Democrat Alonna Berry is trying to earn a full term in House District 20 after winning a special election for the seat by just 121 votes against Republican Nikki Miller.. That August 2025 special election was triggered when Democrat Stell Parker Selby vacated it amid health concerns.
Selby flipped the seat to Democrats in 2022, defeating Nikki Miller by just 250 votes in their battle to succeeded long time Republican State Rep. Stephen Smyrk, who didn’t seek re-election to run for the state Senate instead.
Berry realizes this district has become one of the most closely contested in Delaware, "I believe this is the most purple district in the state. We are just about split: 33 percent 33 percent and 33 percent in terms of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents or NPs."
Current registration numbers reflect that with Democrats accounting for around 35% of registered voters in the district, while Republicans and other parties around equal shares of remaining voters.
Berry says that she welcomes that political diversity, “I think that that diversity that exists in our district is what creates better policies across the board for individuals. When constituents come to me with a challenge, it doesn’t matter what their party affiliation is, it’s my job to help them.”
Berry is a former educator. She started her career as a classroom teacher and instructional coach as well as working for education-supporting nonprofits. She says she didn’t pivot to government work until around six years ago, but says her experiences in education, and of being a mother of young kids, are informing her decisions as the incumbent lawmaker.
The district’s political diversity is something also embraced by Berry’s Republican challenger and current Georgetown City Manager Gene Dvornick. Dvornick describes himself as a lifelong Republican voter and fiscal conservative, and calls attention to his long time standing in the community, “I am your community first, common sense candidate. I bring 20 years of service as a town manager in Georgetown, I have 40 years experience in the volunteer fire service -I’m currently serving as the fire chief in Milton- and I am a truly dedicated public servant."
Dvornick has lived in Delaware since 1987. He says his first job in Sussex County was as the Director of Finance for the Draper Canning Company, and he’s worked in finance for most of his life since then.
And, he shares Berry’s “big tent” approach to the 20th District, “What you need to do is represent the totality of the constituents, in Dover, and that’s what I will do. I am a consensus builder, I reach across the aisle.”
With that in mind, Dvornick is hoping to help keep Democrats from a super majority in the House. He notes that the framers of Delaware’s constitution made changes to the constitution particularly time consuming.
“And I would believe that that was put in place so you did not have a one party rule having the ability to take over and just make changes based on what the current situation is. It really wanted a balance. And I will tell you: A one party rule on either side- if it was the Republican Party that had the majority, I’d say exactly the same thing,” he said.
Polls say cost of living is top of mind for most people heading to the voting booth this November. But, Berry says she understands that not the only issue motivating voters in the 20th House District.
“For some its education, for some its housing, for some its development. But, its the job of a legislator to listen to all the different viewpoints, and I say all the time that you can pick any issue and I have a constituent on one end of the spectrum and another on the other end of the spectrum," she said.
But when talking to district residents, traffic issues in southern Delaware remain one of the biggest complaints she hears, “You know we all sit in traffic across the district. Myself and many others now build in extra time to travel and so roads and infrastructure are a key issue across the district and I’ve been able to work very closely with DelDOT and deliver on legislation that helps to speed up road and construction projects across the district .”
Dvornick agrees the district needs a strong focus on infrastructure, but specifically ties traffic to another issue- development. He said, “When we talk about infrastructure, its infrastructure that keeps pace with our growth. The challenge is, we have to look at infrastructure in total: so it’s water, it’s sewer, it’s stormwater management, it’s traffic, it’s broadband. All the things that really make it so that you can, ultimately, deliver on some of these other things..”
Dvornick says development practices in the district, especially as it relates to affordable housing, need another look- especially the controversial SB23- which he calls a “misstep” in the path to address housing in the state.
“The struggle becomes, what area median incomes are we using? The area median income for Sussex County is $71,200 which means an affordable housing cost per month for a rental is approximately $1,423. If I look at a specific for Georgetown, where the area median income is significantly lower, that affordability drops to $994. That’s a $500 swing 12 miles apart. So, affordable housing is something that’s not going to be able to be legislated out of. We need to really think about: where does it make sense, where do we grow, and we don’t try a one-size-fits-all,” he said.
Another issue state-wide is AI data centers. Some regulations have already been passed on the city and county level. And the state has also enacted some restrictions. But Berry feels more limitations are needed.
“There are a lot of climate related and environmental concerns associated with the development of data centers, and until we have more guidelines and rules in place to protect our community- I mean I represent a coastal community. Research tells us that data centers would have a significantly negative impact on our environment. So for that reason, I could not and would not support them,” she said.
Dvornick isn’t so sure. He argues an outright ban of data centers across the state could result in some missed benefits and opportunities in the communities they’re constructed in.
“There are benefits to data centers. The first one is they generate tax revenue through property taxes and as they grow they’ll pay more. They also bring job opportunities. These are -when they’re being constructed- opportunities for construction workers, [and] when they’re actually in production they have the ability to hire high skilled people. When you have people working that is people who are spending their money in our neighborhoods and our local economy,” he said.
But Dvornick adds he is in favor of some rules. He says data centers belong in heavy industrial zones, not commercial or residential districts- and they should be required to benefit the community, not harm it. He said, “There is opportunity in my mind that, okay, if you want to come as a data center you generate your own utility. And, as part of that electricity that you’re generating, we would like you to have additional capacity that you then make available to the grid that helps ease some of the demand that we have in Delaware.”
It’s worth noting that as of now, there are no active proposals or applications for data centers in the 20th House District.
District 20 is home to Lewes, one of Delaware’s coastal communities. This year, these coastal communities have struggled getting critical projects and resources they need to maintain healthy beaches.
Those projects are usually handled in part, and sometimes in large part, by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which means communities like Lewes rely on federal dollars to keep their dunes in good shape. The Army Corps says this year, they’ve seen “spotty” funding for those projects, causing delays in replenishment of dunes that prevent a great deal of flooding and damages.
Berry says committed to doing what she can to address this issue, “I will continue to advocate to my federal colleagues and the federal delegation to ensure that if there are resources made available that our Sussex coastal communities have access to those. But I also think its important, as the state, to continue to think about the resources that we have.”
She says she pushes for the state, through the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, or DEMA, to make more resources available to areas like Lewes. She also wants to work more with municipalities to ensure they have safety measures in place in addition to federal projects.
Dvornick agrees. He says if he wins the seat, he wants to work on the local level to tackle coastal health. He said, “We need to make sure that we have appropriate planning, and then when you have good planning on coastal issues then you can develop very good mitigation plans. Then you implement those mitigation plans which really becomes the protection. So we’ve protected- we’ve studied it, we’ve mitigated it, now we’ve got the protections in place."
Dvornick notes that in addition to those goals, he will prioritize restoration projects as well, which he says is another big piece of coastal health.
Both candidates are aware of the history of this seat, and its significance in the future of party dynamics in the General Assembly.
But Berry says helping deliver a Democratic super majority possibility is not her main focus. “My job isn’t to strive for a super majority, my job is to represent my district well and represent the viewpoints of my district well. So, that’s what I’ve been sharing as I’ve been on the campaign trail and I hope that message resonantes with them,” she said.
Dvornick says that despite being a lifelong Republican and fiscal conservative, he wants to differentiate himself from the GOP at a national level. He said, "I’ve said this many times: I am not a Donald Trump Republican. The issues that we are facing here in the state are completely independent from what we’re facing at the national level. I, as a Republican, am focused on those issues in the State of Delaware and in the 20th Representative District.”
Berry survived a primary challenge from Ruby Keeler Schaeffer to make the General election ballot. Dvornick is making his first run for a seat in the General Assembly.
