The Committee of 100 | Meeting Notes

This is Delaware. We are so small that we usually know our elected officials personally. We know more about our candidates than people in large states do because we've worked with them on some project or have a colleague, friend, or cousin who has.

Delawareans knew Ruth Ann Minner and Bill Lee well before either decided to run for Governor. Ruth Ann Minner's story is well known: widowed at age 32 with three small sons, she returned to school and worked two jobs while she earned her GED and attended college. With her second husband, Roger Minner, she built a family towing business and entered the political arena as attaché and clerk in the House of Representatives before serving as receptionist to Governor Sherman Tribbitt. Ruth Ann served as a State Representative from 1974 to 1982, as a State Senator from 1982 to 1992, and then as Lieutenant Governor from 1993 to 2001 before becoming Delaware's first woman governor in 2001.

Well-known in the legal community for decades, Bill Lee became a household name to Delawareans when he presided over the Capano murder trial. In 1977, Governor Pete duPont appointed Bill Lee as a Family Court Associate Judge and in 1986 Governor Mike Castle appointed Bill to the Delaware Superior Court. Bill's legal path included appointment as Deputy Attorney General in 1965 and becoming a partner in the firm of Betts and Lee in Georgetown in 1969. During his years of private practice, he served as Sussex County Solicitor, on the State Tax Review Board, the Sussex County Board of Adjustment and Rehoboth Beach Zoning Commission. Bill Lee graduated from Duke University and earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Bill Lee and Ruth Ann Minner have different visions for Delaware and unique perspectives on key issues, such as economic development and education reform.

The debate format includes opening and closing statements from the candidates and answering questions submitted by members. Members of The Committee of 100 are invited to submit questions for the candidates.