Janet C. Rzewnicki (born May 21, 1953)[1] is an American retired politician and businesswoman who served four consecutive four-year terms as Delaware State Treasurer, serving from 1983 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, she also ran unsuccessfully for Delaware's at-large congressional seat and for the governorship during the 1990s.
Life and career
Rzewnicki (pronounced Rez-nicky)[2] was born in Akron, Ohio, to Robert E. and Betty Ann Myers.[3] She graduated from the University of Delaware in 1978, receiving the College of Business and Economics' Alumni Award of Excellence in 1992.[4]
She worked as a certified public accountant and became politically active, initially as a Democrat who worked on Tom Carper's campaigns. In 1982, she switched parties and narrowly defeated New Castle County councilman Joseph Farley to become Delaware State Treasurer.[2] She went on to serve four consecutive four-year terms as state treasurer, from 1983 to 1999.[5]
Rzewnicki unsuccessfully challenged former governor Mike Castle in the Republican primary for Delaware's at-large seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1992, losing 54%-43%. She won the Republican nomination for governor in 1996 but lost the general election in a forty-point landslide to popular Democratic incumbent Governor Tom Carper.[5] She was the first woman nominated for governor by a major party in Delaware. She went on to lose her 1998 reelection campaign for state treasurer to Democratic challenger and telecommunications executive Jack Markell.[6]
After leaving office in 1999, she joined DuPont Direct Financial Holdings in 2001.[6] She served as president of the National Association of State Treasurers in 1988–89.[7]
Personal life
Rzewnicki's husband, Victor, worked as a computer systems analyst for DuPont as of 1982.[8]
References
- ^ "Janet C Rzewnicki, U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ a b Sharpe, Rochelle; Nappi, Rebecca (1982-11-03). "Rzewnicki and Greenhouse Win Financial Posts". The News Journal. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ "Obituary for Betty Ann Myers". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1974-08-13. p. 43. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ "Alumni Briefs: Four alumni honored with new award". Messenger. 1 (2). University of Delaware: 23. Winter 1992. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ a b Boyer, William W. (2000). Governing Delaware: Policy Problems in the First State. University of Delaware Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-87413-721-7.
- ^ a b "DELAWARE IN FACT: Recent Delaware state treasurers". Delaware Public Media. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ "Past Presidents – National Association of State Treasurers (NAST)". Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ Adams, M. Roy; Feeley, Kevin (1982-06-24). "Janet Rzewnicki to oppose Carper for treasurer". The Morning News. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-10-25.