We will have a video up at some point of my announcement remarks, which focused on my campaign to be an advocate for kids in Dover.

The number one highlight of the three-county announcement tour, without a doubt, was meeting LoriAnn White, Julie Harris, and Mike Logue, three Delawareans whose families I had helped with serious health insurance problems but whom I had never met face to face.  You can watch their remarks by clicking here.  One of the best things I have going for me as a candidate is the fact that I did what I said I was going to do in my current position, and what I said I was going to do was to balance the scales between working Delawareans and the powerful insurance industry. LoriAnn, Julie, and Mike are among the many who will talk during the campaign about the fact that I kept my promise.

Other highlights:
1. The military style efficiency of the Denn campaign’s volunteers. We had done a few things involving our volunteers in the past, but this was the first time that they had been unleashed on the state as a group. They pulled off every stage of the tour without a hitch. Once again, just as I did four years ago, I seem to have stumbled into having the hardest working, smartest team of young volunteers of any campaign in the state. To everyone who worked during the day: thanks!!!
2. Breakfast in Millsboro. The Georgia House put out a great spread for the guests at my Sussex County announcement. Leo and Peggy Strine, who are prohibited by the Denn Rules from donating to my campaign because Leo is an insurance agent, drove all the way in from their beach vacation to see us, and we had a full house of native Sussex Countians as well. Representative Pete Schwartzkopf spoke without telling any dirty jokes. And last but not least, the air conditioning at the Georgia House was by far the coolest of the day.
3. The HVAC team at the Old State House in Dover, which somehow got the air conditioning working in the middle of the night on Friday night and avoided us having to have an announcement outside at high noon in 100 degree heat.
4. The Denn boys’ spontaneous wrestling match at the close of my remarks in Dover. Both boys had wandered up to stand with me while I was talking, which was fine except that I couldn’t see them over the lectern. Well, as I was finishing up my remarks—which, in part, talked about how much my boys meant to me—I heard a crashing noise, peered over, and saw that they were having some type of Ultimate Fighting Challenge style brawl. It detracted somewhat from the poignancy of the moment.
5. Bishop Thomas W. Weeks’ eloquent remarks at our steamy New Castle announcement. Bishop Weeks caused my heart to temporarily stop when he spontaneously launched into a humorous story about the first time he met me with my wife—a story which, if told the wrong way, could have caused me to end up sleeping on the couch on the night of my big announcement.

So now the announcing is over and the campaigning begins in earnest. Please volunteer today!

I forgot to make the boys’ lunch, so I don’t have time today to give you the full run-down on last Saturday’s big statewide announcement tour.  But as a preview, check out the great video of the three Delawareans who introduced me at each of our three-county stops by clicking here, and you can read the News Journal’s account of the day by clicking here.   Pictures are here.  Now, off to cut up meat loaf.

Delawaregrapevine.com, June 7, 2008

There would have been more drama if Matt Denn had declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor a month ago.

He had two opponents then. Before he could concentrate on Charlie Copeland, the state Senate minority leader who is the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, he had to go through Ted Blunt, the Wilmington Council president who also wanted the Democratic nomination.

Blunt is gone now. He folded his candidacy in mid-May, erasing a primary in September, and gave Denn a direct path to the general election in November.

No one should be surprised. Denn has a knack for moving his rivals aside. He has motivated more politicians into retirement than anything since the establishment of the state legislature’s generous pension plan. It is still the champion.

When Denn set out to be elected insurance commissioner in 2004, he expected to challenge Donna Lee Williams, a three-term Republican, but she suddenly heard the private sector calling. Dave Ennis, a Republican legislator who ran instead, lost and mothballed his political career. Now Blunt is out, too.

Denn obviously is someone with a sense of purpose that gets attention. A Yale-educated lawyer, he progressed methodically to be where he is — from an unsung office as the state Democrats’ vice chair to a line-of-fire post as counsel for Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to insurance commissioner.

Republicans mutter about single-minded ambition. Denn talks about dedication to the public good, particularly on behalf of the state’s children. Either way, or both, he is known for sending e-mail at three in the morning.

Denn will need all his drive now. Copeland will not cave the way the others did. He is a du Pont, he owns a printing company, and the Republicans have hailed him as the future of their party.

Furthermore, the race between these two contemporaries — Denn is 42, and Copeland is 45 — is not just a contest for lieutenant governor, a post elected separately in Delaware. It also is expected to generate a governor-in-waiting.

Both Denn and Copeland are nearing the end of four-year terms. Whoever loses is out of office.

With the stakes so high, they already were whaling away at each other Saturday as Denn declared for office during the customary three-county tour, which took him from Millsboro in Sussex County to Dover in Kent County to New Castle in New Castle County.

Before Denn reached his second stop, Copeland had a press release advancing his campaign’s constant attack on a do-nothing Dover and lumping Denn into it. (Apparently no one was supposed to notice that Copeland was elected to state government two years before Denn was.)

“More of the status quo is the last thing taxpayers need, but that is exactly what the Dover insiders are offering. Once again, they are trying to trade one office for another as if our state government is their own personal carousel,” Copeland said.

Denn had plenty to say, too. “My opponent has almost unlimited funds, and he will use that money to flood our state with negative campaign ads, but I’m not worried,” he said. “We will walk right through that river of half-truths and innuendos that is coming at us. We will run and not be weary. In the end we will prevail.”

Pugnacity seems to be in the family genes. As Denn wrapped up his remarks in Dover, his three-year-old twins Adam and Zach had a fistfight. It was their father’s favorite moment of the day.

Whatever happens to Denn in this election, he already has made his mark. He is the first insurance commissioner to elevate the office from a boring backwater to the political forefront.

Denn was instrumental in galvanizing the Democrats’ ongoing assault to seize the majority in the state House of Republicans by blaming the Republicans for stalling legislation to create a pool for affordable health insurance and denying his office the authority to regulate health insurance rates, as it does home and auto insurance.

Denn’s announcement drew appearances from both Lt. Gov. John Carney and Treasurer Jack Markell, the Democratic rivals for governor. Denn is not aligned with either one.

Carney said, “He’s done a great job as insurance commissioner, that’s for sure. He’s got a great focus. I understand the office of lieutenant governor, and he will be able to get things done. He has an incredible persistence.”

Markell was particularly impressed with the people, two Republicans and one independent, who introduced Denn, one at each stop. All of them had turned to Denn to sort out nightmarish battles with insurance companies, and he did — without knowing anything about them except that they needed help. In fact, his announcement tour was the first time he met them in person.

“This is a guy who gets the job done, and he does it because it’s the right thing to do. He’s elected to serve, and that’s what he does. He’s got this thing figured out. He’ll make a great lieutenant governor,’ Markell said.

To say the political season was heating up was the literal truth. The day was sweltering. Denn was on his second shirt by his last stop in late afternoon before about 50 very hot people crowded into the Old Courthouse in New Castle.

It was a place Denn knew well. He announced his candidacy there in 1996 against state Sen. Bob Connor, a redoubtable Republican who was that rare opponent Denn failed to send to early retirement. He lost.

Not that Denn minds now. The General Assembly has a comfortable way of entombing its occupants. In fact, if Copeland makes it to lieutenant governor, he will be the first in recent politics to go from the legislature to statewide office. In the last 10 years, all newly-elected statewide officials — Markell, Carney, Denn and Democratic Attorney General Beau Biden — went there directly.

“Things just have a way of working out,” Denn said.

Democrat has one Republican’s support

The News Journal, June 8, 2008

State Insurance Commissioner Matthew P. Denn made it official Saturday: He’s running as a Democrat for lieutenant governor.

Denn made the traditional three-county sweep, starting with a breakfast of scrapple at the Georgia House in Millsboro.

He was joined by local political luminaries like former Millsboro Mayor Thelma Monroe and former state representatives Charles P. West and John Atkins. Jack Markell, state treasurer and Democratic candidate for governor, also was on hand.

But perhaps the most compelling person in the room was Republican Loriann White, who introduced Denn to the crowd.

The two had never met prior to Saturday but White, a cancer survivor, credits Denn with stepping in to resolve significant problems with her health insurance provider when she was going through cancer treatments.

White said that when she was first diagnosed by doctors, they told her, “You have three years to live.”

White said she was only 37 and had two young children. Her health insurance wouldn’t cover treatments at a specialty center in New York.

Pointing to Denn, she said: “This is a man who found out about someone in need.”

He helped resolve the insurance issues. White said she would always support Denn.

Denn said his goal, if elected, will be to stand up for children in Delaware.

“There is untapped genius in our kids,” he said. “The next Einstein could be a 10-year-old kid in foster care in Selbyville.”

Denn said his mission will be to help children of the state succeed so every child goes as far as he or she can.

WDEL.com, June 7, 2008

Matt Denn threw his hat into the ring as an official candidate for Lt. Governor.

Matt Denn kicked off his campaign with stops in Millsboro, Dover, and New Castle.

Denn says that his campaign will focus on the interests of the state’s children.

He wants to work on health coverage, improving schools, reducing pollutants and toxins, and improve services for children who face special challenges like abuse, neglect, or overcoming disabilities

News Journal Editorial, May 29, 2008

The labyrinth of insurance laws, regulations and directives can leave the unlearned layman with a splitting headache.

We find out now there are laws governing the malpractice coverage of physicians who choose to come out of retirement.

Many surgeons carry what is known as “tail coverage” on their old malpractice insurance policies that cover claims from years ago that may be filed after the doctor retires. If he or she comes out of retirement, that extra tail coverage disappears.

Such is the case for doctors who could help the cause at the Elsmere Veterans Administration Hospital but are financially threatened with loss of their old malpractice coverage.

But because of a scarcity of active surgeons at the Elsmere facility, some VA patients are being forced to go to VA hospitals in Maryland and Pennsylvania for their procedures. The extended travel time both for the initial operation and follow-up medical examinations have put a considerable burden on the VA patients and their families.

The dilemmas for both patients and their families were brought to state officials’ attention by Dr. Dennis Witmer, head of surgery at the Elsmere VA. Dr. Witmer told Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn that some veterans even choose not to have a prescribed procedure because of the travel required out of state.

As a result several legislators have signed onto Senate Bill 269 that addresses the shortage of surgeons at the Elsmere VA by eliminating the loss of malpractice tail coverage if retired surgeons offered their services only there.

This is a clear and sensible way to address a need that has been escalating at Elsmere for some time. Currently more the 1,200 surgeries are performed there annually. Both chambers of the General Assembly should act on S.B. 269 before this session expires June 30. It’s the least lawmakers could do for the veterans of Delaware and the region.

Sussex Countian, June 4, 2008

New legislation proposed by Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn is designed to allow Delaware veterans to stay in Delaware’s VA hospital for some surgeries rather than being sent to VA facilities out of state.



Senate Bill 269, sponsored by Sen. George Bunting (D-Bethany Beach), Sen. Patricia Blevins, Rep. Terry Spence and Rep. John Kowalko, would address a shortage of surgeons that currently exists at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Elsmere, which is resulting in Delaware veterans being referred to Maryland and Pennsylvania VA facilities for some surgical procedures.



“There are a number of retired surgeons that have offered to do work at the VA hospital, but there is a clause in the medical malpractice insurance contracts of retired doctors that causes them to lose their coverage for past acts of medical malpractice if they come out of retirement to work as surgeons at the VA hospital,” Commissioner Denn said.
“This bill would eliminate that insurance barrier and allowed retired surgeons to provide critically needed surgical services to Delaware veterans.”


“The veterans who have so nobly served our country ought to be able to get the surgical services they need at the VA hospital in our state, which is in my district,” Sen. Blevins said.
“This hospital serves as a medical home for veterans all over the state. It’s the place where they are familiar and feel comfortable and want to support their ability to stay here.”



“This legislation is going to help us a lot – help us to recruit the doctors we need to treat veterans, help us reduce waiting time for critical procedures, and help us reduce the number of referrals we have to make outside of Delaware,” said Dr. Dennis Witmer, who is head of surgery at the Elsmere VA hospital and initially alerted Commissioner Denn to the issue.

“Currently, we even have some veterans who will choose not to get a procedure because of the travel time to another hospital and that’s not a good thing.”



“Follow-up care is also extremely important but one issue for any veteran is travel time. Unfortunately, some folks – because of travel time – don’t follow up with care and that interrupts their whole healing process,” Sen. Bunting said.

“I want to thank Dr. Witmer for bringing this issue to our attention and Commissioner Denn for working to address it.”



“With the aging veterans population, it is important to not have to make them and their families travel to other hospitals. If we can bring surgeons out of retirement, it will make it much easier on them,” Delaware Veterans Commission executive director Tony Davila said.

“It’s very necessary to provide these services here in Delaware.”



The insurance barrier addressed by the legislation is a clause in the medical malpractice insurance contracts of retired doctors that causes them to lose their “tail coverage” for past acts of medical malpractice if they come out of retirement to work as surgeons at the VA hospital.

The bill only addresses doctors working at the VA hospital.

According to Dr. Witmer, more than 1,200 major surgeries a year are performed at the Elsmere VA hospital, a number he said that could increase “significantly” with the passage of SB 269 and the recruitment of more surgeons.


Campaign To Focus On Children’s Issues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 7, 2008

Millsboro/Dover/New Castle – Declaring that he will “stand up for Delaware’s children,” Matt Denn on Saturday formally kicked off his campaign to be Delaware’s next Lieutenant Governor.

Denn, a Democrat and the state’s current insurance commissioner, said he would continue to take on the powerful interests on behalf of the state’s children, just as he has taken on big insurance companies on behalf of consumers since 2005. Speaking in Millsboro, Dover and New Castle, he was introduced at each stop by a Delawareans who he had personally helped with a health insurance problem.

“My goal as Lieutenant Governor will be to ensure that each child in our state goes as far in life as his talent and determination will take him,” Denn said. “Every morning when I get up, the first thought on my mind will be ‘what can I do to help this state’s children succeed?’ ”

Denn said he would work for health care coverage for every child, to improve schools, to reduce pollution and toxins that affect children and to improve services to children who face special challenges—children who are abused, neglected, living in foster care, or fighting to overcome disabilities.

“We need to provide health insurance for each child in this state, as a benchmark on the way to universal coverage,” said Denn, who has spent much of this time as insurance commissioner fighting to expand health coverage for Delaware children and families. “Coverage for every child is not a bumper sticker slogan, it is something we can do by the year 2010, and for less money than you would think.”

In schools, Denn said, the state needs results, not in 15 years, but right now.

“We need to bring the best new teachers into Delaware’s public schools, keep them here, and create an environment where they can excel and want to excel,” he said. “Part of that involves restoring faith in the financing of our public schools, by setting strict state controls on the percentage of funds that must go into the classroom and on the ways in which districts manage their money.”

In Millsboro, Denn was introduced by Loriann White of Millsboro, who received cancer treatment at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York after she was initially denied by her insurance company and Denn intervened. In Dover, Julie Harris of Milton told how he helped get her two children health coverage through the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). And in New Castle, Mike Logue thanked Denn for helping his daughter get 24-hour nursing coverage she needed to deal with a number of medical conditions. White and Harris are registered Republicans and Logue is an independent.

Denn concluded his announcement relating the thoughts he sometimes has about his own children and those of our state as he rocks one of his 3-year-old twin boys to sleep.

“In the quiet darkness of their bedroom, I think to myself about what will become of them. Will they be ok? Will they be happy? Will they have the chances I have had?” Denn said. “I know that across our state, in thousands of homes, rich and poor, other parents are hoping and worrying, too, whether their kids are toddlers or teenagers. And not just worrying about some distant future, but about tomorrow, about next week. The challenges to this generation of children are too great, the cost of failure too high, for us to wait.”

To learn more about Matt Denn and his campaign, go to www.MattDenn.com.

Tomorrow is our three-county announcement tour—you can get the times & locations right on the front page of the web site. The weather says partly cloudy with a high of 93 degrees. When I announced my candidacy for Insurance Commissioner, the weather was about the same, and I am already applying the lessons of the past: extra shirts are being loaded into the Pacifica. Nobody likes a sweaty Lieutenant Governor.

Try to come on out and join us if you can, we are keeping it to half an hour at each stop because it’s going to be a beautiful weekend and people may want to go swimming or bike riding rather than listen to a political candidate. You’ll meet other people involved in the campaign, and see Mrs. Denn and the boys. One likely scratch from the roster: Lenny, the Denn family pug. Lenny doesn’t do so well at 93 degrees, so he will probably sit this one out.

Last night was the first night of the big festival season in Delaware, as the Greek Festival kicked off.  For most of the night, I was the only candidate there shaking hands, and it was a great, great night.  Some highlights

1. As with last year, Tony Matula, the Mayor of the Greek Festival, took me around and introduced me to many of the vendors and chefs.  What he was saying to them was literally Greek to me, but hopefully it was something along the lines of “vote for this guy.” 
2. Everyone was incredibly nice.  I had told Alyssa at the beginning of the night “we are going to shake hands with hundreds and hundreds of people tonight, almost all of them are going to be really nice, but five or ten aren’t.  So don’t be upset when it happens, because it just happens when you talk to that many people.”  Alyssa nodded her head and silently said to herself “Wow, thank you Matt for that remarkable insight into the human psyche.”  Well, we had to look long and hard to find anyone with a cross word to say to me.  One guy who doesn’t like to shake hands while he’s eating, one guy who crossed his arms and glared at me, and hundreds and hundreds of happy, nice people who said they were behind me. 
3. In a moment of insanity, I stopped by Alan Loudell’s WDEL booth and volunteered to take his trivia challenge.  He gave me four chances to guess it right.  Fortunately we were not on the air.
4. As I was leaving and people were stopping me to talk, one young woman stood off to the side and watched me for a couple of minutes.  When everyone else had left, she asked me if I could talk to her for a minute.  She said that her sister had cerebral palsy, and that her mom had been unable to get their insurance company to pay for a wheelchair for her sister, but that her mom had called me and I had gotten the wheelchair for her.  She had never met me in person, and she wanted to say thank you.  I just about floated back to my car.