ran in a primary election with three other Republican candidates. I was the fourth one to jump in, so I didn't cost the party or the state any additional money, but I ran as the only pro-life candidate. The first election, I got 18 percent. The second, 43 percent is running for state senate. The next election, I got 53 percent, and the last election cycle, I got 65 percent, so that's a little bit about me. Great. Now, what motivated you to run for governor of Delaware? Well, let me tell you one story, and this involves my involvement on the Joint Finance Committee. When the University of Delaware professor was in front of the Joint Finance Committee, I asked him a question. I said, you know, University of Delaware helped develop the touchscreen technology. How much did Delaware benefit from that? He told me a million dollars, but he added it should have been a billion dollars. The Delaware taxpayers were shorted $999 million, and that's one of the things that bothers me, that the intellectual property that's generated through the University of Delaware, and that taxpayers are helping to fund, is not benefiting taxpayers the way that it should. Of course, the abortion issue is important to me. Taking an innocent human life is wrong, and Delaware right now has one of the worst abortion bills on the records of any state in the nation. Right now, it's up to the abortionists to decide when a child has a right to live or to die. Taxes is another important issue for me. When I was elected, I promised no tax increases. Since the six years I've been in the office, I have not voted for any tax increases. As a matter of fact, Ken Sempler, when he spoke to the Sussex GOP while he was in office, said that there's a two-word reason why Delaware hasn't had a tax increase in the past few years, and that two-word reason is Bryant-Richardson, because when I was elected, I broke up the supermajority. You know, I'm just disgusted their state is not making improvements in education and in job growth and also in public safety. Wilmington right now has been known as the murder city. I think it could be the model city if we can make its streets safe and bring back businesses and bring back job opportunities. You know, this is what I would like to work with the Wilmington officials to help accomplish. Another reason that I am running is some of the bills that I propose. I think they're reasonable bills. First, you know, I'll just say I'll leave it at that. Reasonable bills. One was the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protecting Act, which women couldn't have an abortion after 20 weeks unless there's a threat to her life. And then the other bill was the Women's Right to No Ultrasound Act, and both of these bills were only given two hours for the hearing. The ultrasound bill actually only got 15 minutes, even though the meeting had to be moved from the regular meeting room to the Senate chambers because of the overwhelming number of people that came out in support of those two bills. So those two bills are still locked up in committee. I also have another bill. It's a committee. Apparently, the Democrats don't care if someone who comes to testify in front of the committee tells the truth or not. Senator Dave Lawson was asked after the meeting, well, by reporters, well, won't this interfere with someone's constitutional right to free speech? He said only if they're lying. So we don't want people appearing in front of committees that don't tell the truth. And that bill can't get out of committee because of the Democrats. So those are some of the reasons that I'm running. So improving good government, bringing back jobs, protecting life, and protecting taxpayers' wallets are your main thrusts then? Yes. And since I've been in office, I've been able to get some bills passed. The very first year I was in office, I got the Film and Television Commission bill passed. It had been before the Senate and the House before and failed. But this time it went through unanimously in the House and Senate and was signed by the governor. So I could bring some more television production and movie making to the Delaware area. I also had a human trafficking bill that passed the House and Senate unanimously and was signed by the governor. I also have a bill that I was preparing for this session, but because of the COVID-19, it wasn't introduced this session. Of course, I'd like to be the governor and have somebody else introduce it for me. But if I'm there, I will introduce this bill that will further make it difficult for human traffickers to do business in Delaware. I also authored the Drug Prevention Curriculum Task Force. And that is a task force that looks at the curriculum in our high schools. And there is one curriculum that really is successful with children. And that is the Botvin Life Skills Training Curriculum. And students that are exposed to this curriculum, a vast majority of them will choose the right path in life, stay off of drugs and away from alcohol. It has a very high success rate. I have been fighting to get that in all the schools and I'll continue that fight either as a senator or as the next governor. I have an APOS rating with the NRA. The Faith and Freedom Coalition gave me their endorsement last time under a Vote Kingdom program that they run. So it's biblically based. And if your voting record lines up with the word of God, then they'll give you that endorsement. If not, they won't. I guess I would just like to end by saying that it's going to take more than just an animated stump speech to defeat Governor Carney. It's going to take someone with the knowledge of what he's done in the past in his four years in office. And, you know, as a member of the Joint Finance Committee, I've been able to analyze his budget. And we actually, the Joint Finance Committee votes on the budget and approves the budget. That's the one that's voted on by the General Assembly. The governor proposes the budget. I would like to see a lot of changes in the budget. And as governor, I could propose those changes. I think there's money being spent right now that's been being spent on programs that are inefficient. I'd like to see that money transferred in things where it would do more good, like job growth. Great. So that's a full agenda for you as governor. Now, this is going out to not only our social media, but also to the delegates and alternates to our convention. What message would you like to send to them specifically? I would love to have your support. I feel that the last six years I've prepared myself for this next step. In the Senate, I've had some accomplishments, but I've also had some frustration. I feel like in the governor's office, I can be a majority of one and get some things done for the people of Delaware to improve our educational system, to improve in public safety, to improve in job growth, and wage growth, too, because the average wages in Delaware have actually declined over the last couple of decades. And this is because we've been under Democrat control. So I'm a fighter. If you lose two elections, sometimes you give up. I didn't. I won the third election. I won the fourth election. And I intend to win this election as your next governor. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. Bryant Richardson, Republican candidate for governor. Take care, Bryant. Thank you, Jane. All right.