What does Joe DiPinto's retirement mean?
There's a couple of ramifications to the retirement of State Representative Joe DiPinto.
First, this gives the Democrats a chance to narrow the margin int he House of Representatives. While DiPinto was no right-winger, an increase in the size and influence of the Democratic House caucus can only push the General Assembly to the left.
Second, the General Assembly loses a leader who was knowledgeable about the issues and committed to doing right. I've never known anyone who actually knew him to say a bad thing about him. (Although some of the Loony left on the Delaware blogosphere have.) Far more common is to hear about how he's always willing to help and knows everything. One elected official once remarked to me that no matter what issue Joe was approached, he knew about it and could give a history of it going back decades. That's a big loss to the General Assembly.
Third, this could mean a rough road ahead for the City of Wilmington in getting more state funding and assistance. One prominent Democrat once told me "The only reason the City gets anything out of Dover is Joe DiPinto." Without him and the trust people have in him, less money will be heading up to Wilmington. This is especially true if the Democrats pick up the seat. The Republicans aren't likely to look kindly on a city that won't elect a single Republican except when forced to. (The non-majority part at-large seat on City Council.) When you tack on that there's a lot of resentment of Wilmington from the state as a whole, Joe's loss will likely be felt in Wilmington's wallet.
While DiPinto was never as conservative as I would have liked (who is, right?), I could always trust that he was doping what he believed to be right. That in itself will be a loss in the House. I've known him since I was about 4 years old and have had the pleasure of being his campaign treasurer since 1998. I've always known him to be a good, honest and dedicated politician, the model of what politicians should be: devoted to helping his constituents and the the entire state. We'd so well to have 62 people in the General Assembly like him, so it's a shame we're losing the original model.