House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown sets Tuesday August 5 as the date for a special election to fill former State Rep. Stell Parker Selby’s 20th District seat.
Parker Selby resigned June 24th. The Milton-area Rep. suffered a severe stroke in December after her November reelection and did not cast a single vote during this year’s legislative session. Her absence promoted political and community discourse around her health and legislative status, including public calls from some of her colleagues to step down.
Per state law, the House speaker is required to issue a writ of election within 10 days of a seat vacancy and set the election 30-35 days from the issued writ.
The special election to fill the 20th District seat will be overseen by the Department of Elections, with the winner serving the remainder of Parker Selby’s term which expires on Election Day in November 2026.
The Sussex County Republican Party has tapped Nikki Miller as its nominee for the seat. Miller is currently Supervisor of Instruction for the Seaford School District and a former Cape Henlopen High School principal. Miller lost to Parker Selby by just 245 votes in the 2024 general election.
Sussex County Democratic Committee selected Alonna Berry as the Democratic candidate following a candidate forum held by the Thursday night.
Berry emerged from a pool of five candidates.
She is currently executive director of the nonprofit Delaware Center for Justice.
She previously Director of Community and Family Services under Gov. John Carney and was Delaware’s first Statewide Trauma-Informed Care Coordinator. She is also founder of the Bryan Stevenson School of Excellence charter school.
