It came a little earlier than expected but Delaware’s GOP candidate for Lt. Governor had her moment at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
It wasn’t in prime time as planned. Sher Valezuela’s slot to speak was moved up from 9pm to shortly before 8 o’clock.
Valenzuela spoke for nearly 10 minutes with the theme of believing in an unlimited future. She said GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will build an economy that allows small businesses like hers to create such futures for themselves while taking President Obama’s administration to task for stifling growth.
“This Administration has imposed 106 new major regulations. They are on track to create 109 million new paperwork burden hours. And by year’s end, $110 billion dollars’ worth of new regulatory costs will be laid on the backs of business owners and taxpayers,” said Valenzuela. “You might call that ‘regulatory uncertainty.’ I call it an all-out assault on free enterprise.”
Delaware Democrats jumped to criticize Valenzuela’s position, pointing out that her company, First State Manufacturing, has used Small Business Administration loans and no-bid government contracts to grow.
“Sher is really the poster child for government helping businesses, especially small business, be successful,” said Delaware Democratic Party executive director Joe Aronson.
State Representative Byron Short (D-Highland Woods), a member of the General Assembly’s Small Business Caucus added there’s a reasonable and healthy role for government in business.
“It’s not one without the other. It’s an ecosystem. There’s a relationship between government and the private sector. We just need to make sure we have a positive balance there,” said Short.
In an interview with WDDE following her speech, Valenzuela responded she doesn’t see a balanced approach from President Obama.
“If you look at what President Obama said, which is directly related to what we’re talking about tonight [at the Republican Convention], he said – and I’m quoting – ‘You didn’t build that.’ That is a disconnect from what small business owners like myself experience everyday of the year,” said Valenzuela.
Valenzuela hopes to unseat the incumbent Lt. Governor, Democrat Matt Denn, this November.
