Chipman Flowers Jr.

Chipman L. Flowers Jr. (born December 27, 1974, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician, attorney and business owner who served as the treasurer of the state of Delaware from 2011 to 2015.

As the son of a military officer, Flowers traveled extensively in his youth, attending public schools in Dallas, Texas, Lawton, Oklahoma, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While attending Georgetown, Flowers worked at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Clinton administration.

[5] After graduating from Georgetown, Flowers began his legal career in Delaware in the Wilmington office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, where he worked as a mergers and acquisitions attorney.

Flowers worked as the Chief Democratic Analyst for Delaware Tonight, a nightly news program on WHYY-TV, where he served until the show was cancelled.

[6] In 2010, after a largely self-financed campaign, Flowers won the Democratic primary for Delaware State Treasurer against incumbent Velda Jones-Potter, who was appointed by Governor Jack Markell to serve the remainder of his term, with 54.3 percent of the vote.

His platform, entitled “The Flowers Framework for Restoring Prosperity,” included a "Financial Warning System" that aimed to categorize economic conditions using a color scheme.

[9] In the general election in November 2010, Flowers defeated Colin Bonini, a three-term Republican state senator from the Dover area, 153,203 to 147,031.

In October 2012, the Treasury and the board reached agreement to diversify the state's assets, increase the number of investment managers and require them to meet certain financial performance benchmarks.

[24] In November 2013, Flowers was questioned about funds spent during a business trip to Alaska with then-deputy treasurer Erika MacZuba Benner the previous year.

[25] Flowers stated that his travel expenses were justified and that he spent the trip meeting with bankers and lawyers regarding Delaware's $2 billion portfolio.

[27] In August 2014, former deputy treasurer Erika MacZuba Benner accused Flowers of harassing and threatening her earlier that year.

At the conclusion of his term, Flowers held a press conference in which he criticized the state's media and political leadership for their conduct during his time in office.