Kathy Jennings wins third term as Delaware attorney general

Incumbent Kathy Jennings won a third term as Delaware’s attorney general Tuesday, easily defeating Republican non-lawyer David Graham.

The Associated Press declared Jennings the winner, calling the race at 10:01 p.m. She currently has about 64.5% of the vote, with about 82% of the ballots counted.

Delaware’s attorney general is the state government’s chief law enforcement official and serves a four-year term. The office prosecutes all felonies and almost all misdemeanors. The office also provides legal counsel to every state agency and enforces consumer and public trust laws statewide.

Jennings, 73, had trounced two Democratic challengers — civil rights lawyer Dwayne Bensing and “spiritual oasis” store owner Patty Rickman — in the Sept. 15 primary, winning 71% of the vote.

Jennings did not agree to interviews with WHYY News during the campaign, saying through campaign manager Carter Gramiak in a written statement that she had “a crowded schedule.”

“It’s disappointing and unserious that the Republican Party put forward a candidate who is not an attorney,” the statement said.

Graham didn’t enter the race until late August.

During the primary race, Gramiak wrote that Jennings deserved another term because violent crime and recidivism are down in Delaware and she had joined with other state attorneys general in mounting legal challenges against President Donald Trump’s administration.

Graham, a 72-year-old certified public accountant who previously worked in tax enforcement for the state Department of Finance, accused Jennings of “having Trump derangement syndrome” instead of focusing on protecting Delawareans from crime and corruption.

“Everything she does is focused on anti-Trump,” Graham told WHYY News. “If you’re elected attorney general of Delaware, you’re supposed to be taking care of all the citizens of Delaware, not just according to your political agenda at the national level of the Democrat Party.”

Graham was vying to become the first attorney general who is not a lawyer. The office has about 250 attorneys and more than 500 employees across five divisions: Criminal, Civil, Family, Fraud & Consumer Protection, and Civil Rights & Public Trust.

He said lawyers shouldn’t be head of a state agency because “a typical lawyer is lame. They have no leadership ability, no analytical ability, no management ability and they’re ethically challenged. And our attorney general of Delaware is a prime example of that.”

Voters rejected that argument, once again putting a lawyer in charge of the Delaware Department of Justice.