Delaware Auditor election, 2022
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| Delaware State Auditor |
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| 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 |
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| Attorney General |
Delaware held an election for state auditor on November 8, 2022. The primary was scheduled for September 13, 2022. The filing deadline was July 12, 2022.
Lydia York won election in the general election for Delaware State Auditor.
For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:
Candidates and election results
General election candidates
- Lydia York (Democratic Party) ✔
- Janice Lorrah (Republican Party)
Democratic primary candidates
- Kathy McGuiness (Incumbent)
- Lydia York ✔
Republican primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Delaware
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
September 6 Democratic primary
Ballotpedia identified the September 6, 2022, Democratic primary as a battleground primary. For more on the Democratic primary, click here.
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]
Past elections
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 | |
| Total votes: 355,105 | |||
 = 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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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 | |
| Total votes: 79,420 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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 |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
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 | ||||
See also
| Delaware | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Kathy McGuiness' 2022 campaign website, "Meet Kathy," accessed August 24, 2022
- ↑ Lydia York's 2022 campaign website, "Meet Lydia," accessed August 24, 2022
- ↑ Delaware Public Media, "Pike Creek attorney to challenge State Auditor in Democratic primary," July 12, 2022
- ↑ WDEL, "GUILTY: State Auditor Kathy McGuiness convicted on three of five charges," July 1, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cape Gazette, "State Auditor Kathy McGuiness found guilty on three counts," July 1, 2022
- ↑ Delaware.gov, "Statement From AG Jennings On McGuiness Verdict," July 1, 2022
- ↑ Delaware Online, "Jury returns verdict in Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness criminal corruption case," July 1, 2022
- ↑ Delaware Democratic Party, "Delaware Democratic Party announces statewide endorsement slate, including Auditor challenger Lydia York," July 27, 2022
- ↑ Delaware State Auditor, "Home," accessed August 24, 2022
