Barney launches treasurer primary against Flowers

Sean Barney, a former policy director for Gov. Jack Markell and adviser to U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, said Tuesday he will challenge embattled state Treasurer Chip Flowers in a September Democratic primary election.

Barney had been open about considering a run for treasurer since leaving Markell's office at the end of December.

He has now launched a campaign website, where he takes only veiled shots at Flowers, who has come under fire in recent months for his troubled relationship with the board that manages a $2 billion taxpayer portfolio and questionable credit card spending out of his office.

"I will restore the focus of the Treasurer's office on its core responsibility of protecting the integrity of payments made with taxpayer resources," Barney said on his website. He added that, "As policy director to the governor, I worked with 16 cabinet secretaries and cabinet agencies of state government to help develop consensus.... I understand that the role of the State Treasurer on the State's Cash Management Policy Board operates in a similar vein– not to make policy unilaterally, but to work effectively with others to do right by the people of Delaware."

Barney is an Iraq war veteran who was seriously wounded during a combat tour in Fallujah. He later earned a law degree from Yale Law School and a master's in public administration from Harvard.

It doesn't look like Barney will receive public support in his campaign from Markell, who discouraged him from running before resigning his position as policy director in December. "Sean was a valuable member of the Governor's office and I encouraged him not to run and remain a part of the team," Markell said in a written statement last month. "I respect his decision to run and I respect his service to our nation and Delaware, but I'm not planning on endorsing any candidate in the primary for State Treasurer."

Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.