Denn won’t seek another term as state Attorney General

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In an announcement that will send shockwaves through the Democratic Party, Attorney General Matt Denn announced he will not seek another term in 2018.

The move could open the door to a Republican making a serious effort to run for the key office, given the low turnouts in non-presidential  election years. 

Denn is perhaps the state’s most experienced statewide office holder, having held the posts of Insurance Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor. 

His career was characterized by a string of election victories and a relatively low recognition factor. The meteoric political careers of the  late Beau Biden and former Gov. Jack Markell also figured into his career, with Biden’s  plans to run for governor blocking Denn’s path.

Instead, Denn ran for the top justice post in the state. Like his predecessor, Denn has  kept a focus on children’s issues.

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Denn cited family matters and a desire to be more active in issues facing children and the angrier  tone of the current political environment that is characterized by personal attacks  in making his decision: The text of the letter is as follows:

The text of the letter is as follows: 

I wanted to let you know that I have decided not to run for re-election as Attorney General in 2018. After fourteen years in statewide elected office, I am ready for a change. Although my term does not end for another year and four months, I thought it was responsible to let people know my plans now.

This has been a very tough decision, but I’ve made it for a couple reasons. The first is selfish. Politics these days are grueling, with endless fundraising and traveling and constant attacks, which can be tough on a candidate but are even tougher on his family. If I ran again next year it would be my fifth statewide campaign. My boys, now 12, arrived five days before I was sworn in as Insurance Commissioner. I have been immersed in electoral politics since the day they were born. If you do the math, that means my wife soldiered through her first statewide campaign with me while she was pregnant with twins. Given the time required and the tone involved in politics these days, my boys deserve a change, my wife deserves a change, and I would like a change as well.

The second reason for my decision is that I would like to be able to spend more time on work that is going to fundamentally change the lives of kids growing up in our state. The job of Attorney General is an incredibly important one that I am grateful to hold. Doing it right (which I think I’ve done) requires almost full-time attention to the hundreds of cases and complex issues that flow through the office day-to-day, leaving little time to focus on the big picture. I don’t know what I’ll be doing in January 2019, but my hope is to be doing something in the private sector where I’ll be able to devote part of my time to ensuring that every single kid in our state has a real opportunity to fulfill his or her potential.

I am extremely proud of my colleagues at the Department of Justice, and not being able to come to work with them every day will be the worst part of leaving at the end of 2018. I said when I was sworn in as Attorney General that I wanted the Delaware DOJ to be the best office of its kind in the country, and I believe that today it is. I am proud of the way we have carried out our core duties of protecting and serving Delawareans, and also helped lead the state in important areas such as battling the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, advocating for community policing, and lifting up disadvantaged communities. I intend to keep working hard on those issues right up through my last day in office, and beyond.

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