Charles L. Copeland
Encyclopedia
Charles L. "Charlie" Copeland, is a Delaware businessman and politician. He is a former Minority Leader of the Delaware State Senate and ran for the Lieutenant Governorship of Delaware
in 2008.
where he pitched for the varsity baseball team and pursued a passion for the sciences, especially physics. Upon graduating from Tower Hill in 1981, Copeland enrolled as an undergraduate at Duke University
and earned a double major in Physics and Computer Science. In 1994, he obtained an MBA from Duke's School of Business. Charlie married his high school sweetheart, Bonnie Egan, in 1987. They now live in Wilmington with their two children and their three rescued dogs. Their family attends Christ Episcopal Church of Christiana Hundred
.
, Germany for innovation and exception in the industry by CIP4, an international industry association. In 2009, AGS won the "Best in Show" Award at the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association annual dinner, and it won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for upholding high corporate ethics.
In 1997, 5 years before first deciding to run for public office, Copeland co-founded the Challenge Program, a Wilmington-based vocational-training program for at-risk youth in the city. In the program, young men receive job training in construction and are afforded the opportunity to develop a marketable skill set. Upon graduation, participants are placed in construction jobs with local companies. Throughout training, participants renovate and repair homes which the Challenge Program then turns over to Habitat for Humanity, Wilmington Housing Partnership, the Wilmington Housing Authority and other local charities. Copeland sits as the Board President of the Challenge Program. In addition, he remains involved with the Kalmar Nyckel
Foundation, and the Mount Cuba Center
.
Since 2007, he has been working to start a Charter High School in the city of Wilmington Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security.
In both the primary and election for State Senate, Charlie ran on a platform of effectiveness in government, lower taxes, increased governmental transparency, economic growth, and education reform.
In 2006, Charlie was elected Minority Leader of his caucus. He was the youngest serving Minority Leader in the Delaware State Senate since Delaware Congressman Mike Castle held the same position in the 1970s.
Charlie retired from the State Senate in June 2008. In May 2008, Charlie was unanimously endorsed by his party to be the candidate for Lieutenant Governor
of the State of Delaware, an office elected independently from that of the Governor's. Despite garnering more votes than John McCain
and Bill Lee
Charlie Copeland was unable to beat the 2008 Democratic landslide that transformed Delaware into a one party state. Then-state Insurance Commissioner Matthew P. Denn
defeated Copeland by a 61% to 39% margin http://elections.delaware.gov/archive/elect08/elect08_general_election/html/elect08_gen_office.shtml.
Upon entering the State Senate in 2002, Copeland worked with Democrat State Senator Karen Peterson in opposition to the “desk drawer veto”, the practice by which a Committee Chairperson can single-handedly prevent a piece of legislation from receiving a public hearing and debate. To date, this practice persists.
In April 2008, Copeland achieved the posting of senate roll call votes on the General Assembly website whereby the public could access voting records of their state senators. Commenting on the success in his caucus’s press release of 4/8/08, he identified the measure as a “one small common-sense step toward transparency in government.”
Copeland has stated his hopes for similar accountability measures were he elected Lieutenant Governor in the belief that public oversight would demand greater discipline from state government. The most prominent of these measures would have been the posting of government contracts online so that members of the public could have seen where exactly the state spends its money.
take office the second Tuesday of January. The State Senate
has a term of four years.
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
! Office
! Type
! Location
! Elected
! Took Office
! Left Office
|-
|State Senator
|Legislature
|Dover
|2002
|January 14, 2003
|June 2008
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=13 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
| Year
| Office
| Election
|
| Subject
| Party
| Votes
| %
|
| Opponent
| Party
| Votes
| %
|-
|2002
|State
Senate
4th
District
|Primary
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
| |2,151
| |62.8%
|
| |Dallas Winslow
| |Republican
| |1,276
| |37.2%
|-
|2002
|State
Senate
4th
District
|General
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
| |11,592
| |72.3%
|
| |Fred J. Boykin
| |Democrat
| |4,431
| |27.7%
|-
|2008
|Lt. Governor
|General
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
| |149,222
| |39%
|
| |Matt Denn
| |Democrat
| |236,741
| |61%
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
The Lieutenant Governor of Delaware is the second ranking executive officer of the U.S. state of Delaware. Lieutenant Governors are elected for a term of four years in the same general election as the U.S. President and take office the following January....
in 2008.
Early life and family
Copeland attended Tower Hill School in Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
where he pitched for the varsity baseball team and pursued a passion for the sciences, especially physics. Upon graduating from Tower Hill in 1981, Copeland enrolled as an undergraduate at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
and earned a double major in Physics and Computer Science. In 1994, he obtained an MBA from Duke's School of Business. Charlie married his high school sweetheart, Bonnie Egan, in 1987. They now live in Wilmington with their two children and their three rescued dogs. Their family attends Christ Episcopal Church of Christiana Hundred
Christiana Hundred
Christiana Hundred is the name of an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County, Delaware. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in the Delaware General Assembly, and while their names still appear on all real estate transactions, they presently have no meaningful use or...
.
Professional Career and Community Involvement
Copeland was one of only a handful of state legislators to own and operate a family business. When he first assumed management of Associates Graphic Services in 1994, the small Delaware printing company in Wilmington had only ten employees. Since then, AGS has grown to over 50 employees and evolved into a high tech business. In June 2008, AGS was internationally recognized in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany for innovation and exception in the industry by CIP4, an international industry association. In 2009, AGS won the "Best in Show" Award at the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association annual dinner, and it won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for upholding high corporate ethics.
In 1997, 5 years before first deciding to run for public office, Copeland co-founded the Challenge Program, a Wilmington-based vocational-training program for at-risk youth in the city. In the program, young men receive job training in construction and are afforded the opportunity to develop a marketable skill set. Upon graduation, participants are placed in construction jobs with local companies. Throughout training, participants renovate and repair homes which the Challenge Program then turns over to Habitat for Humanity, Wilmington Housing Partnership, the Wilmington Housing Authority and other local charities. Copeland sits as the Board President of the Challenge Program. In addition, he remains involved with the Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
Foundation, and the Mount Cuba Center
Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory
Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory is located in Greenville, Delaware, USA. This observatory is home to a 0.6-meter telescope used by the Delaware Astronomical Society, the University of Delaware, and the Whole Earth Telescope....
.
Since 2007, he has been working to start a Charter High School in the city of Wilmington Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security.
Political career
Dissatisfied with the state of Delaware politics, in 2002 Charlie challenged his incumbent Republican State Senator, Dallas Winslow, in a primary election for the 4th State Senate District. Copeland defeated Winslow in the primary, and went on to win over 70% of the vote in the general election, in the Republican district that November, demonstrating popularity with both Independents and moderate Democrats, as well as with Republicans. Charlie has represented the Brandywine Hundred to Hockessin area Senate District from 2002 to 2008.In both the primary and election for State Senate, Charlie ran on a platform of effectiveness in government, lower taxes, increased governmental transparency, economic growth, and education reform.
In 2006, Charlie was elected Minority Leader of his caucus. He was the youngest serving Minority Leader in the Delaware State Senate since Delaware Congressman Mike Castle held the same position in the 1970s.
Charlie retired from the State Senate in June 2008. In May 2008, Charlie was unanimously endorsed by his party to be the candidate for Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
of the State of Delaware, an office elected independently from that of the Governor's. Despite garnering more votes than John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Bill Lee
William Swain Lee
William Swain Lee is an American lawyer and politician from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware. He is a member of the Republican Party, who served as a judge of the Delaware Superior Court. He was the 2004 and 2008 Republican candidate for Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:Lee was...
Charlie Copeland was unable to beat the 2008 Democratic landslide that transformed Delaware into a one party state. Then-state Insurance Commissioner Matthew P. Denn
Matthew P. Denn
Matthew P. "Matt" Denn is an American lawyer and politician from Hockessin in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party who was the Insurance Commissioner of Delaware and is currently the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.-Early life and family:Denn was born in...
defeated Copeland by a 61% to 39% margin http://elections.delaware.gov/archive/elect08/elect08_general_election/html/elect08_gen_office.shtml.
State Senate
Though he was assigned to several, the only committee Copeland specifically requested upon entering the state legislature was the Education Committee, believing that the roots of most of Delaware’s chronic and long-term problems could be best confronted in the way that Delawarean children were educated. During his time on the Education Committee, he advocated parental choice in education and stood as a firm proponent of charter schools. In addition, Copeland pushed for higher standards and more efficient administration for public schools.Upon entering the State Senate in 2002, Copeland worked with Democrat State Senator Karen Peterson in opposition to the “desk drawer veto”, the practice by which a Committee Chairperson can single-handedly prevent a piece of legislation from receiving a public hearing and debate. To date, this practice persists.
In April 2008, Copeland achieved the posting of senate roll call votes on the General Assembly website whereby the public could access voting records of their state senators. Commenting on the success in his caucus’s press release of 4/8/08, he identified the measure as a “one small common-sense step toward transparency in government.”
Copeland has stated his hopes for similar accountability measures were he elected Lieutenant Governor in the belief that public oversight would demand greater discipline from state government. The most prominent of these measures would have been the posting of government contracts online so that members of the public could have seen where exactly the state spends its money.
Public offices
Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1st. Members of the Delaware General AssemblyDelaware General Assembly
The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives...
take office the second Tuesday of January. The State Senate
Delaware Senate
The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at which time Senators may be elected to a two-year term....
has a term of four years.
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
|-bgcolor=#cccccc
! Office
! Type
! Location
! Elected
! Took Office
! Left Office
|-
|State Senator
|Legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
|Dover
Dover, Delaware
The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
|2002
|January 14, 2003
|June 2008
Election results
{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"|-bgcolor=#cccccc
!colspan=13 style="background: #ccccff;" |Election results
|-
| Year
| Office
| Election
|
| Subject
| Party
| Votes
| %
|
| Opponent
| Party
| Votes
| %
|-
|2002
|State
Senate
4th
District
|Primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
| |2,151
| |62.8%
|
| |Dallas Winslow
| |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
| |1,276
| |37.2%
|-
|2002
|State
Senate
4th
District
|General
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
| |11,592
| |72.3%
|
| |Fred J. Boykin
| |Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
| |4,431
| |27.7%
|-
|2008
|Lt. Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
The Lieutenant Governor of Delaware is the second ranking executive officer of the U.S. state of Delaware. Lieutenant Governors are elected for a term of four years in the same general election as the U.S. President and take office the following January....
|General
|
| |Charles L. Copeland
| |Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
| |149,222
| |39%
|
| |Matt Denn
| |Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
| |236,741
| |61%