Convicted former Delaware state auditor trounced in bid to win House seat

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Cast out of office two years ago after being convicted of criminal corruption as Delaware state auditor, Kathy McGuiness attempted a comeback this year by running for a state House seat in her hometown, Rehoboth Beach.

McGuiness campaigned tirelessly against two opponents in the Democratic primary. She filled her Facebook page with photos of her smiling with voters, and had the backing of former House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, who has held the seat for 22 years.

But in Tuesday’s primary election, McGuiness finished a distant third.

Claire Snyder-Hall, who stepped down as head of the government accountability group Common Cause to run for the House, won with 41% of the nearly 3,600 votes cast.

Marty Rendon, 74, a former congressional aide who sits on the Delaware Human and Civil Rights Commission, finished second with 32%.

McGuiness, 57, a pharmacist and business owner who spent 16 years as an elected Rehoboth Beach town commissioner before she won the statewide race for auditor in 2018, only received 27% of the votes Tuesday.

Snyder-Hall faces Republican Mike Simpler, a Beebe Medical Center employee and youth sports leader, in the Nov. 5 general election. Simpler did not have a primary opponent.

Democrats hold a strong registration advantage in the growing district, a popular summer tourist destination that has grappled for years with traffic congestion, rising sea levels, lack of medical care and a dearth of workforce housing.

Snyder-Hall, 59, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2014 against then-incumbent Republican Ernie Lopez, would be the first woman to represent the Rehoboth Beach area in the General Assembly.

The primary winner said she was “elated” by the outcome and looks forward to November.

“We knocked on thousands of doors all over the district,” Snyder-Hall told WHYY News. “We worked really hard and I just really want to thank the voters and my 95 volunteers and almost 350 unique donors. We all pulled together to make this happen.”

During the campaign, Snyder-Hall said she was “a little surprised that Kathy McGuiness decided to run” but was “betting they want an ethical and effective leader who was well-respected in Dover.”

After defeating McGuiness, however, Snyder-Hall didn’t respond to questions about the former auditor, who was convicted of misdemeanor conflict of interest for hiring her daughter to a job that continued remotely after she returned to the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Instead, the primary winner focused on her connections in Dover from her advocacy work. “I think that’s what the voters saw, that I’m somebody who can deliver results and who has the relationships that will make me successful,” Snyder-Hall said. “The people have spoken.”