John C. Carney, Jr.

John C. Carney, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware's At-large district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Michael Castle
24th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
In office January 16, 2001 – January 20, 2009
Governor	Ruth Ann Minner
Preceded by	Ruth Ann Minner
Succeeded by	Matthew P. Denn
Personal details
Born	May 20, 1956 (1956-05-20) Wilmington, Delaware
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Tracey Quillen
Residence	Wilmington, Delaware
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Official website

John Charles Carney, Jr. (born May 20, 1956) is the U.S. Representative for Delaware's At-large congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009. Prior to that, he served as Delaware's Secretary of Finance; he also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Delaware in 2008.

Early life

Carney was born in Wilmington, Delaware as the son of John C. and Ann Carney. He was quarterback of the 1973 state championship St. Mark's High School football team, and earned All-Ivy League and Most Valuable Player honors in football at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1978. He later coached freshmen football at the University of Delaware, while earning his master's degree in public administration.

Pre-congressional political career

Prior to 2001

Carney has served as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of New Castle County and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Tom Carper. For several years he was the Delaware State Secretary of Finance under Governor Carper, working to cut taxes and create jobs.

Lieutenant Governor (2001-2009)

He was first elected Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 2000 and served from January 16, 2001 until January 20, 2009.

As Lieutenant Governor Carney presided over the Delaware State Senate and chaired the Board of Pardons. He was chairman of the Delaware Health Care Commission, the Interagency Council on Adult Literacy, the Criminal Justice Council, the Center for Education Technology, and the Livable Delaware Advisory Council. In 2002 he launched the education initiative "Models of Excellence in Education" to identify practices in schools that have raised student achievement. Carney was also selected by other Lieutenant Governors as chairman of the National Lieutenant Governors Association from July 2004 to July 2005.

Carney has long been an advocate for wellness issues in Delaware, sponsoring "BeHealthy Delaware" and "The Lt. Governor's Challenge" to encourage Delawareans to be more active and address the State's high rate of chronic diseases. He fought for Delaware's public smoking ban to improve health, cut cancer rates, and discourage teens from starting to smoke.

After completing his tenure as Lieutenant Governor in 2009, Carney served as president and chief operating officer of Transformative Technologies, which is investing in the DelaWind project, to bring offshore wind turbine construction to Delaware. He planned to step down in early 2010 to concentrate on his U.S. House campaign.

2008 Gubernatorial campaign

Carney giving a speech

See also: Delaware gubernatorial election, 2008

Carney sought the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor in 2008, as incumbent Governor Ruth Ann Minner was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. However, despite the backing of most of the party establishment, Carney lost the Democratic primary by fewer than two thousand votes in a close race to State Treasurer Jack Markell, who went on to win the general election.

U.S. House of Representatives

2010 election

See also: United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, 2010

Carney at a campaign event

Carney was the Democratic Party nominee for Delaware's at-large seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2010. Carney faced Republican Glen Urquhart, Independent Party of Delaware Earl R. Lofland, Libertarian Brent A. Wangen, and Blue Enigma Jeffrey Brown. The seat had been held since 1993 by Republican Michael Castle, who declined to seek re-election to the House in order to run for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden. In the first week of October, Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind Poll released the results of its opinion research, showing Carney with a 15 point advantage over Urquhart, 51%-36%; well ahead in New Castle County (56-32) but running even with Urquhart (43-43) in the downstate counties of Kent and Sussex. Days before the election, a second Fairleigh Dickinson poll showed Carney leading by 17 percentage points, 53% to 36% among likely voters.

Carney won the seat by 16 points, 57%-41%, and took office on January 3 of 2011. His victory was one of the three seats gained by the Democrats in a year where they suffered a net loss of 63 seats to the Republicans.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Electoral history

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. The Lieutenant Governor takes office the third Tuesday of January with a four year term. U.S. Representatives take office January 3 and have a two year term.

Public Offices
Office	Type	Location	Began office	Ended office	notes
Lt. Governor	Executive	Dover	January 16, 2001	January 18, 2005
Lt. Governor	Executive	Dover	January 18, 2005	January 20, 2009

Election results
Year	Office	Election		Subject	Party	Votes	%		Opponent	Party	Votes	%
2000	Lt. Governor	General		John C. Carney, Jr.	Democratic	193,348	62%		Dennis J. Rochford	Republican	119,943	38%
2004	Lt. Governor	General		John C. Carney, Jr.	Democratic	218,272	62%		James P. Ursomarso	Republican	127,425	36%
2008	Governor	Primary		John C. Carney, Jr.	Democratic	36,112	49%		Jack A. Markell	Democratic	37,849	51%
2010	Congress, Delaware At-large	General		John C. Carney, Jr.	Democratic	173,443	57%		Glen Urquhart	Republican	125,408	41%

Personal life

Carney and his wife, Tracey, have two children, Sam and Jimmy.

Further reading

• Delaware Historical Society; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
• University of Delaware; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965

External links

• Congressman John Carney official U.S. House site
• John Carney for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Michael N. Castle	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware's At-large congressional district January 3, 2011 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Quico Canseco R-Texas	United States Representatives by seniority 353rd	Succeeded by David Cicilline D-Rhode Island