Longtime Democrat Bernard Pepukayi to run for Delaware AG as a Republican

Bernard Pepukayi, a lifelong Democrat who has worked for some of the party's highest-ranking elected officials, today switched his party affiliation and filed to run for Delaware Attorney General as a Republican.

His candidacy gives the Delaware GOP a last-minute replacement for former Republican AG candidate Peggy Marshall Thomas, who dropped out on Aug. 13 after only five weeks in the race.

Pepukayi first announced his candidacy to the congregation at Canaan Baptist Church in New Castle on Sunday in a speech posted on YouTube. He then sat down with reporters on Monday to talk about how his dissatisfaction with the four Democrats running for the office prompted his decision to enter the race.

"It seems like those in power want to keep the same type of people in power," the 45-year-old Middletown resident said. "A lot of what has been said (by other candidates) focuses on reducing sentences. We need to talk about keeping people out of the system."

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Pepukayi said his platform will focus on making the criminal justice system fairer for all, helping to prevent juveniles from entering that system and assisting with ex-convicts' transition back into society following their release from prison.

He also laid out positions on certain wedge issues that break from the views traditionally held by Republican candidates.

Pepukayi, for instance, said he is not a proponent of the death penalty, which in 2016 was declared unconstitutional in Delaware. But added that he would seek capital punishment sentences if the Delaware General Assembly were to reinstate their use.

Like some of the Democratic candidates, he also "is open" to full marijuana legalization and believes abortion should be "an option."

Pepukayi has a long history as a Democrat.

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He previously served as deputy legal counsel to former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and county attorney under former New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon. He also spent four years as a Minner appointed Family Court Commissioner and worked in 2017 as a staff attorney for the Democratic caucus in the state House of Representatives.

Delaware GOP Chairman Mike Harrington, however, noted that Pepukayi's career included stints as a law clerk for Republican Henry du Pont Ridgely – then a Superior Court judge – and as a deputy attorney general under Jane Brady – the last Republican to hold the Attorney General seat in Delaware.

"I think it's historic that the Republican Party is having a minority run for attorney general," Harrington said. "The other attorney general candidates are not even close to being qualified compared to the experience this gentleman has had."

Pepukayi dismissed the notion that voters might see his move to the Republican Party as political opportunism.

"I don't care about the politics of it if I'm helping the communities that need help," Pepukayi said. "My changing my registration doesn't change my policies. It's about purpose, not the politics."

In his speech to Canaan Baptist, Pepukayi – who was born with the last name Howard – also addressed his 1991 conviction for selling cocaine to an undercover officer while he was still in high school.

Tried as an adult, Pepukayi was sentenced to probation but expelled from school. He later earned a high school equivalency degree, went to college and then law school before receiving a full pardon from then-Gov. Tom Carper in 1998, which allowed him to take the bar exam and begin his legal career.

"Like so many other black males ... I was once in the criminal justice system," he said. "Fast forward some 20 years, I look at the criminal justice system and I see it being the same way or even worse. At the end of the day, our community does not benefit from it. In fact, our community is harmed by it."

Pepukayi on Monday said his intimate knowledge of the criminal justice system – from the inside out – gives him insight the other candidates do not possess.

Still, he acknowledged that bid for the Attorney General's office faces an uphill battle with less than 12 weeks before the Nov. 6 general election – an incredibly tight window to raise campaign contributions and build name recognition.

Incumbent Democrat Matt Denn is not seeking re-election, but four Democrats are vying to succeed him. They include Kathy Jennings, a former state prosecutor under Denn and the late Beau Biden; Chris Johnson, a former deputy legal counsel for Gov. John Carney; Tim Mullaney, a former Delaware Department of Justice chief of staff under the late Beau Biden; and Lakresha Roberts, a former chief deputy attorney general under Denn.

Jennings this month led all primary candidates in Delaware by raising $441,000 this year, a total more than twice her three Democratic opponents, combined. Jennings, a former state prosecutor, still had a reported $324,000 in her war chest as of two weeks ago.

The Delaware GOP will make a "substantial commitment" to help Pepukayi close the fundraising gap in the weeks ahead, Harrington said. Pepukayi's first fundraiser will be held at the Columbus Inn in Wilmington on Monday evening.

"I believe the people will see a difference between me and the other candidates," Pepukayi said. "I understand there are economic challenges and economic realities But I believe I will be able to compete financially."

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.