Lydia E. York (born 1958/1959) is an American attorney, accountant, and Democratic politician who is the

Delaware Auditor of Accounts Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state' ...

. York is the first African American woman to be elected to an executive office in Delaware. She was first elected in the 2022 general election after winning the 2022 Democratic primary, where she defeated incumbent auditor

Kathy McGuiness Kathleen Kramedas McGuiness (born February 14, 1967) is an American politician who was the Delaware state auditor, from January 2019 until October 2022. In July 2022, she was found guilty on multiple corruption charges. On September 13, 2022, ...

in a 42-point landslide.

Early life and education

York was born in

Southern Pines, North Carolina Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,545 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 12,334 in 2010 United States census, 2010. History Founde ...

, and moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

at the age of six. She graduated from Peabody High School. York earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

, a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

, and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in taxation from the

Temple University Beasley School of Law The James E. Beasley School of Law (known as Temple Law) is the law school of Temple University, a public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 650 students. Student body Admission for the ...

Career

From 1979 to 1983, York worked as an accountant for

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

. She later worked as a credit officer for

Mellon Bank Mellon Financial Corporation was an American investment firm which was once one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth individual asset manage ...

. From 1991 to 1997, she was a senior financial analyst for the Duquesne Light Company. As a law student, she clerked for the

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts: under Article Six of the State Consti ...

. York was an associate at Poppiti Law in 2011 and 2012 and has been a staff attorney and office manager of Stewarts Law since 2012. In October 2021,

was indicted on multiple corruption charges. York announced that she would challenge McGuiness in the Democratic primary and was endorsed by the

Delaware Democratic Party The Delaware Democratic Party (DelDems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is headquartered in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County and chaired by Erik Raser-Schra ...

. York won the primary election against McGuiness and the general election against Republican Janice Lorrah. York was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2023 at

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a Statutory college#Outside New York State, privately governed, state-assisted Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Land-grant university, land-grant research universi ...

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

as the first African-American woman to be elected to an executive office in Delaware.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Lydia 21st-century Delaware politicians 21st-century American women politicians Delaware Democrats Delaware state auditors African-American people in Delaware politics Women in Delaware politics Living people Year of birth missing (living people)