Looks like we have a candidate for Auditor. But what about Treasurer?
Brenda Mayrack, a lawyer who is well-connected within the Democratic Party from her previous work as an operative, is ready to go with a campaign against the last Republican standing statewide. […] Mayrack knows state politics from the inside. She got started after graduating from the University of Delaware, where she arrived in 1996 by way of growing up in Wisconsin and Texas with a burning desire to go east. She worked on John Carney’s campaign for lieutenant governor in 2000 and then went to Democratic state headquarters as the executive director for the 2002 election cycle.
Mayrack went west again to get a joint degree in law and public affairs at the University of Wisconsin and then returned here to work at Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell, one of the top Delaware law firms. She left there earlier this year to set up a solo practice focused on auditing with corporate clients that are under review by the state for unclaimed property.
It might have been fated for Mayrack to come to Delaware. She was born on December 7, Delaware Day, and she plans to make her candidacy official by social media next week on her 36th birthday.
“This is an important office with an important job to do, particularly as our state continues to face revenue pressures. Tom Wagner has had over 20 years to do the job, and I think it can be done better,” Mayrack said.
“The public trust has been eroded. People want to know what we’re doing about state credit card use, and they want to know the first time there’s an issue, it’s stopped right there.”
State Auditor Tom Wagner has been in office since 1988. He barely won reelection last time, in a year favoring Republicans (2010), against Richard Korn, a man that people were not rushing to vote for even before he was indicted on child pornography charges. A credible candidate beats him this time. Mayrack seems to have both the party backing, knowledge and auditing experience to be that credible candidate.
She has already received some high praise from Nancy Willing:
Mayrack is a Democrat even a curmudgeon like me can love. As I recall, Ms. Mayrack was the single bright light on the podium at the Democratic Party Convention. I kept wishing we were voting her in as Chairman because she was doing the yeoman’s work in keeping the meeting running smoothly.
Ms. Mayrack was featured in the News Journal earlier this month:
Brenda Mayrack of Wilmington had lobbied Delaware lawmakers earlier this year on gun control legislation, and noticed an inefficiency in the way votes were unofficially counted in the halls. The primary method, she said, was paper and pen.
On Sunday night, Mayrack and her team detailed their businessplan for WhipCount, a mobile app that allows lobbyists to communicate about where each lawmaker stands on a particular piece of legislation – yes, leans yes, undecided, not sure, leans no and no.
WhipCount won the local version of the Global Startup Battle, a 54-hour challenge for entrepreneurs to build business plans using small teams of business people, Web developers and visual designers.
She sounds like an innovator, who could modernize the Auditor’s office while at the same time pursuing actual audits like an inspector general should. I look forward to meeting Ms. Mayrack soon.
Now, as for the Treasurer. The oldest addage in politics is you can’t beat something with nothing, though the Republicans have really tried to test it out over the last five years. Right now, the conventional wisdom is Treasurer Flowers is in trouble and ripe for defeat at the hands of a GOP candidate. That has the Democratic establishment talking behind the scenes to Celia Cohen that they will be primarying Flowers with someone. But who?
I have been told that there are two potential primary opponents for Flowers, and that they will not announce their plans until after the New Year. My source only would reveal their existence, and not their identities (even when I said it would be off the record). So your guess is as good as mine as to who these two people are.
However, I indicated my frustration to my source that there would be two challengers instead of just one, since that is how KWS survived her primary challenge: by dividing the anti-Flowers vote, Flowers can squeak by with 35% of the vote just like KWS did. My source says that because of that, it is likely that one of the potential candidates will not run, and that he just likes to tell people that he’s interested in running.
That sounds to me like Bryon Short or some other legislator.
Interesting post…. 2012 redux? – is it 2010 again with Matlusky- who came real close in beating Korn/
Matlusky, even though he is not a good campaigner, would have made a great auditor!
DelDem:
KWS had only 32% I had 30%. Nevertheless, your point is well taken.
Korn = 17639 (53.9%)
Matlusky = 15097 (46.1%)
This result in a year when 12% of registered Dems came out to vote and 32% of registered Rs came out to vote. Richard Korn has always been a polarizing figure and I suspect a good deal of Matlusky’s success was in being the anti-Korn vote. Which isn’t to say that Matlusky didn’t work hard — he did — I just wonder if he would have done this well against a less-polarizing candidate.
Mitch… I knew I didn’t have the exact percentages right, but I was close.
Somebody should pay Chip’s filing fee twice. He’s his own most damaging opponent.
Richard Korn, a man that people were not rushing to vote for even before he was indicted on child pornography charges.
Best line of the week …
I know who is going to primary Chip. Great well known candidate but can’t say yet.
I know something you don’t know.
I am 120% definitely going to be on the primary ballot for State Auditor. To paraphrase Pete Rose, I would walk through hell in a gasoline suit to run for State Auditor.
—Ken Matlusky
Ken, I am pulling for you.
Ken – didn’t Pete Rose get thrown out of baseball? What exactly is your position on Pete Rose, sir?