Joshua Casey

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Joshua Casey

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 4, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

University of Florida

Graduate

University of Florida

Personal

Birthplace

Panama City Beach, Fla.

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Joshua Casey (Democratic Party) ran for election for Washington State Auditor. He lost in the primary on August 4, 2020.

Casey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Joshua Casey was born in Panama City, Florida. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in information systems and operations management from the University of Florida. Casey’s career experience includes becoming a CPA in Washington.

Elections

2020

See also: Washington Auditor election, 2020

General election

General election for Washington State Auditor

Incumbent Pat McCarthy defeated Christopher Leyba in the general election for Washington State Auditor on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pat McCarthy (D)	58.0	2,260,830
	Submit photo	Christopher Leyba (R)	41.9	1,633,956
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	3,316

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,898,102
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Washington State Auditor

Incumbent Pat McCarthy and Christopher Leyba defeated Joshua Casey in the primary for Washington State Auditor on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pat McCarthy (D)	47.4	1,134,077
✔	Submit photo	Christopher Leyba (R)	41.1	982,411
		Joshua Casey (D)	11.4	273,198
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2,278

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,391,964
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Joshua Casey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Casey's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Having the talent for dealing with ambiguity and resolving complex issues, Joshua has spent his career as a CPA managing and executing financial statement, operational, and compliance audits. He has over a decade of experience that includes auditing clients that range from some of the most well-known brands in the world to small local organizations.

At PwC, a top global audit firm, Joshua was promoted early into a management role because of his strong technical proficiency and leadership in building a better company through the coaching of staff, fostering diversity in the workforce, and creating a sense of community. Joshua continues to believe in the importance of these tenets. In this role, Joshua led and managed multimillion-dollar audits that spanned the globe.

Along with working for PwC, Joshua also has experience working for Deloitte, another top global audit firm. He now enjoys bringing his experience to his own firm, where he has the privilege to serve small businesses.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Auditing is a specialized and technically complex skill. In the private sector, only a CPA has the authority to sign off on an audit report because it demonstrates expertise in this skillset. Washingtonians deserve a qualified leader who has practical hands-on auditing experience. Joshua is the only candidate with over a decade of experience in auditing and accounting. This includes working at two of the largest and most well-respected audit firms globally - PwC and Deloitte. He is also the only CPA on the ballot.
• In the current economic climate, government offices will need to achieve their mission with less funding. In the private sector, audit departments at Fortune 500 companies are having to accomplish more with less for years. They hired people like Joshua to help them apply modern audit techniques that provided more efficient and higher quality audits. Joshua brings this skillset and will help the office accomplish more with less in the coming years.
• Accountability is important, not only for the government organizations audited by the auditor's office, but also the auditor's office itself. The relaxed metrics in place at the state auditor's office give an inaccurate picture of the success of the department. For example, if a whistleblower complaint is investigated within a year the auditor's office will have met their metrics. In the private sector, the target resolution time is typically around 45 days for whistleblower cases. Washingtonians deserve an experienced auditor, like Joshua, who will provide fair metrics and accountability in this role.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Joshua Casey is a progressive Democrat who cares passionately about responsible government. He believes more can be done to end police brutality in Washington and throughout the country. Joshua believes bad actors in police departments must be held accountable through processes that are equitable to both sides.

Joshua also believes more can be done in Washington on the environmental front - especially around the current processes for recycling. Tons of material that Washingtonians believe is recycled instead finds its way into a landfill. Joshua believes the existing recycling processes and incentives used throughout the process can be refined to encourage more effective recycling.

In addition, Joshua is passionate about finding pragmatic solutions to end homelessness. Joshua believes in solutions like rapid rehousing and encouraging an economy that better supports workers at every level and improves pathways to employment for low-skilled workers.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The office is an independent office in state government. This position is elected directly by the people, rather than appointed. This is intentional as it allows the office to remain independent and report directly to the people, not another branch of government. This empowers the auditor to audit whichever government office it likes, and how it likes, without fear of losing their job.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official should be honest about who they are and be true to what they believe. Their opinions and actions should be driven by the impact to Washingtonians, not decided by political donors. They should join politics because they believe they can improve the lives of their friends, family, and neighbors - not because they seek power and influence.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am the only CPA running for this office and an auditor by trade with over a decade of experience in auditing and accounting, including working for two of the largest most well-respected audit firms globally - PwC and Deloitte. At PwC, I was promoted into management early because of my expertise and proven leadership. In this role I led multi-national audits for Fortune 500 companies.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The auditor should be able to provide high quality and truly independent assessments of government. Further, the official should inspire their employees through leadership and provide opportunities to advance and grow their career.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A modernized audit office that is viewed by other states as the benchmark to strive toward.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

September 11th - I was 12.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was when I was newly turned sixteen years old. I was hired as a cook at a pizza place, making $6/ hr, which was $0.75 over the minimum wage at the time (I was so excited about that). I had the job for over a year until I won a scholarship to study in New Zealand.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Each responsibility at the auditor's office is equally important as each type of audit or investigation performed contributes to the mission to hold government accountable.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The auditor has the discretion to execute performance audits. The goal of these audits is to identify areas where government can improve their operations and better address risks facing their organization. They are a great opportunity to add value based on best practices implemented elsewhere and highlight areas that might have a negative impact on the organization if not addressed.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Much like a judge or sheriff, this position requires someone who has the expertise and leadership to perform the job. As noted in an earlier point, the reason it is an elected position is to preserve independence and a direct reporting relationship to the people, not a government office holder who might otherwise seek to limit the scope of an auditor's work.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

In fast moving situations, leaders must understand their capabilities and be decisive. They must also have the professional knowledge and experience to justify their decisions. Further, due to the complexity of the role, an auditor must have significant experience being an auditor. In the private sector and in many other state auditor's offices a CPA license is required to sign audit reports. This is because it is the highest standard of competence in the audit industry. To obtain a CPA license, one must possess a specialized education, have relevant experience, and have passed both ethical and technical examinations. As a result, a CPA license best demonstrates the expertise needed for the role.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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