Candidate Name: 

Matt Meyer

Office you are seeking:

Governor 

Party: 

Democrat 

Age:

52 

Hometown:

I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. 

Political experience: 

County Executive of New Castle County 

Professional experience:

I am a former public school math teacher, small business owner, and U.S. Diplomat.  I am now the County Executive of New Castle County. As the Executive for the state's largest local government, I have successfully led and managed billions in tax dollars. In 2016, I defeated a three-term establishment-backed incumbent and was re-elected by the voters in 2020. 

What uniquely qualifies you for this office?

 For the last eight years, I have served as New Castle County Executive, leading Delaware’s largest local government, which has over 2,000 employees, a $350 million operating budget, and the second-largest police force in the state. 

We have shown that government can still work for the people, delivering real results for Delawareans.

We stood up for a woman’s right to choose by directing funding to the First State Abortion Fund. We invested in education, getting more money directly into classrooms statewide. We stood up to the NRA and tackled gun violence, leading to a 44 percent decrease in shootings. We expanded access to affordable housing by converting more than 600 vacant properties into affordable homes.  As the only candidate in this race who has managed a government, I am ready to move our state forward. 

What are the top three issues for this office in your view? 

 As Governor, I will fight to fix our state’s broken education system so every student can get a world-class education and every teacher can thrive. I will work to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of our healthcare system—especially downstate—by reducing wait times and limiting costs. I will also expand access to affordable housing and lower the cost of living so working families can finally get ahead. 

What would be your top priority if elected? 

  Fixing our state’s education system

If you could change or protect one state policy or law, what would it be?

Early childhood education. I will be the first governor to have been a public school teacher. Too many of our students are already behind on their first day of kindergarten.

Pre-kindergarten must be universal, free and available to all students. We will invest in programs and communities and invest to better prepare children so that every four year-old in Delaware has an excellent opportunity to get a great public school education.

What can Delaware do about its workforce issues?

While big corporations dominate the conversation about our economy, our state’s small businesses are the engine for growth, employing 56% of our workforce. As Governor, I will: 

Streamline Workforce Development Programs:

We are spending millions of dollars in workforce development programs that run  out of multiple offices and agencies in a manner that is uncoordinated and does not produce the outcomes Delawareans deserve. We will streamline and organize workforce development programs, coordinating workforce development from the Governor's office, more  effectively training and employing the workforce needed in the economy of today and tomorrow. 

Invest in Green Jobs:

 We must invest in jobs in clean fuels manufacturing, distributions, biotechnology, life sciences, and technology.

Small Business:

 Support small business by providing loans and grants, helping with development, branding, and capital investments.

Jobs for Downstate:

Prioritize smart growth, investments in healthcare facilities,  a medical school, better job training, public transportation and investments in our Dover Air Force Base. 

 Invest in Career Technical Education:

We need to make sure Delaware has the workforce to sustain our  economy. By improving and investing in our career technical education programs, we can help provide high-quality jobs to young Delawareans and support our economy. 

How would you protect or change state employee benefits?

As Governor, I will tackle the underfunding of public pensions. Instead of both kicking the can down the road and trying to penalize retirees, we need to do several things at once:

• Improve the pension situation for the increasing number of shorter-term state employees (the trend among younger workers today) by giving them partial vesting at the 5-year mark rather than making them work for ten years before earning any security.
• Stop pitting retirees against each other—we’re not going to treat one group decently but hurt another, as the current Administration tried to do. We don’t need to make this a zero-sum situation, pitting some retirees against others.
• Break the monopoly that requires retirees to use a small number of pharmacies for certain  medications.
• Bring back matching deferred compensation—this is a cost-effective way to give better  retirement security to state employees at a lower cost to the taxpayers.
• Fully fund the system by putting in what we owe, as other states have done and not cutting  back on our promises, as the current administration has tried to do.
• Do all this while being fair to taxpayers. We can meet these financial needs, and others  in this plan, by conducting a thorough statewide efficiency review, which should bring in about an extra $300 million or so per year. I’ll describe this in more detail in my forthcoming plan to Make Government Work Better.

What would you do to improve the quality of education in the First State?

As a former Wilmington public school teacher, I know we need to fix our public schools. My plan calls for increasing equitable investment across our education system, implementing a weighted funding formula, raising teacher pay to retain the best talent, and improving both early childhood and career technical education.. 

As Governor, I will work to: 

• Fix the outdated school funding formula
• Increase investment in public education with an additional increase of $3,400 to $6,400  per pupil
• Raise teacher salaries to address Delaware’s teacher shortage
• Drive educational spending directly into classrooms rather into bureaucracies
• Ensure universal access to pre-K throughout the state 
• Provide affordable, high-quality childcare and early childhood education to all  parents 
• Ensure that all Delaware children read at grade level by third grade using evidence-based  reading curricula  

What issues do you strongly support and would not compromise?

Doing whatever it takes to fix our education system, make sure there is more housing that is affordable and addressing our unaffordable, inaccessible healthcare system.

How do you improve civility and thoughtful dialog in Delaware politics?

Delawareans– no matter the political party– want a state government that is honest, transparent, and effective. Government must work every day to deliver real results for real people. Leadership matters. It’s not just about making promises. It’s about making plans. And turning those plans into progress. I am ready to work with anyone, no matter the political party, to move our state forward. Being governor means being a steward of our state's values, resources, and aspirations. We will embrace this responsibility and deliver for all Delawareans.

How do you perceive the “Delaware way” today?

The traditional “Delaware way” is failing too many families. Ten years ago I was a public school teacher in one of Delaware's most underserved communities. I taught sixth and seventh-grade students, many of whom were experiencing unstable housing and gun violence in their neighborhoods. Fed up with unfulfilled promises, a lack of honesty from politicians and a lack of results for my students and fellow teachers, I decided to run for office. In my school, I saw public service. Among elected leaders, I saw self service. After knocking on 10,000 doors and taking on powerful special interests and political insiders, we won.  

I’m running for Governor for that same reason; to deliver results for my students, my fellow teachers, and all my fellow Delawareans. Public service, not self service. Delawareans are struggling with unaffordable housing and health care, worried about the quality of education and the cost of childcare. I’m running to restore an effective government that reflects our shared values.