Denn aims high as he concludes four years regulating insurance industry

The Coastal Point, July 24, 2008

It’s hard to think about health without thinking about health insurance. Besides gas and food, it’s a top priority for most adults. Everything from how to pay for it, to what it covers, to its limitations — health care is a big concern for many Americans and Delawareans. And rightly so — because without your health, what do you have?

Now before you let your eyes glaze over in trying to imagine how you are going to stay awake for an entire article devoted to health insurance, relax — it will be fun! We’re going to meet Matt Denn, Delaware’s insurance commissioner.

Denn was born in Delaware and grew up in the state before moving to California at the beginning of his high-school years, due to his father’s job. After attending undergraduate school in California and law school in Connecticut, he came back to Delaware to settle down. He met his wife, Michele, at the Delaware beaches and proposed at Dolle’s on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach.

Just five days before he was sworn in as insurance commissioner, the couple welcomed their twin sons, Zachary and Adam. The twins were preemies and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before being able to go home.

“I spent the first couple of weeks running the office out of my car, in front of Christiana Hospital,” Denn recalled.

After that rough start to his new position, he found his way and settled in as commissioner. Over the course of the three and a half years he has been in office, some major changes have taken place — changes of which Denn said he is proud.

“I am allowed to regulate some types of insurance — for instance auto rates. Since 2005, average rates have been flat. They had been going up in double digits before I started. In some cases, we have seen decreases and, in most cases, only small single-digit increases.”

Another area Denn can regulate is worker’s compensation rates. “Last year, we cut premiums by about 20 percent.”

Another important thing that Denn has seen accomplished in his term is a change in homeowner’s insurance, something near and dear to those living in coastal Delaware.

“We were the only state in the region where your homeowner’s insurance could be canceled if you had a claim against it. And when you shopped for new insurance, you would be put on a national database and charged a higher rate. For three years, we worked to put at least some restrictions on that and got a bill passed. So we went from last in the country to fifth or sixth toughest in the country.”

Denn said the main changes were that homeowners could have two weather-related claims in a three-year period and at least one non-weather related claim without having to worry about getting dropped or charged more. “And that’s particularly important for people at the beach, who already have limited options,” he emphasized.

Another major success of Denn’s tenure as insurance commissioner has been the passage of a law that restricts insurance companies in how they use consumers’ credit ratings.

“We were last in the country for that in how lax we were, and in two years we have again gotten to be the fifth or sixth toughest state,” explained Denn. “Now, if you are a current customer and something bad happens to your credit, they cannot consider it. It lets us do more for the consumers.”

The job does not come without pitfalls, though. For instance, the commissioner has no authority to regulate health insurance rates. And this is one of the main changes Denn has tried make during his term.

“We are only one of 10 states that doesn’t allow the insurance commissioner to, in some way, regulate health insurance rates,” he said.

That means that, in essence, health insurance rates are unregulated in Delaware.

“It can be frustrating,” said Denn. “There are limitations on what you can do. I have to live within the laws that the General Assembly and the governor enact.”

“We’ve done a good job,” he added of efforts on his end. “For three years, I had a bill to change the law and it passed in the state senate overwhelmingly — but not the House of Representatives. “I would love to have it changed. We really could, or my successor could [make a difference]. It’s not going to fix everything, but it could have some impact. That’s been the only real frustration.”

Denn’s future involves running for lieutenant governor and he maintains that regulation of health insurance in Delaware is an issue he plans to pursue. “You can bet I’ll still be plugging away,” he promised.

Denn suggested that Delawareans who want to encourage their representatives to make changes should visit the department’s Web site to find out about bills set to be considered by legislators and to “put your legislator on the spot.”

“The only way they get passed is if your legislators feel like they are on the spot and are accountable,” he said.

Aside from working for such legislative changes to the system, on a typical day the insurance commissioner can be found regulating what insurance companies that do business in Delaware are doing.

“[This can be done]either in the larger sense — I have imposed some very significant fines on health insurance companies, for example, that failed to pay claims in a timely way — or the individual sense, as in intervening on behalf of individual people who are being treated unfairly.”

Denn oversees a department of 170 to 200 employees and contractors at any given time, and from January to June spends much of his time traveling the state and visiting Legislative Hall, building support to get bills passed in the General Assembly.

“I also spend a lot of time trying to develop regulations and statutes to ensure that people are treated fairly by insurance companies and that our rates stay under control,” he explained.

He pointed out that Delaware taxpayers do not pay for work done by the employees and contractors of the Insurance Commissioner’s Office, including his own salary. Since many of the contractors are doing financial examinations of the many companies that house their businesses in Delaware, the salaries are instead funded by surcharges on those insurance company’s examinations. “We’re the best bargain in the business,” he joked.

Although being insurance commissioner was never really on his radar as a life goal, Denn does feel comfortable in his role in helping people.

“When I was 4 years old, I would lie in bed and dream of being insurance commissioner,” he deadpanned. “No, I always knew I wanted to be involved in public service. I wanted to play professional baseball, but when I was about 11 or 12 I realized that wasn’t in the cards. I can’t say it was a childhood dream [to be insurance commissioner], but even when I was in the private sector I was always doing a lot of public service. So when the opportunity came up in 2004, I jumped on it. And it’s the best job I’ve had. I’m glad I did it.”

Interestingly, in Delaware, insurance commissioner is an elected office. In most states, it is an appointed position. Denn has been in the office since January 2005 and will end his four-year term this December. As for his future, Denn is hopeful no matter what happens.

“Either I’ll be sworn in as lieutenant governor in January or I’ll be back practicing law,” he said.

The News Journal, July 19, 2008

John Carney listens to Bob Dylan and Jimmy Buffett. Jack Markell flips his stereo to Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac.

And while surfing the Web, voters can read about the gubernatorial candidates’ favorite movies and TV shows or just poke fun at them — on Facebook.com that is.

Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are using the popular social-networking Web site to connect with younger voters. Facebook, which allows users to create personal profiles and explore those of others, has become a popular tool among candidates across the country — Barack Obama has more than 1,158,000 supporters on his page and John McCain has connected with about 170,000 users.

“We created a Facebook page because there are a lot of people out there, specifically those millennials, younger potential voters,’ ” Republican lieutenant governor candidate Charlie Copeland said.

Also on the list of Facebook users are Copeland’s opponent, Democrat Matt Denn, and gubernatorial candidates Bill Lee and Mike Protack. Each is taking a different approach to using the Web to reach young voters and each page offers a different approach to political networking.

Scott McConnell, Carney’s spokesperson, said they created a Facebook profile to complement their Web site and other digital efforts.

“I don’t think its something you can ignore,” McConnell said. “We’ve had people come to our campaign asking to volunteer who have said ‘I went to John’s Web site to learn more about him,’ or ‘I really like him, I saw his Facebook page.’ ”

Markell created a profile when he ran for state treasurer in 2006 and has found the Web site a useful tool for connecting with young voters, spokesman Joe Rogalsky said.

“The Facebook group is a recruitment tool to young people who are eligible to vote and also who want to get involved,” Rogalsky said.

Denn has mastered some of the more technical features of Facebook that are popular among the younger users that he is targeting, including adding family photo albums and tributes to Obama and his favorite store, Wawa.

“We have a blog, and I had put a blog post up about how I’m Wawa’s No.1 customer,” Denn said of his frequent stops for coffee while campaigning. “One of the kids on my campaign told me there was a Wawa page.”

Most candidates said they have no concern about sharing too much personal information on their sites, including Denn, who lists controversial musician Amy Winehouse as one of his favorites, an addition he made before her recent public scrutiny.

“I was sad that Amy Winehouse got in all that trouble when it happened, and now I’m even more sad that she’s on my Facebook page,” Denn said.

On Friday afternoon, Copeland expanded his profile from a simple photo and link to his Web site to include his favorite leisure activitiessuch as movie “Cinema Paradiso” that he said likely won’t have a negative impact.

“It’s one more method to reach out to constituents and potential voters and let them know a little about you,” he said.

In addition to profile pages where voters can learn about the candidates, supporters have started groups to join including “Team Carney” and “Jacklings.”

Unlike campaign-run Web sites and blogs, candidates can’t solicit donations on Facebook. But they can share their goals and let users post questions on their virtual “walls.”

Protack said Facebook is just one tool in an arsenal of options his campaign is using to contact young voters. He is also building a MySpace.com page.

Jason O’Neill created Protack’s Facebook support group — which currently includes about five members — as a way for people to connect with the candidate online.

“We saw presidential candidates using it so we rolled one out,” O’Neill said.

While Protack’s page was created by a campaign staffer, members from Lee’s campaign learned about his group after a non-affiliated supporter started it. The “Change Begins Today with Lee-Copeland” group, which posts links to articles about the Republican duo, was started by a voter and now includes about 40 members.

Brud Lee, Bill Lee’s son and campaign spokesman, said they are joining the group as an effort to support the full ticket, not the candidates separately.

The candidates are also seeing support growing in other online networks. Users can “follow” Carney on the miniblog site Twitter.com and a 15-year-old user posted a video blog on YouTube.com supporting Markell.

“Its unfortunate he won’t be 18 by September,” Rogalsky said of the video maker. “It’s a young guy who’s very passionate about Jack, and its great to see young kids involved in the process.”

Numbers are an important factor in the Facebook world that includes more than 80 million active users as groups and members supporting a variety of causes often compete to have the largest membership numbers.

Of the gubernatorial candidates, Markell’s group has 327 members, Carney has 76, Lee about 40 and Protack with the smallest virtual following at five.

“I think its an indication of Jack’s support of how well his message is being received,” Rogalsky said.

McConnell said while Carney’s numbers might seem lower, the campaign is hearing a large response from people claiming to discover the candidate through the site.

And Denn, who has 278 friends on Facebook, compared with his opponent Copeland’s 45, thinks the numbers mean very little.

“I’m sure that Charlie is a lovely guy and has many non-virtual friends,” Denn said.

The News Journal, July 15, 2008

The executive board of the state teachers union couldn’t decide which Democrat would be Delaware’s best governor.

So the Delaware State Education Association, which claims 11,500 members statewide, announced Monday that it endorsed both Lt. Gov. John Carney Jr. and state Treasurer Jack Markell — the first time the association has endorsed two people in the same party’s primary.

The vote of the 26-member board was not unanimous, DSEA spokeswoman Pam Nichols said, and “it was very difficult for people.”

In the end, she said, “the majority felt they could show real leadership by telling people that on these education issues we have two outstanding candidates.”

Board members were sure, though, that they want a Democrat to be governor and either candidate, they decided, is better than the Republican options — retired Superior Court Judge Bill Lee and Hockessin pilot Mike Protack. They were decisive in the lieutenant governor’s race, giving Democratic Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn their nod over Republican Senate Minority Leader Charles Copeland.

The DSEA board found that Carney and Markell both have “outstanding ideas and excellent records when it comes to public education,” President Barbara Grogg said in a prepared release.

Protack was strong on collective bargaining, the board decided, but his understanding of education issues was shallower than either of the Democrats’. And Lee was unable to persuade the board that he had any understanding, offering no specifics and promising only to “start a revolution,” including a reorganization and greater efficiency, according to Grogg’s statement.

“DSEA just declared war on me by making an asinine statement and we’ll go from there,” Lee said. “I am shocked by the tone of their statement. That was not the sense of the meeting I had. But it tells me their attitude. I answered every question they had. To make a statement like that is insulting and asinine.”

Protack was not surprised that DSEA endorsed the Democrats.

“That’s business as usual for them,” he said. “They were receptive to about 90 percent of what I had to say. Consolidation of school districts and support for charter schools probably were not the answers they were looking for, but they are answers most of Delaware is looking for.”

The Democrats were pleased by their endorsements:

“Establishing a world-class school system will be my top priority as governor,” Markell said, “and I’m proud of the tremendous support I enjoy from many teachers. What’s really important in the end is the fact that people throughout the state are looking for a change in direction. It’s going to be up to tens of thousands of individual voters and I will keep doing everything I can to get my message out to them.”

Carney also was pleased to be on the union’s list.

“I grew up in a household with two teachers — my Mom and Dad — and I learned from them the importance of a good education,” he said. “In order to make improvements in our schools, we’re going to have to work with teachers. They are the most important component of a student’s education.”

In the lieutenant governor’s race, the board decided Copeland’s view of education reform was focused on a belief that competition from private and public schools would improve community schools. Denn, they said, had concrete goals and a sound education agenda.

“Matt Denn understands public education from the classroom to the school board conference room like few public officials,” Grogg said in the statement.

Denn said the announcement reaffirms his platform, which has been focused on children’s issues.

“People who are concerned about children’s issues will look at the people who work every day with kids,” Denn said. “I view it as unequivocal good news.”

Copeland said he was not surprised by the announcement, and attributed the decision to his support of school choice and partisan politics.

“For the six years I’ve been in the General Assembly, I have been a constant supporter of school choice, and that sometimes puts me on the opposite side of special interests,” Copeland said.

Copeland voted against Senate Joint Resolution 11, a measure that placed a one-year moratorium on new charter school applications with the exception of five planned schools. DSEA had lobbied heavily for the legislation, which eventually passed.

The News Journal, July 9, 2008

WILMINGTON - Community leaders gathered at a rally Tuesday at Brandywine Park to voice their concern about the lack of health care for needy people

Members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and other community groups participated in the national launch of the $40 million Health Care for America Now campaign that will air television commercials across the country to raise awareness about the lack of accessibility to affordable health care.

Angela Walker, president of the Delaware ACORN, said the campaign will highlight the problems people have getting health insurance and the need for a public health system. Walker said the campaign focuses on the ability to make change by electing officials who will support health care initiatives, but said the organization is not officially endorsing any specific candidates.

The Health Care for America Now campaign will spend about $1.5 million on cable advertisements in the coming weeks and about $25 million in the next five months.

“This is the year America decides,” Walker said. “One thing is crystal clear, if we want affordable health care, we cannot trust private health care companies.”

Walker and members of ACORN were joined by health care professionals, church leaders and elected officials.

Lavaida Owens-White, a nurse who works to establish health ministries, said a better health care system is needed to allow medical professionals to assist those in the most need.

“We need a system in place to support us in forms of acute care and long-term care,” Owens-White said.

Owens-White said people can take the first steps to improving the quality of health care in the state simply by taking the initiative to monitor their own health. People should stay on top of annual health screenings, such as monitoring cholesterol and blood pressure, and can do so at the Wilmington Health Fair in September.

The Rev. Ty Johnson, who represented the Interdenominational Ministers Action Council of Delaware, spoke about the need to organize on a church-level to promote better health care initiatives.

Johnson said accessibility issues are more important for those who can’t afford health care, particularly the elderly and young people just starting careers.

Johnson said IMAC is working to organize churches to catalog problems their members face regarding health care accessibility, specifically working with private insurance companies and Medicare. They are then going to take the records to elected officials to try to encourage changes in the law

Johnson said churches also can work to help members organize letter-writing campaigns to inform elected officials about their concerns.

Some of the elected officials who Johnson hopes to reach were present at the rally.

Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn, who is running for lieutenant governor, attended the rally and said the biggest impact people can have on changing health care policies is to elect officials willing to change them.

“People need to get organized for the election,” Denn said. “It hinges on the outcome of the election in November, both the national and state level.”

Denn said his department supported several pieces of legislation that would have addressed the cost of health care coverage, but they did not have enough support in both chambers to pass.

Lt. gov. candidate wants more spent in classroom

The News Journal, July 3, 2008

Lieutenant governor candidate Matt Denn discussed his plans Wednesday to overhaul education spending policies as a plank of his platform on children’s issues.

Denn, a Democrat, wants the state to create a funding floor for education spending as an element of a four-part reform in public education spending. Policies also would be created to increase audits of district contracts, create financial oversight committees made up of citizens, and work to implement recommendations from the LEAD Committee, including implementing interim steps toward school consolidation.

“Experience has shown us that the people running our schools do not always make wise decisions about spending for our kids,” Denn said.

Under his proposal, school districts would be required to spend a certain percentage of appropriated state money on “people who provide direct services to kids and the materials those people need to do their job.”

Denn said the exact percentages and what expenses fall into that category would be the result of about three months of discussions with teachers, administrators and community members.

After creating the floor, Denn said he would like the state to remove some of the requirements currently attached to education funds given to districts.

In doing so, schools would have to spend a larger percentage of money on the expenses that meet his definition, but they would deal with fewer ties to specific projects.

Republican candidate Sen. Charles Copeland, West Farms, said he supports increasing the percentage of funds used for classroom expenses, but doesn’t think creating a mandate is the way to reduce overhead spending.

“For the last six years I’ve been fighting to get more of the percent of the dollars into the classroom,” Copeland said. “The private schools, the charter schools and the parochial schools get more of their dollar to the classroom.”

Copeland said the state needs to increase public disclosure of school spending, so residents can hold districts accountable or send their children to other schools if they’re dissatisfied with the way money is spent.

Copeland pointed to legislation he wrote, which died, that would have required districts to publish their spending records online.

“The citizens will make the districts lower their costs,” he said.

Lake Forest School District Superintendent Dan Curry said because much of the state’s education funds are tied to specific programs — like summer school or tutoring — they already function like a spending floor.

But Curry cautioned that implementing a percentage minimum could omit costs that are important to students but not classroom related, such as social workers, curriculum planning, teacher training and transportation.

“We can’t teach them unless we get them to school,” Curry said. “You risk painting with too broad a brush.”

Denn said 58 percent of state funds are spent on instructional costs, compared with the national average of 61 percent.

Additionally, he said, Delaware has the fourth highest per student transportation costs.

But he acknowledged that similar plans have not worked in other states because of partisan politics, attempts to create the policy through a referendum and the use of federal definitions for describing classroom-related expenses.

Brandywine School District Superintendent Jim Scanlan said he could not determine if such a policy would work without knowing the exact percentages and what would fit into the definition of classroom-related.

“Just about every dime you’re spending should go to instruction,” Scanlan said.

The problem isn’t that districts don’t want to spend funds on students, Scanlan said, it’s that the strings tied to some funds make it difficult to address specific needs.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to get funds to the proper place,” Scanlan said.

Denn also said recommendations made by the LEAD Committee suggesting steps toward school district consolidation should be given serious consideration. He said the possibility of implementing consolidation is several years down the road and deserves more discussion, but the interim steps could save money quickly.

The Brandywine School District has already created a financial oversight committee like the one Denn wants to implement in every district.

Scanlan said the committee has been beneficial in looking at budgets, expenses and other fiscal issues. Curry said his district would be open to looking at the benefits other districts, including Brandywine, have reaped from creating an oversight committee.

WDEL 1150 AM, July 2, 2008

One of the men who wants to be Delaware’s next lieutenant governor says too much money is going to the bureaucrats in public schools, and not the students.

Democrat Matt Denn is proposing a funding floor — a mandate that local school district spend a given percentage of their public education money on people who provide direct services to kids.Audio Here

Denn is calling for consideration of the Leadership for Education Achievement in Delaware committee, or LEAD, recommendations on how the state can spend its money more wisely. He also wants to create financial oversight committees to oversee school board spending.

Delaware State News, July 3, 2008

DOVER — Delaware’s public schools need to spend funding wisely to ensure that it reaches students in classrooms, Insurance Commissioner and lieutenant governor can­didate Matthew P. Denn said Wednesday.

Mr. Denn, a Democrat, un­veiled a four­point plan to help schools allocate their limited resources in the most benefi cial manner, calling for an educational funding floor.

Administrators left to their own devices, he said, do not funnel money where it is needed most — in the classrooms.

“Delaware puts 58 percent of its operating money into instruc­tional expenditures, while the na­tional average is 61 percent,” Mr. Denn said. “Meanwhile, we spend 25 percent more than the national average on administration.

“Spending wisely is the right thing to do today for our kids, and it is the right thing to do for the future in laying the groundwork to expand public support for our schools,” said Mr. Denn, adding that the misspending of funds leads to public distrust.

“If Delawareans believe that our schools are using their mon­ey wisely, they will be much more likely to support those schools in the future.”

The centerpiece of Mr. Denn’s plan is a state educational fund­ing floor — a mandate that local school districts spend a given per­centage of their total educational funds on people who provide di­rect services to kids and the mate­rials those people need to do their jobs.

Mr. Denn said the exact per­centage should only be set after serious consideration as to what should count as contributing to learning and what should not, and teachers need to be part of that discussion.

Other components of Mr. Denn’s plan are:

- Routinely auditing the terms of and performance upon con­tracts that local school districts enter into with private parties;

- Creating a financial oversight committee of parents, teachers, and financial professionals from each local school district to moni­tor the spending decisions made by local district school boards;

- Considering LEAD Commit­tee recommendations to the state that could save tens of millions of dollars.

Asked about the high admini­strative costs, Mr. Denn said the state needs to have serious dis­cussions about possibly consolidating the 19 school districts to save money, although any actual implementation would take years to accomplish.

“That is a conversation we need to have beginning in Janu­ary 2009,” Mr. Denn said. “I think everything has to be on the table. We owe it to our students to have those serious discussions.”

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