A central figure in the Delaware Republican Party fired off a scathing resignation letter last week that blasted both the direction of the state GOP and its recent nomination of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Arlett.

“Mr. Arlett lacks the character and integrity needed to lead our Ticket and receive my support,” wrote Peter Kopf, a former banking executive who has chaired the New Castle County Republican Committee and served on the state party’s executive committee since last year.

In his letter — a copy of which was obtained by The News Journal on Wednesday — the 64-year-old references “critical information” about Arlett he claims “will eventually derail his candidacy.”

“What hurts the most here is that with Mr. Arlett heading the Ticket some very good candidates will lose that should not, perhaps even our potential Candidate for Governor in 2020,” he wrote, referring to state Treasurer Ken Simpler, who is widely rumored to be weighing a challenge to Gov. John Carney in two years.

“After 46 years of living and breathing Republican Party politics and many times at the expense of my family, it is time for me to move on,” he wrote. “I pray the name at the top of the Ticket doesn’t mean disaster for some excellent down ballot Candidates.”

Kopf said he is "disturbed" that his resignation letter, which was sent to party leaders in a Sept. 13 email, was made public.

"That was a private email," he said. "There's not much to comment on. It's all pretty clear in the letter."

Neither Arlett nor a spokesman for his campaign was immediately available for comment. But Emily Taylor, the party’s vice chairwoman and executive director, provided a measured response.

“The party is sad to see Peter leave but he had to make the decision that is right for him,” she said. “We’re focused on winning elections in November."

When asked about Kopf’s accusations against Arlett, Taylor stated, “Rob Arlett is the Republican-endorsed candidate and the party will fight for him to be our next U.S. Senator.”

Kopf’s resignation leaves the Delaware GOP without a New Castle County chairperson less than two months before the Nov. 6 general election.

More Republicans live there than either of Delaware’s two other counties and getting them to the polls will be critical if the GOP hopes to win statewide seats and overcome its one-vote deficit in the state Senate.

Kopf’s letter also exposes divisions in the Delaware GOP as it seeks to take on two incumbent Democrats in a pair of Congressional races. The party already has been struggling to attract new voters amid a mostly behind-the-scenes struggle over the party’s direction.

A faction of Republican voters, mostly centered in New Castle County, has backed a fiscally conservative but socially liberal ideology that helped Republicans such as Pete du Pont and Mike Castle win statewide office in previous decades.

The Delaware GOP, meanwhile, increasingly has been moving toward a brand of politics that swept President Donald Trump into office. Arlett — who led Trump’s 2016 campaign in Delaware — has become a central figure in that largely Sussex County-centered approach, which has yet to prove itself in statewide general elections.

Kopf has long been a fixture in New Castle County GOP circles, having previously served as the Brandywine Hundred Republican chairman. He is well known among the state’s banking community, having served as an assistant vice president and vice president for industry titans such as MBNA and Citi Bank.

His resignation is the first major shakeup to occur after the Sept. 6 primary in which state Republican voters seemed to align more with the party’s Trump faction.

Former Democrat Scott Walker — a businessman with a penchant for outrageous behavior — shocked the state by defeating party favorite Lee Murphy to win the nomination for U.S. House.

But it was Sussex County Councilman Rob Arlett’s decisive victory over former PayPal executive Eugene Truono that appears to have been too much for Kopf.

The Delaware Republican Party never formally endorsed either candidate, having failed to reach a consensus after three ballots during the party convention in May.

Kopf claims that state party chairman Mike Harrington’s decision to let that draw stand violated party bylaws — one of several failures of leadership he cites in his letter.

Perhaps the most explosive of those charges is the revelation that two convicted felons are serving in public positions within the Delaware GOP.

Kopf does not name them, but sources indicate he was referring to former Delaware secretary of state Mike Harkins and Robert Harra, the former president of Wilmington Trust.

Harkins now serves as a contracted political strategist despite having pleaded guilty in 2004 to mail fraud and filing false tax returns. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison in the case, which centered on his private use of a $300-an-hour rental plane and stays in swank hotels at the expense of the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which he led for more than a decade.

Harra, who serves on the state Republican Party’s finance committee, was one of four former Wilmington Trust executives found guilty in May on 15 counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and making false entries in banking disclosure documents. His sentencing is scheduled for October.

“This all should be very disturbing and an embarrassment to any individual serving on the State Executive Committee today,” Kopf wrote. “You all have a responsibility to Republicans throughout Delaware to keep our Party ethical.”

Kopf also took issue with the party’s handling of candidate filing fees, which he describes as a "debacle,” stating that Harrington wanted to return Arlett’s $10,440 for reasons not specified in his letter.

Arlett’s filing fee also was an issue for the Truono campaign, which demanded verification that the check the Fenwick-area resident used to pay the tab cleared the bank as a precondition to an August debate that was later canceled. At the time, a spokeswoman for party insisted that check was deposited with no issue.

Kopf further stated he has concerns about Emily Taylor, the state party vice chairwoman, also being paid to serve as the Delaware GOP’s executive director, which he describes as a conflict of interest.

Taylor and Harrington were both elected to their positions within the party in 2017.

“In both roles, my goal has been to support all of our Republican candidates and I feel I’ve done that to the best of my ability,” Taylor said.

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.

Delaware Online Must- Reads

Freshmen at Delaware State University getting free iPad pros and MacBooks this year

Biden expresses regret about handling of Anita Hill testimony in Clarence Thomas hearings

Florence's fury strands unlucky 'Buoy 13' on Woodland Beach