John Carney

John Charles Carney Jr. (born May 20, 1956) is an American politician serving as the 58th mayor of Wilmington, Delaware, since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, Carney previously served as the 74th governor of Delaware from 2017 to 2025, the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017, the 24th lieutenant governor of Delaware from 2001 to 2009, and Delaware's secretary of finance from 1996 to 2000.

He first unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2008, losing to Jack Markell. He ran for governor again in 2016 and won, succeeding Markell, who was term-limited. He was re-elected in 2020, defeating Republican Julianne Murray with 59.5% of the vote. Carney won the 2024 Wilmington mayoral election, winning the primary election in September by 743 votes and the November general election with no opposition.

Early life and education John Charles Carney Jr. was born on May 20, 1956, in Wilmington, Delaware, and raised in nearby Claymont, the second of nine children of Ann Marie (née Buckley) and John Charles "Jack" Carney. Both his parents were educators. His great-grandparents immigrated from Ireland. Carney 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. At Dartmouth, he joined the local Beta Alpha Omega fraternity. He later coached freshman football at the University of Delaware while earning his master's degree in public administration.

Early political career

Carney served as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of New Castle County and as Secretary of Finance and Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Tom Carper. He was elected lieutenant governor of Delaware in 2000 and served from January 16, 2001, until January 20, 2009. As lieutenant governor, he presided over the Delaware State Senate and chaired the Board of Pardons. He also chaired 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 to chair 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 disease. 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.

U.S. House of Representatives (2011–2017)

Carney was the Democratic nominee for Delaware's at-large seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2010. He faced Republican Glen Urquhart, Independent Party of Delaware nominee Earl R. Lofland, Libertarian Brent A. Wangen, and Blue Enigma Party nominee Jeffrey Brown. The seat had been held since 1993 by Republican Michael Castle, who declined to seek reelection 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%. Days before the election, a second Fairleigh Dickinson poll showed Carney leading by 17 points, 53% to 36% among likely voters. Carney won the seat by 16 points, 57% to 41%, and took office on January 3, 2011. His victory was one of the three seats Democrats gained in a year when they lost a net 63 seats to the Republicans.

In his bid for a second term in 2012, Carney faced Republican Tom Kovach, the president of the New Castle County Council, and two minor candidates. In a debate with Kovach, Carney said, "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." Carney called the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) "not perfect" but the "only chance we have to get costs under control". He was reelected in a landslide, with 64% of the vote to Kovach's 33%. Carney ran for reelection to a third term in 2014. He defeated Republican Rose Izzo, 59% to 37%, with Green nominee 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.

On April 7, 2014, Carney introduced the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (H.R. 4414; 113th Congress) into the House. The bill would exempt expatriate health care plans from the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. 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 their unique needs. Carney sought the Democratic nomination for governor again in 2016, as Markell was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. Carney won the Democratic primary unopposed and went on to win the general election. He won a second term in 2020, defeating Republican Julianne Murray in a landslide in the general election, with 59.5% of the vote compared to her 38.6%.

On July 12, 2017, after signing 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." On July 20, he 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."

On October 13, 2017, in response to President Donald Trump's ending cost-sharing reductions within the American health care system, Carney said 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.

In April 2019, Carney pardoned Barry Croft, a Bear, Delaware 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 described the federal charges as "disturbing", describing Croft's actions as "another warning sign about the growing threat of violence and radicalization in our politics."

On March 12, 2020, one day after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the state, Carney declared a State of Emergency. He subsequently issued a series of declarations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Delaware. This included closing "non-essential" business, banning gatherings of more than 10 people, and instituting curfews on businesses.

On October 20th, 2021 Governor Carney signed House Bill 125 banning the possession, sale, manufacturing and distribution of homemade firearms. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika issued a partial preliminary injunction blocking the criminalization of possessing homemade firearms.

On May 24, 2022, Carney vetoed a bill to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults for recreational use. In June 2022, Carney signed six gun safety bills into law, including a ban on assault weapons. In April 2023, he stated he would not veto a bill legalizing possession of cannabis a second time. The Delaware legislature passed the bill and Carney allowed it to become law without his signature.

On January 7, 2025, Carney resigned as governor so he could be sworn in as Mayor of Wilmington. His term was supposed to end on January 21, 2025, and Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long was sworn in on January 7 and served until January 21, when then Governor-elect Matt Meyer was sworn in. He announced his candidacy in April, and faced former state treasurer and Wilmington city treasurer Velda Jones-Potter in the September Democratic primary. He won the primary by 743 votes, and was unopposed in the November general election. With his victory, Carney became the first sitting governor ever to be elected mayor.

Personal life Carney is Roman Catholic. On June 5, 1993, Carney married his wife, Tracey Quillen. Quillen is the daughter of former Delaware Secretary of State William T. Quillen. They have two children, Sam and Jimmy, who attended Wilmington Friends School. Sam graduated from Clemson University, while Jimmy is a computer science major at Tufts University. His nephew is football player Brian O'Neill, a offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings.

In 2015, Sam Carney was named as one of a number of defendants in two separate lawsuits filed by the parents of Tucker Hipps, whose 2014 death allegedly occurred during a fraternity hazing incident. The lawsuit was settled in July 2017. Criminal charges have never been filed in the case despite there being no statute of limitations in South Carolina.

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. Election results Year Office Election Subject Party Votes % Opponent Party Votes % 2000 Lt. Governor General John CarneyDemocratic 193,348 62% Dennis J. RochfordRepublican 119,943 38%2004 Lt. Governor General John CarneyDemocratic 218,272 62% James P. UrsomarsoRepublican 127,425 36%2008Governor Primary John CarneyDemocratic 36,112 49% Jack MarkellDemocratic 37,849 51% 2010 U.S. House of Representatives General John CarneyDemocratic 173,443 57% Glen UrquhartRepublican 125,408 41% 2012 U.S. House of Representatives General John CarneyDemocratic 249,905 64% Tom KovachRepublican 129,749 33% 2014 U.S. House of Representatives General John CarneyDemocratic 137,251 59% Rose IzzoRepublican 85,146 37%2016Governor General John CarneyDemocratic 248,404 58% Colin BoniniRepublican 166,852 39%2020Governor General John CarneyDemocratic 292,903 59% Julianne MurrayRepublican 190,312 39%