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Senate Democrats re-elect DeLuca, Blevins and Henry to leadership posts

DOVER -- Senate Democrats tonight re-elected Sen. Anthony DeLuca as president pro tem, Sen. Patricia Blevins as majority leader and Sen. Margaret Henry as majority whip.

The majority caucus met briefly this evening to discuss budget issues facing lawmakers next year and the Nov. 2 election results, which claimed one of their senior members, former Sen. Nancy Cook.
There had been speculation that there was an effort within the caucus to replace DeLuca as pro tem, but that didn't pan out. With the majority's endorsement, the full Senate will likely vote in January to put DeLuca in charge of the upper chamber during the 146th General Assembly.
"We look forward to coming back in in January and working with the governor, serving the people of the state," DeLuca said after the caucus meeting.
While balancing the budget remains DeLuca's top priority in the upcoming legislative session, he said more jobs for Delawareans would make that task easier.
"If we cannot be successful, not only in this state but in the country, in putting people back to work, then the rest of these problems are going to continue to grow," DeLuca told The News Journal. "The real issue is when people go to work, it stimulates the economy, they pay taxes, we balance the budget. It's a lot easier than when people aren't working."
DeLuca said he's made no decision on who to appoint to fill Cook's job as co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee.
"It's a large responsibility," DeLuca said. "I'm interested in talking to everybody that's interested in serving."