Terry R. Spence

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Terry R. Spence bigraphy, stories - American politician

Terry R. Spence : biography

November 30, 1941 –

Terry R. Spence (born November 30, 1941) is a United States statesman and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a member of the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly as Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives. He was defeated in the 2008 election by Democrat Michael A. Barbieri. Though he ran again for his old seat in 2010, he was defeated by the incumbent Representative, Michael Barbieri.

Speaker of the House

In 1987, the Republicans in the State House elected B. Bradford Barnes of Bridgeville Speaker. However, Barnes died in office shortly thereafter. Spence, who had entered the State House in the same year as Barnes, was then selected to succeed Barnes as Speaker. He has served in that capacity ever since, and is the longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of the Delaware General Assembly. He has also held the position of Speaker longer than any current Speaker of any state legislature in the United States.

In 2006, Spence and Majority Leader Wayne Smith were opposed for their leadership positions in the Republican Caucus by Joseph W. Booth and Richard C. Cathcart, respectively. However, Republicans in the Delaware State House retained their majority and lost only two seats in the 2006 elections that saw multiple Republican losses throughout the country. House Republicans elected to stay with the leadership that had led them through the tumultuous election. After being re-elected Speaker, Spence, rather than punishing Booth and Cathcart, appointed both to the powerful Appropriations and Joint Finance committees.

State representative

The 18th State House District is a suburban and commercial area of central New Castle County that includes such landmarks as the historic village of Christiana, Christiana Mall, and Christiana Hospital. It stretches from, but does not include, Delaware Park and the New Castle Airport on the north, to the Governor’s Square Shopping Center at Bear in the south. It has a mixture of older and newer residential developments, apartments, and shopping areas. The resident population is mixed in age, and middle income blue collar. It normally votes strongly Democratic.

Upon the retirement of four-term Democratic State Representative John P. Ferguson in 1980, Spence ran as a Republican for Ferguson’s seat in the 20th Representative District. Despite the district’s Democratic leaning, the nationwide Republican tide led by presidential candidate Ronald Reagan helped propel Spence to a six-point victory over Democrat John Zimath at the polls. In 1982, redistricting caused by the United States Census changed Spence’s district number from 20 to 18. Spence was re-elected to the House over Democrat Ronald Queen with 62.5% of the vote. In the following two elections, Spence overwhelmingly defeated his Democratic challengers by increasingly large margins and has represented the 18th district ever since. Spence has been unopposed in seven of his thirteen reelection campaigns. When opposed for reelection, he routinely won by large margins. In 1994, he garnered 71.4% of the vote in his race against Susan Mangini. In 2000, he defeated Frances Anglin by 17 points.

In the 2006 election, Spence faced the toughest reelection campaign of his career. Spence’s district had become increasingly Democratic. By then, 49% of the district’s registered voters were Democrats, while only 26% registered as Republicans. Furthermore, the unpopularity of Republican President George W. Bush was fermenting into a strong Democratic showing in the general elections. Viewing Spence as vulnerable under these conditions, the state Democratic Party recruited union activist and behavioral health professional Mike Barbieri to run against Spence. It was Spence’s closest race since his first in 1980, but he still defeated Barbieri by over 12 points. On March 7, 2008, Barbieri registered to oppose Spence again in the 2008 election, this time winning the election by 12 points. On April 27, 2010, Spence registered to oppose Barbieri in the 2010 election.