John Carney (politician)

2010

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.[8] Days before the election, a second Fairleigh Dickinson poll showed Carney leading by 17 percentage points, 53% to 36% among likely voters.[9]

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.

2012

In his bid for a second term, Carney faced Republican Tom Kovach, the President of New Castle County Council, and two minor candidates. In a debate with Kovach, Carney stated, "I will continue to do in Washington what I did in Delaware: work across the aisle to get things done. I learned early on that compromise is part of life." Speaking on the Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare), Carney stated that it "is not perfect" but that it is the "only chance we have to get costs under control."[10] Carney was re-elected in a landslide, with 64% of the vote to Kovach's 33%.

2014

Carney ran for re-election to a third term in 2014. He defeated Republican Rose Izzo by 59% to 37%, with Green Bernie August and Libertarian Scott Gesty taking 2% each.

In 2011, Carney and Illinois Republican Aaron Schock co-sponsored a bill that would use U.S. oil exploration to help fund a five-year federal highway construction project.[11][12]

On April 7, 2014, Carney introduced the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (H.R. 4414; 113th Congress) into the House.[13] The bill would exempt expatriate health care plans from the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.[14] Carney argued that expatriates, a group that includes businessmen, pilots, and ship captains, usually already have special, high-quality health care plans designed to meet the unique needs to expatriates.[14] Carney said that "expatriate health insurance plans offer high-end, robust coverage to executives and others working outside their home country, giving them access to a global network of health care providers."[14] Carney indicated that requiring American expatriate health care providers to meet the tax and reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act would put them at an unfair competitive disadvantage in comparison to foreign companies offering similar health care plans.[14]

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Carney at a campaign event, June 23, 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.[15]

Carney once again sought the Democratic nomination for the office of governor in 2016, as incumbent Governor Jack Markell was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. Carney won the Democratic primary unopposed and went on to win the general election.[16]

On July 12, 2017, following his signing of Executive Order 11 to reestablish the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, Carney said, "The Juvenile Justice Advisory Group will help us create an environment where all Delaware kids have an opportunity to succeed. This Executive Order will recharge and reenergize the group to find solutions that will work."[17] July 20, Carney vetoed a Delaware House of Representatives bill removing the five-mile radius of Delaware charter schools with enrollment preference and keeping out students in Wilmington, charging it with negatively impacting "some of our most vulnerable students."[18]

On October 13, 2017, in response to President Donald Trump's ending cost-sharing reductions within the American health care system, Carney asserted the choice would lead to "more people being uninsured in our state, which eventually means increased premiums for all of us" and pledged he would work with the state congressional delegation to return the cost-sharing reductions.[19]

In April 2019, Carney pardoned Barry Croft, a Bear resident who had served a three-year sentence for possessing a gun during the commission of a felony. In October 2020, Croft was arrested and federally charged for his involvement in a kidnapping plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The day after Croft's arrest, Carney confirmed the pardon, called the federal charges "disturbing", and said, "This is also another warning sign about the growing threat of violence and radicalization in our politics."[20][21]

On March 12, 2020, one day after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the state, Carney declared a State of Emergency for the State of Delaware Due to a Public Health Threat. He has issued a series of declarations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Delaware.