Convicted former Delaware state auditor trounced in bid to win Rehoboth Beach-area 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.”

McGuiness mounted the comeback bid after a dramatic fall. After her election as auditor, she had been seen by political insiders as a possible 2024 gubernatorial candidate.

Instead, she was indicted, tried and convicted, lost the September 2022 primary race for re-election as auditor, and resigned that October as Gov. John Carney was poised to remove her from office. McGuiness spent a year on probation, paid a $10,000 fine, performed 500 hours of community service at the Food Bank, a soup kitchen and other venues, and decided this year to run once again, albeit for a lower-level office.

After the votes were counted Tuesday night, McGuiness said she will continue looking for ways to serve the community.

“While the results are far from what we had hoped, I congratulate the winner,” McGuiness said. “And while this is indeed a tough day, our campaign, while now over, is one that I am proud to have run and I’m grateful to those who saw our campaign as one that reflected their values and beliefs.”

Rendon said he was disappointed to finish second but credited Snyder-Hall for running a strong campaign.

Rendon said he was also surprised McGuiness fared so poorly in her hometown.

“She had a lot of signs. She had a lot of visibility. She had a lot of people who knew her, from her past work on the commission,” Rendon said. “I think some people were ready for change. They were ready to turn the page.”