Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer urges inclusive nomination process for special elections

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. The committee will then choose a candidate, 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.