Michael Smith could make history as Delaware’s first LGBTQ+ treasurer

‘Everyone is worried about the affordability crisis,’ said Michael Smith. (Photo courtesy of Smith)

With experience as an economist, legislative staffer, and nonprofit director, Michael Smith is looking to protect Delaware from the Trump administration and become Delaware’s first openly LGBTQ treasurer.

With a master’s degree in economics from the University of Alabama, Smith has worked as an economist at the Progressive Policy Institute, Secretariat Economist, and Cornerstone Research.

“I think my work in economic and financial analysis has given me a lot of experience and know-how about what the treasurer role can and should be,” said Smith.

Smith also worked in the Delaware House Democratic Caucus in Dover, working with state representatives to improve the quality of life of Delawareans.

“I got to see where the rubber meets the road and how we can have policies that positively affect everyday working Delawareans.” said Smith.

In 2024, Smith narrowly lost a race to represent District 21 by 30 votes. He said that this loss gave him the itch to make a positive impact on the community.

Smith also founded and directed Powering Our Future, a nonprofit that promoted clean energy infrastructure throughout New Castle County.

“We helped people across Delaware reduce their energy bills and specifically try to encourage energy efficiency and electrification,” said Smith.

According to Smith, affordability is the biggest issue to voters, especially with the rising cost of utility bills.

“Everyone is worried about the affordability crisis. The cost of living is just incredibly high.”

“I’ve been knocking on doors for months now, and every time I hear people say: ‘My utility bill has gone up 75 percent. My property taxes are going through the roof. I can’t afford health care. I can’t afford to save for my children’s college or my own retirement.’”

“The treasurer cannot solve all those problems. But what we can do is we can help people save for them and their family’s future,” said Smith.

Smith talked about his goal to increase awareness around Delaware EARNS, a state sponsored Roth IRA geared toward people who don’t have access to a traditional employer-sponsored retirement plan.

“There’s roughly 150,000 Delawareans who could take advantage of it,” said Smith. “These are people who are the backbone of Delaware’s economy, whether they are working for small businesses, certain nonprofits, or working the gig economy,” said Smith.

Smith said that many people working for companies such as Doordash and Lyft are not saving for the future but that they could be doing so in a tax-advantaged way through Delaware EARNS.

“I think there’s some work that needs to be done to make a clear on-ramp for the self-employed and for those gig workers to get enrolled,” said Smith.

“Right now, we just passed our 10,000th account, which is fantastic, but there’s a lot of room left to grow.”

Smith also spoke of his plans to build on the Aspire 529 College Savings Plan, a project that helps traditionally underserved students finance their college education in ways that traditional 529 plans don’t.

Smith said that Delaware needs a treasurer who will work to protect the first state from the Trump administration, and he says is ready to step up to the plate.

“I think we need someone who’s willing to speak out and try to work with state treasurers, comptrollers, and other elected officials across the country to push back over the next two years.”

“We have a president in Washington, D.C., who is working with his Republican cronies in Congress to attack blue states like ours and threaten our federal funding.”

“I think that the best form of resistance is resilience,” said Smith.

**Michael Smith** (Photo courtesy of Smith)

Smith identifies as pansexual, having come out 10 years ago in college. He said that he is proud of the representation Delaware already has, from Rep. Sarah McBride to Travis McDermott, the mayor of Newark.

“I would love to partner with our attorney general, our governor, and our General Assembly to defend our LGBTQ+ citizens and residents as much as possible,” said Smith.

“I’d be honored to be Delaware’s first openly LGBTQ+ treasurer,” said Smith.

Mike Ramone, the Republican nominee for treasurer, has described Delaware as being in a ‘financial crisis.’The Blade asked Smith to respond to Ramone’s statement.

“I would disagree with Mike Ramone. I think Delaware is in a very strong financial shape, with the caveat of our state employee health benefits, which needs to be more well funded.”

Michael Smith will face Ted Lauzen and Mike Miller on the ballot for the Sept. 15 primary.

The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.