Gov.-elect Meyer’s policy committees have already started meeting this week. He will be sworn into office Jan. 21.
2 months ago
Democrat Matt Meyer was elected to become the next governor of Delaware. (Courtesy of Matt Meyer)
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Matt Meyer officially takes over as Delaware governor this week, and he’s announced the names of just about all the people he’s selected to help run the state.
After eight years as the leader of Delaware’s most populous county, he’s tapped a number of county leaders to join his cabinet. There are just a few holdovers from former Gov. John Carney’s administration, but most of Meyer’s appointees will be new to their roles.
Here’s a look at who he’s selected to lead state government over the next four years.
Phillis has been Meyer’s second-in-command in New Castle County as the county’s chief administrative officer. She joined the Meyer administration in 2017 after previously working as deputy secretary for the Delaware Department of Labor.
Davis is also moving from a county role to a statewide position. He was appointed by Meyer in 2019 to be county attorney, a role which functions as chief legal counsel to both the county executive and County Council.
Patibanda-Sanchez works as the general manager of the New Castle County Department of Land Use, overseeing more than 100 customer service employees in the Development Service, Licensing, Inspection and Code Enforcement divisions. Previously, she was economic development director for the county during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marten has been the deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Education since 2021. Prior to that, she served as the superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District from 2013 to 2021.
For the last three years, Patterson has been the infrastructure implementation coordinator and federal affairs coordinator for Carney, overseeing the implementation of federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Before that, he was chief of staff for the DNREC.
Hastings is currently DelDOT’s acting-secretary after former Secretary Nicole Majeski resigned in December. Previously, she worked as DelDOT’s deputy secretary and chief engineer, implementing the department’s $600 million annual Capital Transportation Program.
Smith is New Castle County’s chief financial officer and oversees multiple areas of the county’s finances. Before that, he was deputy director at the state Division of Revenue.
Maxwell is currently the chief financial officer for Children & Families First. He briefly worked as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the final year of the Markell administration in 2016.
Clifton currently works as the executive director of the Delaware Farm Bureau. Prior to that, he was state executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He also co-chaired former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s Strategic Economic Council for Agriculture and Biotechnology.
Heckles currently serves as regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he oversees delivery of federal housing programs across six states, including Delaware. He previously served as a senior leader at the Delaware State Housing Authority.
A holdover from the Carney administration, Manning currently serves as the secretary of DHSS, one of the largest agencies in state government. Previously, she served six years as secretary for the state Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. Before that, she served as a prosecutor for the state Department of Justice for 17 years.
Yeatman is another Carney holdover, and has been head of DSCYF since 2023. Previously, he held various positions in each division within the department. In his current role, he has full operational oversight of all state-administered child welfare, juvenile justice and behavioral health services.
Anders Gordon comes to the cabinet from the county where she was past acting general manager of the 380 employees in the New Castle County Department of Public Works. She also served as New Castle County’s chief of administrative services.
Lane also was a member of the Carney administration and has been serving as the state’s CIO since June 2023. Previously, he was chief technology officer at the state Department of Technology and Information. He was also once the CIO at Chemours, which was a chemicals spinoff from DuPont. Prior to that, he was CIO of DuPont’s Crop Protection agricultural unit.
Also a member of the Carney administration, Taylor has been DOC commissioner since July 2023, leading the state’s largest law enforcement agency, which has nearly 2,000 correctional officers, probation and parole officers and several hundred other professional staff members. Previously, she worked as DOC deputy commissioner.
Bushweller currently serves as the intelligence commander of the Delaware State Police. He also serves on the Governor’s Cyber and Homeland Security Advisory Council, and he directs the Criminal Intelligence Section and Real Time Crime Center. Bushweller is also the director of the Delaware Information Analysis Center.
Moultrie is currently vice president of legal affairs, general counsel and chief enterprise risk officer at Delaware State University. Before that, she worked at the state Department of Justice, starting as an entry-level prosecutor and advancing to chief deputy attorney general, the office’s second-in-command.