Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Mah won't seek reelection, endorses Susan Duffy for office
Larry Mah won't seek reelection to the Shawnee County Treasurer's office he has held since January 2013.
"I love the job," he told The Capital-Journal on Friday. "But I think it's time to turn that page."
Mah gave his wholehearted endorsement to the campaign of fellow Democrat Susan Duffy in the election to replace him.
Duffy, a longtime state and local government official, on Friday became the first person to file at the county election office to run for treasurer in this year's elections. This is her first run for public office.
"I was looking for someone that I would feel good about turning this over to," Mah said. "I think Susan Duffy is that person."
'Innovative and customer service-oriented'
Mah, 75, and Duffy, 67, spoke to The Capital-Journal at the election office.
Mah said Duffy not only has the management and technical skills needed to run the treasurer's office but has also demonstrated that she cares about people, which is crucial to him.
He said he felt confident that that Duffy would "treat the citizens well, and care about them, and also care about the people in that office, because they're my family."
The treasurer's office is in good shape, Duffy said Friday.
"(Mah) has been very innovative and customer service-oriented, and that's what I'm going to continue," she said.
Why is Larry Mah retiring?
Mah said he intends in retirement to spend more time traveling and enjoying his hobby of photography.
Mah was appointed treasurer in January 2013 to replace the late Larry Wilson, who was criticized because of long lines at the treasurer's office in the county courthouse. Wilson resigned under pressure in exchange for a $30,000 lump sum payment from Shawnee County.
Mah had won election as treasurer in November 2012 in his first bid for public office but hadn't been set to take office until October 2013.
He was subsequently elected to second and third terms in that office in November 2016 and November 2020.
Before becoming treasurer, Mah had retired in 2001 as a general manager for Southwestern Bell Telephone (SBC/AT&T), then spent 10 years as a school bus driver.
Mah has been praised for implementing organizational and technological changes that reduced customer waiting times in the treasurer’s office and its motor vehicle annex.
He said he'd spoken at length with Duffy and found her approach to problems to be very similar to his.
"I wouldn't endorse somebody who I didn't think would carry this forward," Mah said. "I've got too much invested in it."
Mah said Duffy has "better quality" management experience to be treasurer than he had, because his prior experience was all in the private sector while she has more than 30 years of experience in government.
"A lot of my initial approach was just, 'How you would do it in the private sector,'" Mah said. "It doesn't work as well as you would think, and so I had to learn that maybe a little bit the hard way."
What's Susan Duffy's background?
Duffy served from 2019 until late last year on the Kansas Corporation Commission.
She was general manager from 2012 to 2019 of the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operates the city of Topeka's transit system, and executive director for 2003 to 2011 of the KCC.
Duffy has also been director of administration for the Kansas Historical Society; fiscal controller and director of research for the Kansas Department of Revenue; senior budget analyst in the governor’s budget office; and a fiscal analyst for the nonpartisan Kansas Legislative Research Department.
A native of Wichita, Duffy has bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Wichita State University.
She is the widow of Clark Duffy, a Topeka City councilman from 1999 to 2007. He died at age 73 in April 2022.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Mah won't run again, backs Susan Duffy
