EXCLUSIVE: Kathy McGuiness speaks with 47 ABC after filing to run for Delaware House
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – Former State Auditor Kathy McGuiness officially filed today to run for a seat in the Delaware House of Representatives.
McGuiness, the first and only elected official to be convicted while in office in the history of the state, filed the paperwork Monday to officially run for the 14th Representative District which covers Rehoboth Beach, and parts of both Lewes and Dewey.
“There’s so much more and so much that has been done that’s so good and I want to continue to do that,” McGuiness said. “To know me, and to know my background, and what I’ve done in this community for decades, I think is really what pushed me forward when folks were asking me to run and I’m like ‘oh, I don’t know, I’m not sure.'”
McGuiness resigned from the Auditor of Accounts Office in 2022 after she was convicted of three misdemeanors. The judge in the case eventually dropped the non-compliance with procurement law by structuring conviction, leaving McGuiness with a conflict of interest conviction, a misdemeanor, on her record after she hired her own daughter while in office.
After appealing the convictions all the way to the Delaware Supreme Court, only one of the charges stuck, the conflict of interest conviction.
When we asked what her response was to people who question whether or not she can be trusted seeing as she was convicted, McGuiness acknowledged the hiring of her daughter, saying “if it was a mistake, then I made it,” but she also claimed that what she did is actually not uncommon in Delaware politics.
“Well, I mean, folks know, it’s pretty simple, yes, my daughter did work in my office and I have a misdemeanor for hiring a close relative,” McGuiness stated. “I did it, I thought it was ok, I checked, other people had done it in state government, and still do to my knowledge, so with that being said: if it was a mistake, then I made it.”
Despite the conviction, it’s not stopping McGuiness’ passion to serve. She tells us with her experience, specifically in the 14th District having served for years as a Rehoboth Beach City Commissioner, that she feels she’s the best candidate for the position.
“As a Rehoboth Commissioner, for gosh almost two decades, all the great things that were accomplished then,” McGuiness said. “I want to bring people together for the good of this district and this community.”
If elected, McGuiness says there’s a host of issues she’d like to tackle including growth and traffic congestion. And as a pharmacist, she says she see’s first hand the need for increased health care in the district.
“We are considered an under-served area,” McGuiness emphasized. “It’s my understanding Sussex County federally is like legitimately an under-served area because we don’t have enough health professionals for the folks that are here, and the folks that are coming here.”
McGuiness said she’s not worried about those who will try to hold her conviction against her, pledging to run to a positive campaign.
“If folks wanna go negative, they have in the past, they continue to, and I suppose they’re always going to in the future, but if somebody wants to go down that path, they’re going alone,” McGuiness said. “I’m going to run a positive campaign, that’s how I’m going to earn your vote.”
McGuiness is running in the Delaware primary against two other candidates – Claire Synder-Hall and Marty Rendon.
The race will decide who will assume the seat of former Speaker of the House Pete Schwartzkopf. The longtime 14th District Rep. stepped down from his leadership role last summer and announced he would not run for another term.
There is currently no Republican seeking the seat.
Delaware’s primary election will be held on September 10th.
