Lydia York defeated incumbent Kathy McGuiness in the Democratic primary for state auditor on September 13, 2022. McGuiness was elected to the office in 2018.

McGuiness became the state's first female auditor in January 2019. Before becoming state auditor, she served five terms on the Rehoboth Beach City Commission and worked as a pharmacist. McGuiness ran on her record as auditor. Her campaign website said, "Under Kathy’s leadership, the Auditor’s Office has become a nationwide leader in innovation and efficiency. McGuiness has created a new mobile app for Delaware taxpayers to report fraud, waste and abuse, and also created an interactive CARES Act Fund Tracker portal."^[1]

York's professional experience included working as an accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers & Lybrand) and as a tax attorney.^[2] York said she filed to run because of McGuiness' misdemeanor convictions. "[R]egardless of your views on the trial and the outcome and all of that all a lot of witnesses testified to a work environment that was described across the board as toxic and it would be one of my primary missions frankly is to make that stop so people can do their work," she said.^[3]

McGuiness' conviction on three misdemeanor charges in July 2022 was a key factor in this race. McGuiness was charged with conflict of interest, structuring, and official misconduct.^[4] The charges stemmed from McGuiness hiring her daughter to work in the auditor’s office as other employees’ hours were cut during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the conviction, leaders in both chambers of the state legislature called on McGuiness to resign.^[5] This was the first instance of a sitting statewide elected official in Delaware being convicted of a crime.^[6] Each misdemeanor charge carried a maximum sentence of one year in prison.^[5]

McGuiness said that the charges against her were politically motivated and that it was not illegal to hire a family member. Her attorney said they would appeal the case to the Delaware Supreme Court.^[5] "I have a great team so I look forward to working again with them to rectify the situation," McGuiness said.^[7]

The Democratic Party of Delaware endorsed York in July. Chairwoman Betsy Maron said, “We saw Ms. York’s candidacy as an opportunity to restore the Auditor's office to its intended function and do away with the political theater that has kept the incumbent at center stage for all the wrong reasons. Her legal, business, and finance backgrounds make Lydia York an immensely qualified Auditor who we are confident will do right by all Delawareans.”^[8]

As of August 2022, the stated function of the auditor's office was to "[serve] Delawareans by providing independent objective oversight of the state government’s use of taxpayer dollars with the goal of deterring fraud, waste and abuse through unbiased assessments, including the use of various audits, special reports, and investigations of financial operations designed to ensure statutory compliance while enhancing governmental economy, efficiency and effectiveness."^[9]

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor

Lydia York defeated incumbent Kathy McGuiness in the Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor on September 13, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Lydia York	71.0	35,881
	Kathy McGuiness	29.0	14,640

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 50,521
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News and conflicts in this primary

This race was featured in The Heart of the Primaries, a newsletter capturing stories related to conflicts within each major party. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

Presidential elections

	2026 → ← 2018
Delaware State Auditor
Election details
	Filing deadline: July 12, 2022
	Primary: September 13, 2022; General: November 8, 2022; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Kathy McGuiness (Democratic)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Delaware
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2022; Impact of term limits in 2022; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
Delaware; executive elections
	Attorney General; Treasurer; Auditor

See also: Presidential voting trends in Delaware and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Delaware, 2022
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
Delaware's At-Large	Lisa Blunt Rochester	Democratic	D+7

2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, Delaware^[10]
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
Delaware's At-Large	58.8%	39.8%

2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Following the 2020 presidential election, 57.7% of Delawareans lived in New Castle County, the state's one Solid Democratic county, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 24.0% lived in Sussex County, the state's one Solid Republican county. Overall, Delaware was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Delaware following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Delaware county-level statistics, 2020
Solid Democratic	1	57.7%
Solid Republican	1	24.0%
Battleground Democratic	1	18.4%
Total voted Democratic	2	76.0%
Total voted Republican	1	24.0%

Historical voting trends

Delaware presidential election results (1900-2020)

15 Democratic wins
16 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	D	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Statewide elections

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Delaware

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Delaware.

U.S. Senate election results in Delaware
Race	Winner	Runner up
2020	59.4%	37.9%
2018	60.0%	37.8%
2014	55.8%	42.4%
2012	66.4%	29.0%
2010	56.6%	40.0%
Average	59.6	37.4

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Delaware

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Delaware.

Gubernatorial election results in Delaware
Race	Winner	Runner up
2016	59.5%	38.6%
2012	58.3%	39.2%
2008	69.3%	28.6%
2004	67.5%	32.1%
2000	50.9%	45.8%
Average	61.1	36.9

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Delaware's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Delaware, November 2022
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	1	3
Republican	0	0	0
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	1	3

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Delaware's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in Delaware, November 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	John Carney Jr.
Lieutenant Governor	Bethany Hall-Long
Secretary of State	Jeffrey W. Bullock
Attorney General	Kathy Jennings

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Delaware General Assembly as of October 2022.

Delaware State Senate

Party		As of October 2022
	Democratic Party	14
	Republican Party	7
	Vacancies	0
Total		21

Delaware House of Representatives

Party		As of October 2022
	Democratic Party	26
	Republican Party	15
	Vacancies	0
Total		41

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, Delaware was a Democratic trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Delaware Party Control: 1992-2022
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Demographics

The table below details demographic data in Delaware and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for Delaware
	Delaware	United States
Population	989,948	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	1,948	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	67.4%	70.4%
Black/African American	22%	12.6%
Asian	4%	5.6%
Native American	0.4%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Other (single race)	2.3%	5.1%
Multiple	3.9%	5.2%
Hispanic/Latino	9.4%	18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate	90.6%	88.5%
College graduation rate	32.7%	32.9%
Income
Median household income	$69,110	$64,994
Persons below poverty level	11.4%	12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Election context

Election history

2018

See also: Delaware Auditor election, 2018

General election

General election for Delaware State Auditor

Kathy McGuiness defeated James Spadola in the general election for Delaware State Auditor on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kathy McGuiness (D)	57.9	205,624
	James Spadola (R)	42.1	149,481

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 355,105
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor

Kathy McGuiness defeated Kathleen Davies and Dennis E. Williams in the Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor on September 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kathy McGuiness	41.9	33,240
	Kathleen Davies	34.9	27,749
	Dennis E. Williams	23.2	18,431

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 79,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Delaware State Auditor

James Spadola advanced from the Republican primary for Delaware State Auditor on September 6, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		James Spadola

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Delaware down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Delaware Auditor, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	R. Thomas Wagner, Jr. Incumbent	54.2%	123,100
	Democratic	Brenda Mayrack	45.8%	103,939
Total Votes				227,039
Election results via Delaware Office of the State Election Commissioner

2022 battleground elections

See also: Battlegrounds

This election was a battleground race. Other 2022 battleground elections included:

External links

Footnotes

[1] Kathy McGuiness' 2022 campaign website, "Meet Kathy," accessed August 24, 2022

[2] Lydia York's 2022 campaign website, "Meet Lydia," accessed August 24, 2022

[3] Delaware Public Media, "Pike Creek attorney to challenge State Auditor in Democratic primary," July 12, 2022

[4] WDEL, "GUILTY: State Auditor Kathy McGuiness convicted on three of five charges," July 1, 2022

[cg-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Cape Gazette, "State Auditor Kathy McGuiness found guilty on three counts," July 1, 2022

[6] Delaware.gov, "Statement From AG Jennings On McGuiness Verdict," July 1, 2022

[7] Delaware Online, "Jury returns verdict in Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness criminal corruption case," July 1, 2022

[8] Delaware Democratic Party, "Delaware Democratic Party announces statewide endorsement slate, including Auditor challenger Lydia York," July 27, 2022

[9] Delaware State Auditor, "Home," accessed August 24, 2022

[10] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed September 9, 2022

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Delaware Auditor election, 2022 (September 13 Democratic primary)

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor

News and conflicts in this primary

Election analysis

Presidential elections

Cook PVI by congressional district

2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2012-2020

Historical voting trends

Statewide elections

U.S. Senate elections

Gubernatorial elections

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

State executive

State legislature

Delaware State Senate

Delaware House of Representatives

Trifecta control

Demographics

Election context

Election history

2018

General election

General election for Delaware State Auditor

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Delaware State Auditor

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Delaware State Auditor

2014

2022 battleground elections

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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