Matthew Denn

Matthew Denn

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Delaware Insurance Commissioner

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Lieutenant Governor of Delaware

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Attorney General of Delaware

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Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley

Law

Yale University Law School

Matthew Denn was the 45th Democratic Attorney General of Delaware. A Democrat, Denn was first elected to the position in 2014 and sworn in for a four-year term on January 6, 2015. He succeeded Beau Biden (D).

Denn ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 2014 attorney general primary. He defeated four opponents to win the general election on November 4, 2014.

Before becoming attorney general, Denn served as lieutenant governor of Delaware from 2009 to 2015. He was first elected to the position in 2008 and was re-elected in 2012. Denn did not complete his second term as lieutenant governor, resigning in January 2015 to take over the attorney general's office.

Biography

Denn was born February 9, 1966, in Wilmington, Delaware, and grew up in suburban Hockessin in New Castle County. He moved to California during high school. He attended the University of California, Berkeley for undergrad and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1991.

Denn worked for two years with Delaware Volunteer Legal Services before entering private practice and becoming a partner with the law firm Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor. In 1998, he was appointed chairman of Delaware's new Child Protection Accountability Commission. When he served in the state government, Denn had served on a number of boards and commissions, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Delaware, the Wilmington Civil Rights Commission and the Kutz Home.

Denn had also worked as an adjunct professor at Widener University Law School in the area of constitutional law.

Denn's state executive branch experience predated his election as attorney general by over a decade. Denn served as chief legal counsel to then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) from 2001 to 2003 and was Delaware's Insurance Commissioner from 2005 to 2009. In 2004, Denn was elected to his first and only term as insurance commissioner.

Education

• Bachelor's degree, University of California at Berkeley
• J.D., Yale University

Political career

• 2015-2019: Delaware Attorney General
• 2009-2015: Delaware Lieutenant Governor
• 2005-2009: Delaware Insurance Commissioner

Elections

2018

See also: Delaware attorney general election, 2018

Matthew Denn did not file to run for re-election.

2014

See also: Delaware attorney general election, 2014

Denn ran for election to the office of Delaware Attorney General in 2014. He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the primary. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Attorney General of Delaware, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Matthew Denn	52.8%	121,410
	Republican	Ted Kittila	39.2%	90,257
	Green	Catherine Damavandi	4.6%	10,599
	Independent	David Graham	2.1%	4,879
	Libertarian	John Machurek	1.3%	2,984
Total Votes				230,129
Election results via Delaware Office of the State Election Commissioner

Debates

Click show for information on debates.

Debate media October 15 debate October 15 debate Matthew Denn (D), Ted Kittila (R), Catherine Damavandi (G) and David Graham (I) discussed the state's heroin problem and their proposals for strengthening the office during a debate at Widener University Law School. Kittila and Damavandi agreed that the attorney general's office should target high-level dealers in the state to deal with the drug's growing use. Graham brought up a family member struggling with heroin addiction when bringing up the need for rehabilitation programs. Denn also argued on behalf of treatment programs that could stem the supply side of the problem. The candidates were asked to assign themes to their campaigns or potential administrations during the debate. Denn spoke about the need to improve the efficiency of the office while focusing on violent crimes. Kittila suggested that the office needed to reclaim its role atop the state's legal system. Damavandi stated that her administration would be focused on equal justice for every resident and Graham suggested that leadership and management would be necessary to continue the office's work.

2012

See also: Delaware lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Denn won re-election as Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 2012. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 11, 2012. He defeated Sher Valenzuela (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012. In Delaware, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on separate tickets in both the primary and general elections.

Lieutenant Governor of Delaware General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Matthew Denn Incumbent	61.6%	238,959
	Republican	Sher Valenzuela	37.1%	143,978
	Libertarian	Margie Waite-McKeown	1.3%	5,206
Total Votes				388,143
Election results via Delaware State Board of Elections

2008

Denn won election as the Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 2008, defeating Republican Charlie Copeland. His first term in office, serving alongside Democratic Governor Jack Markell, began January 20, 2009. In Delaware, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on separate tickets in both the primary and general elections.

Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Matthew Denn	61.3%	236,744
	Republican	Charles Copeland	38.7%	149,223
	Blue Enigma Party	Peter Cullen	0%	92
Total Votes				386,059
Election results via Delaware Elections Commission

2004

Denn was elected Delaware Insurance Commissioner in 2004. He defeated Karen Weldin Stewart in the Democratic primary election, and Republican Dave Ennis, who was at the time a member of the Delaware General Assembly from New Castle County, in the general election.

Delaware Insurance Commissioner, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Matthew Denn	52.8%	182,619
	Republican	David H. Ennis	47.2%	163,027
Total Votes				345,646

Campaign themes

Denn's campaign website listed the following issues for the 2014 race:

“	Protecting Delaware’s Most Vulnerable Citizens Prosecuting child predators and others who prey on our most vulnerable citizens, like the elderly and disabled, must be a priority, Protecting Delawareans from Identity Theft and Other Internet Crimes As more and more Delawareans are victims of identity theft and data security breaches, we need to update and strengthen Delaware’s laws with respect to the obligation of affected institutions to make things right when they allow the personal information of Delawareans to be improperly accessed or released. Providing the Highest Quality Legal Representation to the State Half of the hundreds of attorneys in the Department of Justice represent the different agencies of the State of Delaware, and providing good, quality legal service to state agencies saves the state money and helps these agencies better serve the public. Reducing Violent Crime Part II: Addressing its Underlying Causes Earlier, I released my seven-point plan for dealing with our state’s violent crime and homicide problem through traditional law enforcement means that have shown immediate success when employed in other states and cities. That plan is part of the solution to our state’s violent crime problem. But if we are to successfully address violent crime in the long run, we also need to address some of the underlying causes of criminal activity much more aggressively than we have in the past. Few of these efforts can be pursued unilaterally by the Attorney General, but the Attorney General has a critical role to play in advocating public and private funding for these efforts, and in bringing people and organizations together to pursue them. Reducing Violent Crime, Part I: Seven Steps To Crack Down On Criminals There are a variety of crime challenges facing the State of Delaware, but the single most acute problem is that too many people in our state are being killed. In 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, the homicide rate in our state steadily increased, at the same time that homicide rates in most states around the country were dropping.[1] The rate of homicides in 2014 suggests that this may be one of Delaware’s most violent years in recent memory. There are two parts to addressing our state’s violent crime problem. One part involves better dealing with some of the underlying causes of violent crime: our high rates of substance abuse, the high recidivism rate among inmates who are released from our prisons, the absence of adequate after-school and summer programs for our youth, and the overall quality of the educational and early childhood programs that we provide to our children. Over the long term, our improvement in these areas will have a significant impact on our crime rates in Delaware – and I will have more to say about each during this campaign. But there is also a law enforcement component to reducing violent crime, and Delaware has substantial room to improve in that area. As the highest ranking and most visible law enforcement official in the state, the Attorney General has an important leadership and coordinating role to play in improving law enforcement efforts. Safer and Better Schools I want to continue the work that Attorney General Biden and I have started to combat school bullying, and in particular the new problem of cyberbullying. Stopping Health Care Fraud and Insurance Fraud Health care fraud and insurance fraud have become more sophisticated, and in order to investigate and prosecute them, the Attorney General’s office needs a greater capacity to take advantage of technology and data. Strict Enforcement of Delaware’s State Civil Rights Statutes Delaware has its own state civil rights statutes, which in some cases provide Delawareans with more protections than federal civil rights statutes.	”
—Matthew Denn's campaign website, (2014)

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Matthew Denn campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	Attorney General of Delaware	Won	$526,389	N/A**
2012	Lieutenant Governor of Delaware	Won	$325,688	N/A**
2008	Lieutenant Governor of Delaware	Won	$487,648	N/A**
2004	Delaware Insurance Commissioner	Won	$468,362	N/A**
Grand total			$1,808,087	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only availabale data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When he served in the state government, Denn lived in the North Star area with his wife, Michele, and twin children, Zachary and Adam.}

External links

• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Beau Biden (D)	Attorney General of Delaware 2015 - 2019	Succeeded by Kathy Jennings (D)
Preceded by John C. Carney, Jr. (D)	Lieutenant Governor of Delaware 2009 - 2015	Succeeded by Bethany Hall-Long (D)