Mike Ramone hopes to be the first Republican Governor of Delaware in decades
DOVER, Del. – Hoping to be the first Republican Governor of Delaware in decades, State House Minority Leader Mike Ramone sat down for a one-on-one interview with WMDT News to discuss his plans to lead the First State.
Right out of the gate, before our cameras even starting rolling, Ramone had his sights set on his Democratic opponent, Matt Meyer.
“You don’t give away a quarter of a million dollars or more without some level of expectation,” Ramone told our Rob Petree. “And I am scared to death.”
Scared that a Meyer Administration would be devastating to Delaware’s corporate structure. That was Ramone’s response to the prospect of Meyer winning, citing the number of out of state contributions to Political Action Committees that benefitted Meyer.
“It’s gonna be near $6 million dollars in two PACs and his campaign to win,” Ramone said. “I’m never going to sell my soul and I’m never going to compromise my reputation just to get funded to be a politician or be a Governor.”
That reputation he says would put an enormous focus on education reform, if elected. Ramone vowed to take a fresh, out-of-the box approach to education across the First State – an area he says is in dire need of reconfiguration.
“We have the most complicated form of funding education in the nation,” Ramone stressed. “We need to reconfigure it. It’s simple, make it simple stupid, not so complicated.”
Ramone says he would do that by allowing school principals to make critical financial decisions for their respective schools when it comes to funding.
“Empower the principals,” Ramone emphasized. “Let the principal be in charge of the money that’s allotted to their school. Redetermine how you fund a school, its principal, and its principal’s ability to pay its teachers whatever needs to be paid to keep great teachers teaching.”
Ramone, a successful entrepreneur from New Castle County, owns and operates six businesses across the State of Delaware. He tells us he would apply that same business acumen to the state’s education system.
“An environment that address the child and the family as a customer,” Ramone said emphatically. “The one thing I learned in my businesses is, if you don’t treat the customers good, they don’t stay. But, in school, in education, if you don’t treat a customer well, where they gonna go?”
We asked, if elected, what Ramone would do to combat inflation and cut costs across the state? He tells us that Delaware geographically has an advantage, and that key investments in financial technology could go a long way.
“You need to take advantage of Delaware’s small size and geographic location, and its court systems and its ability to faster, quicker, and more efficient,” Ramone explained. “We’re not the big guy on the football field, we’re the little, fast guy.”
Ramone says he would put an increased focus on the economy through investing in financial technology – otherwise known as Fintech – citing how Delaware’s largest college has already integrated the idea at their campus: “We’re smaller, we should be faster – the one little area – the STAR Campus of the University of Delaware – where we have the ability to be faster, is thriving – why isn’t that our whole state?”
When it comes to his electability – Ramone remains optimistic. The last time the First State had a Republican Governor was in the early 90’s. However, Ramone feels, as a New Castle Republican with a bipartisan record, his chances are better than those who campaigned before him.
“I said I’m going to run as a person who really wants to help Delaware be a better place to live,” Ramone said. “I’m not going to run as being red or blue, I’m gonna run as being yellow. In yellow, every decision I make will be based on what’s best for Delaware.”
The State Rep. says he remains hopeful that he can pull out a win on election night, citing his experience in state office and emphasizing how he’s been able to keep his seat as a Republican in New Castle County.
Ramone and Meyer face off a week from now in the general election, Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The winner will replace current Governor John Carney.