Self-described “Dixiecrat” running in Sussex County

Here are the opening paragraphs from the InsiderNJ puff peace, commissioned by her Trenton insider friends and penned by Fred Snowflake:

“Deana Lykins says her new hometown of rural Green Township in Sussex County looks a lot like her native Kentucky.  But the picture changes quickly when it comes to politics. Lykins says that when she grew up in Owen, Ky.,  her home county was more than 90 percent Democratic.”

Well, it’s still registered Democrat… there are over 4,400 Democrats to 2,300 Republicans, with 400 Independents… but Donald Trump carried the county with 75% of the vote in 2016.  Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, Democrats generally carried the county (with the exception of 1984, when Ronald Reagan won the county with 52%), but after 2000, the county became reliably Republican.  

Owens County is 96.6% white, which makes it whiter than Sussex County (93.4%) but it’s a lot poorer.  The per capita income in Owens County is just $22,633 and 16% of the population live below the poverty line.  Yes, these are the white working class people who have been discarded by the global economy and the new economic elite.  They are part of a larger working class – of all races and ethnicities – who for twenty or more years have increasingly found themselves on the losing end, economically.  

$22,633 is a significant number for another reason.  We don’t know what her social strata was back in Kentucky, but when she moved east to New Jersey, lawyer-lobbyist Lykins became part of an elite than pocketed in one month what the average guy in her home county lived off for a whole year.  We know this because Deana Lykins told a federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey that her monthly income was $23,576.

Candidate Lykins has a big house, fancy automobiles, and a wealthy lifestyle… but that didn’t stop her from spending herself into bankruptcy court.  And now she’s running for the Assembly – as a Phil Murphy Democrat.

In August of 2014, the candidate filed for bankruptcy (case #14-26076) in federal court and reported a monthly household income of $23,576.  From the court records, the debt appears to be consumer or lifestyle based… with a number of credit card companies listed as creditors, as well as tax authorities.  Property listed included a large, well-appointed house, as well as a BMW, Land Rover, and a Chrysler Sebring.

Candidate Lykins is well-known in Trenton, where she worked for the Democrats in the Legislature before turning into a lobbyist for the insurance industry.  What skills she has to offer are ominous – especially in the area of keeping spending in check and balancing budgets – but Lykins would be a safe vote in support of the spending and debt agenda of Democrat Governor Phil Murphy and the rest of the Trenton Democrats.  

But here’s where her candidacy gets really interesting.  

On her first video she made public for her current campaign for the New Jersey Legislature, Deana Lykins describes herself as a “Dixiecrat”.  Yes, you heard that right… she said she was a “Dixiecrat” on a campaign video meant for public distribution and then posted that video and distributed it through her campaign.

So just what is a “Dixiecrat”?

Well, let us for the moment turn to that well-known source of definitions, Wikipedia, for further enlightenment.  Here is what they have written to define the term “Dixiecrat”:

The States' Rights Democratic Party (usually called the Dixiecrats) was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States. It originated in 1948 as a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party determined to protect states' rights to legislate racial segregation from what its members regarded as an oppressive federal government.

Supporters assumed control of the state Democratic parties in part or in full in several Southern states. The Party opposed racial integration and wanted to retain Jim Crow laws and white supremacy in the face of possible federal intervention. Its members were referred to as "Dixiecrats", a portmanteau of "Dixie", referring to the Southern United States, and "Democrat".

Wow…

And we have news for old Fred Snowflake… Dixiecrats really did fly Confederate Battle Flags, real ones.  Not Hank Williams Jr. Country & Western Band banners.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll have more entertaining background from Ole Kentucky and Owens County “Dixiecrats”.  So stay tuned… it is going to be fun.