David B. McBride (born June 23, 1942) is an American politician who served in the Delaware General Assembly for 42 years.[2] After serving one term in the Delaware House of Representatives from the 15th district, he was elected to the Delaware Senate from the 13th district in 1980 and served there for 40 years. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected majority leader in the senate before becoming president pro tempore during his last four years in office. In 2020, he was defeated by political newcomer Marie Pinkney in the Democratic primary election.
In 1984, he married Mary, but they later divorced.[5][6] McBride had previously been married to Kei, with whom he had a son, David Jr.[3][7] On April 12, 1985, McBride's son died at age 16 from injuries he had received in a car accident early in the week.[7]
Career
In 1976, McBride ran for a seat on the Conrad Area School district school board and defeated Charles E. Ballard for the seat with 1,131 votes to Ballard's 91 votes.[8][9] He was selected to serve as vice-president of the Conrad school board in 1977.[10] In 1978, McBride announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for a seat in the Delaware House of Representatives from the 15th district against incumbent Representative Robert L. Byrd.[11] McBride defeated Byrd in the Democratic primary and won in the general election.[12][13] During his tenure in the Delaware House of Representatives, he served on the Community Affairs committee and as chairman of the Education committee.[14][15]
In 1980, Francis J. Kearns, a member of the Delaware Senate, announced that he would not seek reelection.[16] McBride received the Democratic nomination to run in the 13th district and faced no opposition in the general election.[17] He was reelected every four years with no opponents running against him until 2020, when he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Marie Pinkney.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] He was appointed to serve as chairman of the Education committee in the Delaware Senate in 1981.[30] In 1991, he was appointed to serve on the Education, Health and Social Service/Aging, Revenue and Taxation, Labor and Industrial Relations, and Finance committees.[31] From 2013 to 2017, he served as Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate.[32] In 2016, he was nominated to serve as President Pro Tempore of the Delaware Senate after President Pro Tempore Patricia Blevins was defeated by a Republican in the 2016 general election.[33]
In 1984, while serving in the state senate, McBride announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.[34][35] McBride selected Robert P. Hopkins, who had unsuccessfully sought election to the Delaware House of Representatives, to serve as his campaign manager.[36] During the campaign he was endorsed by Millsboro Commissioner James Smith, Elsmere Mayor John Mitchell, and Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Louis J. Giusto.[37] McBride was also endorsed by Representative Al O. Plant, but Plant later switched his endorsement to S. B. Woo.[38] In the Democratic primary he placed last in third place behind Nancy Cook and Woo.[39] During the campaign McBride has spent $38,793 and held unpaid debt due to his campaign until 1991.[40]
In 1985, Southern Delaware Home Health Care Agency Incorporated, a home health care business owned by David and his wife Mary, was investigated by the United States Department of Justice for over-billing patients and found to owe over $73,000 in overpayments.[41][5] They closed their business shortly after the investigation was launched.[42] Eleven employees of the business later filed a lawsuit for over $8,600 allegedly owed in unpaid wages and benefits.[43] By 1986, the business owned the federal government nearly $80,000 due to interest on the unpaid principal.[5]
Electoral history
David McBride electoral history
1976 Conrad Area School district school board election[9]
^"John Campanelli". The Morning News. September 7, 1980. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"Date of birth". The Morning News. January 25, 1981. p. 106. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^"No opposition". The Morning News. September 24, 1980. p. 18. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"1982 election". The Morning News. November 3, 1982. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"1996 Election Results"(PDF). Dover, Delaware: Delaware Commissioner of Elections. November 5, 1996. p. 4. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 12, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.