Sean Barney, hoping to replace incumbent State Treasurer Chip Flowers, came out swinging and rarely let up on his opponent during Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate.
The former policy advisor to Gov. Jack Markell and aide to Sen. Tom Carper was relentless in the 90 minute event, in stark contrast to his former bosses’ political personas.
Flowers’ proclivity for public fights with elected officials or members of the Cash Management Policy Board took center stage with Barney criticizing the incumbent's poor relationship with the board, which oversees the state’s two billion dollar portfolio.
“It is easy to get in fights. It’s what we see all the time in Washington, D.C.: politicians fighting with each other, getting very little done for the people they represent,” said Barney. “Treasurer Flowers’s four years as treasurer have not only been unproductive, they’ve been counterproductive."
Barney said Delaware’s congenial reputation is something to be proud of.
Flowers embraced not getting along with some members of his own party, saying further changes need to be made to the office to adapt to the modern financial system.
Barney also took aim at the incumbent requiring investment banks to pay up to $5,000 in travel expenses for him and his team during performance reviews, saying he doesn’t need to be wined and dined.
“For it to be an explicit condition of receiving a state contract that you provide travel is not the kind of message that we want to send to the taxpayers, or that the taxpayers should have to endure,” said Barney.
Flowers says he’s proud of renegotiating those contracts, countering that no other treasurer or cash board member has visited these banks in the past and that you need personal interactions when dealing with large sums of cash.
He likened it to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s TV show “Kitchen Nightmares”.
“Where things are so backwards and Gordon Ramsay is telling the people in the restaurant that they need to do it this way and they’re saying, ‘No, no, it’s right,’ even though things aren’t going well. That’s crazy." said Flowers." We’ve got to start doing things correctly here.”
Flowers was consistently on message as well, frequently linking Barney to unpopular Markell initiatives like his proposed ten-cent gas tax hike, clean water fee initiative, $9.9 million casino bailout package and the state's failed $21 million investment in Fisker Automotive.
The treasurer only broke stride toward the end of the debate when Barney accused him of drawing a six-figure salary while splitting his work day between the state and his mergers and acquisitions law firm, Flowers Counsel Group, calling it an “insult” to his character.
Delaware Democrats will choose their candidate in the September 9th primary.