WILMINGTON – Governor-elect John Carney on Tuesday announced his nominations to lead several Cabinet agencies when he takes office in January.
Nominations to the Governor’s Cabinet must be confirmed by the Delaware Senate.
Mike Jackson will be nominated as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that oversees development of the State of Delaware’s annual budget, while also managing human resources across state government, the state’s pension investments, benefit plans for state employees, state facilities and government support services.
Jackson currently serves as Deputy Controller General for the State of Delaware, working within the General Assembly to provide operating and capital budget analysis for the Joint Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement.
Perry Phelps will be nominated as the next Commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction, leading Delaware’s correctional system and helping advise the governor on criminal justice policy. Phelps has served as deputy commissioner of the Department of Correction since January 2015, helping oversee a department with more than 2,500 employees that supervises more than 6,500 inmates in the state’s correctional facilities.
Phelps previously served as Bureau Chief of Prisons for the department. From January 2008 to July 2013, he was the Warden of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, the state’s largest Level V correctional center.
Jennifer Cohan will be nominated to continue serving as Secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation, overseeing the maintenance and improvement of Delaware’s roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. Gov. Jack Markell appointed Secretary Cohan in January 2015 to lead DelDOT after eight years as Director of the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles.
Cohan’s career in state government spans more than 25 years. She managed the Clean Water Program at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; worked within the Delaware General Assembly at the Office of the Controller General; and has held several leadership positions at DelDOT.
Jeffrey Bullock will be nominated to continue serving as Secretary of State, where he oversees the most diverse department in state government with eighteen different agencies, including the divisions of Corporations, Historic and Cultural Affairs, Arts, Libraries, Veterans, and Professional Regulation. Markell nominated Bullock to become Delaware’s 80th Secretary of State in 2009.
During his tenure, Bullock has helped enhance Delaware’s reputation as an international leader in corporate governance and company formations have grown by nearly forty percent to 1.2 million, generating annual revenues of over $1.1 billion, according to officials from Carney’s office. Bullock also serves on the Board of Pardons and as the chairman of the Diamond State Port Corporation, which owns and operates the Port of Wilmington. He is a former governor’s chief of staff and chief administrative officer for New Castle County.