Candidates are beginning to file for the 2026 election, including a primary challenger for a volatile Milton-area State House seat.
Following former State Rep. Stell Parker Selby’s resignation from the State House of Representatives due to medical concerns, a special election was held and Democrat Alonna Berry came out victorious.
Rep. Berry currently holds the seat, but she will be up for reelection in 2026, and Democratic challenger Ruby Schaffer has already filed to go head-to-head with her in the primary election.
“The current incumbent, I feel, is highly vulnerable heading into this 2026 election, and I feel that I have strong name recognition across party lines, partly due to my husband's Republican campaigns, where I personally knocked on doors in both the Democrat and Republican neighborhoods," Schaffer said.
Schaffer is referring to her husband Mark Schaffer, who served as a Sussex County councilman since January 2021 before losing to a Democratic challenger in 2024.
Schaffer says when she first registered to vote at 18, she registered as a Democrat, changed her registration to Republican when she became involved with her husband, and re-committed to the Democratic Party just under a year ago.
“I went to Mark and I said, ‘Mark, are you ever planning on running again?’ And his response at that time was no. And I told him I said, ‘Look, I'm going to change back to Democrat and go home to the Democratic Party where I originally started out,'" she said.
Schaffer says her primary policy goals revolve around economic diversification and small business growth and notes Sussex County in particular has face a variety of challenges that have remained stagnant over the years.
"Those issues [are] basically traffic congestion, unchecked development, a shortage of healthcare professionals, a lack of affordable workforce housing, our schools being ranked forty-seventh in the nation, our environmental issues, such as storm water management and our water and sewer infrastructure, not to mention the skyrocketing electric bills, and guess what? They’re not new, and they still remain unresolved," Schaffer said.
She also wants to redirect more of the impact fees collected from developers by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) into Sussex County.
Schaffer will face Rep. Berry in the Democratic primary on Sept. 15, 2026.
House District 20 is currently the only legislative seat with a primary, but several more challengers are likely to file prior to the July 14, 2026 deadline.
Republican Nikki Miller has also filed to run for the seat for a third time after losing to Parker Selby in 2024 and again to Rep. Berry in the 2025 special election.
Four other candidates have currently filed for the 2026 General Election, the only incumbent being State Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall (D-Rehoboth Beach).
The filed challengers include Republican Mark Pugh, vying for State Sen. Kyra Hoffner's (D-Leipsic) seat, Democrat Gregg Lindner, looking to unseat State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Millsboro) and Democrat Maureen Madden, challenging incumbent State Rep. Ron Gray (R-Selbyville).
The 2026 General Election will take place on Nov. 3, 2026.
