Michael A. Claytor (b. 1952) is an American accountant, attorney, and politician. Claytor was the Democratic candidate for

Indiana State Auditor The Indiana State Auditor is a constitutional and elected office in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. State of Indiana. The Auditor of Indiana is elected to a four-year term and is subject to term limits where the officeholder is b ...

during the 2014 election cycle, losing the race to Republican

Suzanne Crouch Suzanne Crouch (born February 27, 1952) is an American politician who has served as the 52nd lieutenant governor of Indiana since 2017. She previously served as the 56th state auditor of Indiana. She is a candidate for Governor of Indiana in 20 ...

. Prior to entering the race for Auditor, Claytor, a licensed CPA, worked for 15 years at the Indiana State Board of Accounts, where he served as Deputy Chief Examiner before transitioning to a career in the private sector and becoming a partner at Crowe Horwath LLP. He retired from the private sector in 2012. Claytor worked as treasurer for the gubernatorial campaign of former state representative John Gregg.

Childhood and Education

Claytor (b. 1952) grew up in

Hartford City, Indiana Hartford City is a city in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Blackford County, Indiana, Blackford County. Located in the northeast East Central Indiana, central portion of the state, the small farming community underwent a dramatic ...

, about 75 miles northeast of Indianapolis. After graduating from Blackford High School in 1970, Claytor attended

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

, earning an undergraduate degree in accounting. In 1979, he became a licensed CPA and graduated cum laude with a JD from Indiana University - Indianapolis Law School in 1983.

Accounting

Indiana State Board of Accounts

In 1974, Claytor started his career with the Indiana State Board of Accounts, serving during the administrations of Governors

Otis Bowen Otis Ray Bowen (February 26, 1918 – May 4, 2013) was an American politician and physician who served as the 44th Governor of Indiana from 1973 to 1981 and as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan from ...

and Robert Orr. As Deputy State Examiner, he worked on several white collar crime investigations and other cases concerning corruption and financial accountability in the state of Indiana.

Private Sector

After 15 years at the State Board of Accounts, Claytor moved on to pursue a career with Crowe Horwath LLP, a public accounting and consulting firm based in Indianapolis. In 1992, after three years working with the firm, he became a partner. He retired in 2012.

Political career

Claytor announced his candidacy for Indiana State Auditor on September 12, 2013, initially challenging incumbent

Dwayne Sawyer Dwayne Sawyer (born 1966) is an American politician from the state of Indiana. A member of the Republican Party, Sawyer was the 55th Indiana state auditor. He resigned as state auditor on November 26, 2013 citing "personal and family reasons". S ...

. Sawyer resigned on November 26, 2013, following Claytor's entrance into the race, and Republican State Representative

was appointed to the position. On May 31, 2014, Claytor became the official nominee for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Claytor would have been the first Democrat to hold the office since Otis E. Cox in 1982.

2014 Election

Claytor ran his campaign on the premise of being the first Certified Public Accountant to run for Auditor of State. His platform centered around establishing accountability for taxpayer investments, ensuring proper accounting of state funds, developing a more extensive government transparency portal, restoring independence to the State Board of Accounts, and restoring the independent audit authority of the Auditor's office. Throughout his campaign, Claytor criticized the state's loss of $500 million in tax revenues due to accounting errors, which were discovered in 2011. He pledged to create an internal audit function in order to prevent similar errors in the future. In the November 4 elections, Claytor received 36% of the votes, placing second behind Republican

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claytor, Mike Living people 1952 births