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Former state Rep. Stell Parker Selby, who resigned this week after being absent all of session this year due to a medical emergency last December. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Stell Parker Selby's official Facebook page)
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Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer is arguing that party insiders shouldn’t pick the nominee to replace former state Rep. Stell Parker Selby. But Democratic party leaders say the wheels are already in motion, in accordance with state law, to choose a candidate. Legislation changing the law is languishing in committee.
Parker Selby, D-Milton, resigned from the House on Tuesday, triggering a special election for her seat in the very competitive House District 20, which could flip to Republican control.
The former Sussex County Democrat suffered a massive stroke in December, a state lawmaker confirmed to WHYY News. Parker Selby has not participated in session at all this year. Session ends Monday. Her status became a subject of concern after members of the media and the public noticed her continued absence.
Parker Selby referred to experiencing a medical emergency in the resignation letter she posted on Facebook listing it as the reason she was resigning, effective immediately. She was elected in 2022 as the first Black woman from Sussex County in Delaware history to serve in the House.
“Please know that I gave everything I had to this role, and I wanted more than anything to return to it,” she said. “But I also know when it’s time to let go – and to trust that the seeds planted over a lifetime of service will continue to grow.”
Under the law, the speaker of the House must issue a directive to the Delaware Department of Elections within 10 days of a vacancy in that chamber to order a special election. The election must occur 30 to 35 days later. A House spokeswoman said the speaker has not yet issued the writ.
Meyer, who praised Parker Selby’s life of public service, said he is asking, as he did in November 2024 to then Democratic State Party Chair Betsy Maron, for the party to change its rules so the nomination process was more inclusive to all Delaware Democrats.
“I’m eager to make sure we have a process that’s different than any process before,” Meyer said. “Both in the general election and when parties choose their candidate — it’s done quickly, but more importantly, inclusively. So it’s not a small number of insiders choosing who the candidates are.”
At that time, there were upcoming special elections for the Senate seats formerly occupied by now Congresswoman Sarah McBride and Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay.
Maron rebuffed Meyer in her own letter, saying state law empowers the committee members of any ballot-qualified party to select the nominee and does not provide for a primary election process.
WHYY News tried to contact current Democratic State Party Chair Evelyn Brady, but was told she was unavailable to comment for this story. The Sussex County Democratic Committee will hold a candidate forum July 3. Members of the House 20th Representative District Democratic Committee will vote immediately after the forum, Committee Chair Jeff Balk said. Attempts to reach Sussex County Republican Committee Chair Daniel Willis were unsuccessful.
Legislation creating a special primary election process was introduced in May by state Rep. Mara Gorman, D-Newark, and has stalled in a House committee. Apparently a hot potato since the controversy has erupted over Parker Selby’s prolonged absence, Gorman declined to talk to WHYY News about her bill. A House spokeswoman initially said Gorman would answer questions about her bill, but then did not respond to subsequent questions, such as when WHYY would get the answers.
House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown did not respond to a question about whether she supported the bill. Balk declined to comment on it.
State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, D-Newark, told Coast TV earlier this month that House leadership was so worried about the seat changing parties in a special election, that they decided to not address the lawmaker’s absence in Dover. Wilson-Anton said she had no comment on this story.
Parker Selby won her district, made up of Milton and Lewes, by just 245 votes over Republican candidate Nikki Miller. Miller announced her candidacy again Wednesday. District 20 currently has 8,379 Democrats, 7,652 Republicans and 6,943 registered as “other.”
Minor-Brown arranged for Parker Selby to be privately sworn in in late March, after the president of the Delaware Republican Party and the Sussex County Republican Committee raised concerns earlier in the month in a letter to House leadership and all members about Parker Selby’s prolonged absence and its impact on her constituents.
Balk said he believed Democrats can hang onto the seat, even with the short timeframe voters will have to get to know the candidate and their positions.
“I totally believe that Democrats can control the seat,” he said. “We know how to get the vote out here in Sussex County, and we’ll be able to do it again no matter what time frame we have.”
Balk said he already has eight Democrats interested in the vacancy.
This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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