Delaware House race for Milton and Lewes area district decided by 121 votes
Berry received 4,653 votes in the district that serves the Milton and Lewes areas. Republican Nikki Miller received 4,532 votes, according to unofficial results from the state Department of Elections.
Berry said she initially set out to run not just to fill an open seat, but to show up and be present for her constituents, focus on high-quality education, workforce development, and brace for statewide and federal budget cuts.
This special election was called to fill the seat left vacant by former House Rep. Stell Parker Selby, who stepped down from her position earlier this summer.
Berry is set to fill the remainder of Parker Selby's term for the Milton- and Lewes-area district, which is slated to expire in November 2026.
How we got here: Who's on the ballot? Meet the special election candidates running for Parker Selby's seat
Who is Alonna Berry?
A self-described 'multi-generational Sussex Countian,' Berry has extensive experience working in and related to state government.
This includes her work as a senior policy adviser for health, equity and education under then-Gov. John Carney's administration and as Delaware's 'first statewide trauma-informed care coordinator.'
Throughout her campaign, Berry pledged to achieve high-quality education, workforce development, support for local businesses and broadening access to restorative justice and related alternative programming.
She also vowed to work alongside members on both sides of the political aisle to ensure community protection.
In other legislative news: What could be done? In reassessment fallout, legislative roadmap still in the works
Berry competed against Republican nominee Nikki Miller, a long-time educator who prioritized protecting farmland and open spaces, improving traffic, 'proactive constituent service' and 'common sense solutions to everyday issues,' among other key focuses.
Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Alonna Barry wins Delaware House seat for Milton, Lewes district
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USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
'Pack a toothbrush. Pack hair spray.' How the Texas Democrats are living on the run
Texas Democrats packed their bags and made arrangements to be out of the state for weeks. Some are missing big events, like their kid's first day of school. A child starting kindergarten is a milestone most American families wouldn't dare miss, but it's one John Bucy will be absent from this month when one of his daughters takes a first step in her education. The 41-year-old Texas state legislator, whose district includes parts of northern Austin, is among the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who've fled the Lone Star State to thwart President Donald Trump's effort to protect his razor-thin Republican majority in Congress. He packed his suitcase to be gone for 30 days – maybe longer. "It makes me scared. It makes me sad," Bucy said in an interview about his self-imposed exodus from his family. "I want to be a part of their lives every chance that I can. But what scares me more is if I'm not here, if they grow up and things are worse off in this country because we didn't stop this gerrymandering." More: Why Trump's political war in Texas is much bigger than the Lone Star State Bucy is staying at an undisclosed hotel in Illinois while he and his fellow Democrats continue to block their Republican colleagues from conducting official business back in Austin, such as the rare mid-decade redrawing of their state's maps that define congressional district boundaries. He said he's still in touch with his legislative staff, who are keeping up with constituents and connecting them to state agencies. Texas is a part-time legislature with a $7,200 annual salary, so like many members, Bucy also has a regular job running a statewide organization that provides athletic, academic and arts competitions for charter school students. Other Texas colleagues who aren't able to work remotely say they are juggling their personal lives, too, amid a partisan firestorm that is spilling over into other Republican and Democratic-controlled states ahead of the November 2026 midterm election campaign. Texas state Rep. Donna Howard said she had to take her grandson along when she left town. Baker, 4, has one parent in recovery and another who isn't in the picture. He's since become a "mascot" for the Democratic legislators at the hotel who have volunteered to help watch him when she speaks with constituents, conducts media interviews or when she needs time alone. "It is a village and my village is stepping up to support me with my grandchild," said Howard, 73, whose district includes parts of southern Austin. "I can't tell you how many people I don't even normally work with on things who have come up and said, 'Can I take him for a little bit and go throw the ball?' So he's kind of like 'King of the Hill' in a lot of ways." Texas Dems resist 'headache factor' but for how long? More: Trump says FBI 'may have to' force Democratic lawmakers back to Texas USA TODAY spoke with more than a dozen Texas Democrats at the center of the national tug-of-war who are facing $500-per-day fines, plus sharp rebukes from Trump and his allies. They have made arrangements to secure extended childcare. They have requested longer-than-expected work absences and found new locations for aging loved ones who require 24-hour caretakers. But they also said living in close quarters has an upside: their relationships and team-building have improved with activities such as daily exercise groups. "Pack a toothbrush. Pack hair spray, because hey, this could go on for a while and you got to be ready for it," said Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson, an attorney who represents parts of Houston. Johnson, 50, participated in the last Texas quorum break orchestrated by Democrats in 2021, when they fled to Washington, D.C., to resist the GOP tightening the state's election rules. She said she was more prepared this time, but added that this fight is a more stressful and significant situation given the Trump administration's pressure campaign. More: Texas Democrats flee state amid heated redistricting battle. Has this happened before? "They'll continue to try to break us, but I actually feel, unlike 2021, there's a really strong coalition here," Johnson said. "There's a drastic difference... now the threats are so much harsher, they're so much more significant, and the risk of what we lose if we are not successful is really large." Republicans are also doing their part to stymie the Democrats' political efforts, not to mention making their personal lives uncomfortable. Three-term Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest and expel the missing Democrats from the legislature. The state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, filied an Aug. 8 lawsuit seeking to get 13 of them removed from office. The FBI is also helping with the search for the lawmakers, according to U.S. Sen. Jon Cornyn, a Texas Republican facing his own 2026 primary challenge from Paxton and who made the request for help. "A lot of people are demanding they come back," Trump told reporters on Aug. 5. "You can't just sit it out. You have to go back." In suburban Chicago, an Aug. 6 bomb threat at the hotel where some of the Texas Democratic legislators have been staying woke them from sleep with a blaring siren echoing through the halls every 30 seconds. It forced an evacuation of the building and took about two hours before guests were allowed back inside, several lawmakers told USA TODAY. Many of the Democrats said the bomb threat marks a turning point, and made them think of officials being targeted in other states, such as in Minnesota, where an alleged gunman shot two state lawmakers and their spouses at their homes in June, killing one of the couples. "We have people who are threatening our lives, threatening our families' lives by exposing us," said state Rep. Christian Manuel, 38, whose district covers an eastern portion of the state that includes Beaumont, Texas. Manuel, who is Black, helps take care of his 95-year-old grandmother and remains in constant contact with family members. Living an hour outside of Jasper, Texas, where a Black man named James Byrd was dragged to death by confirmed white supremacists in 1998, he said the bomb threat at the Illinois hotel reminded him of the potential danger. "My family is aware," Manuel said. "We are all on alert." For many of the absconding Democrats, these incidents have hardened their resolve to resist what progressive critics say are Trump and Abbott's attempts to change the math in their favor for the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who represents parts of Houston, went viral this week after she slammed Abbott's attempt to have the legislators return. She was also embroiled in controversy for comparing the redistricting plan to the Holocaust in an Aug. 5 interview on "The Don Lemon Show," for which she later apologized. Jones said she serves as her mother's primary caregiver and that other relatives and neighbors back home have stepped up to help, but that she remains worried about her mother's well-being, given Jones' high visibility. "My mother can't live by herself – that's the bottom line. So me deciding to quorum break was a big deal," Jones, 59, who is running for a Houston-based seat in Congress, told USA TODAY. "I don't know what would happen to my mom if she opened the door and, would they barge in, what would they do? I'm absolutely concerned." Dems hope to frame Texas battle as flood victims v. Trump's whims Experts warn the endgame of the quorum break looks bleak for Democrats even as the national party and liberal activists say they believe the fight could be an inflection point against the Trump administration. "They walked out to stop Republicans from hijacking our democracy," said Christina Harvey, executive director of Stand Up America, a left-leaning voting rights group that has been running ads on social media and TV to mobilize its members against the redistricting efforts. The current Texas special session is scheduled to end Aug. 19, and Democratic legislators say they're committed to staying away from Austin for the long haul. But Abbott can also keep convening legislators, over and over, legal and political experts say, while applying legal and law enforcement pressure until the Republican-controlled legislature gets what it wants. The governor is adding a "headache factor" for lawmakers, Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University, told USA TODAY. Even if none of Abbott's efforts bear fruit, they could lead to the need for the runaway legislators to at least respond to a lawsuit and incur costs, lost time and extra effort, he said. Quorum breaks have been a tool used by the minority party in Texas since 1870. Often, the move is more of a messaging effort with little success in blocking the specific proposal, experts point out. Texas rules say the House must have two-thirds of its members, or 100 people, present to move forward. Of the 62 House Democrats, a few have remained behind in Austin, meaning only a handful need to be arm-twisted into returning to the state for a quorum to be restored and votes to proceed. Jones, the Rice University professor, said the roughly 50 legislators would have to stay out of the state through the end-of-year holidays and into the spring of 2026 for their long-term strategy to prevail. Asked how long they can stay out of Texas, many of the Democratic legislators pivot in their responses to hammer the argument that Abbott is putting the two-term Republican president's desires over a needed aid package for the destructive and deadly flooding that submerged central parts of the state in July. For now, it's unclear how the public is coming down on the Democrats' framing of the fight. A poll conducted by Texas-based Z to A Research, a Democratic-aligned firm, found that 63% of likely voters – including 41% of Republican voters – believe it's unnecessary to be redrawing the congressional district lines several years before it typically happens. An overwhelming majority of 94% said they support funding flood warning systems and relief efforts, according to a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee memo. Wherever the Texas battle lands, the Democratic legislators who have fled to Illinois – a few others have been part of press conferences and public events in California, New York, Massachusetts – said they have become a stronger caucus as a result. They described bonding in ways they couldn't during regular sessions, and they believe that sense of unity will spread to Democrats in other states as the Trump administration looks to expand its redistricting strategy.
NBC News
2 minutes ago
- NBC News
Texas redistricting clash becomes another stage in the GOP's big Senate primary fight
As Texas Republicans battle with state House Democrats, who fled to block the GOP's ability to pass new congressional maps, there's an intraparty skirmish proceeding just as fiercely on the sidelines: the state's contentious Republican Senate primary. Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn in a primary, have spent the last week making appeals to state and federal officials aimed at putting more pressure on the Democrats — and feuding with each other in the process. The clash between the two Senate rivals is the latest act in a fierce battle, as Paxton runs against the incumbent from his right flank. It shows how the two men are responding to the redistricting standoff, with each trying to frame himself as the toughest fighter and the one most committed to delivering President Donald Trump the five extra Republican congressional seats he has said he is 'entitled to. ' As state attorney general, Paxton has a direct role to play in this debate, and he has used the power of his law enforcement office to take aggressive action against state Democratic lawmakers and their allies. Paxton has petitioned the state Supreme Court to boot state Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the Democratic caucus in the state House, from office. (Gov. Greg Abbott lodged a similar petition, but Paxton argued that he, not the governor, is the one who has the right to bring such a charge.) Days later, he asked the court to boot 13 more state House Democrats. He's launched an investigation into liberal billionaire George Soros and sued former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, whom he's accusing of 'bribery' for helping to fundraise for the state Democrats. (On Friday, he won a temporary restraining order blocking O'Rourke and his group from financially supporting the Democrats.) Paxton has also floated charging the legislators themselves with violating state bribery laws. And he filed a legal petition in Illinois requesting jurisdiction to arrest the Democrats who have fled to the state. 'We are pursuing every legal remedy at our disposal to hold these rogue legislators accountable. Texas deserves representatives who do their jobs instead of running away at the behest of their billionaire handlers. If there's one thing Texans can't stand more than losers, it's cowards,' Paxton said in a statement. As a senator, Cornyn has no such direct role to play in this political and legal fight. But he has been determined not to be outdone. Cornyn has pushed the FBI to assist local law enforcement's efforts to locate the Democratic lawmakers, telling NBC News that FBI Director Kash Patel told him he was assigning agents from San Antonio and Austin to 'respond to my request.' (It's unclear exactly what those agents would actually do, and a federal law enforcement agent told NBC News on Thursday that FBI agents had yet to take any actions to try to locate the lawmakers.) Meanwhile, while Cornyn has been deeply critical of the Democrats who left Texas to stop the state Legislature from proceeding with redistricting legislation, he and his campaign have also trained their fire on Paxton too. 'Apparently the attorney general is now back from his European golf vacation and actually trying to do his job,' Cornyn told NBC News on Thursday night, repeatedly returning to criticism of Paxton throughout a 15-minute interview about the efforts to track down Democrats. He said Paxton was 'nowhere to be found when things were developing this week,' lampooning the attorney general for doing interviews from a hotel with a 'European electrical outlet.' Cornyn also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Abbott's push to boot Wu from office, a brief he delivered on U.S. Senate letterhead that included a paragraph criticizing Paxton's legal briefs and actions, arguing that Abbott rightfully filed his case because Paxton 'delayed taking action.' Cornyn has been pushing similar messages on social media, where Paxton has pushed back. On Thursday, Paxton reposted a video of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett calling Cornyn someone who 'typically works in a very bipartisan way,' claiming he was only 'doing everything he can to make it seem like he's a MAGA Republican so he can get through his primary.' 'I'm Ken Paxton and I approve this message,' the attorney general wrote on X, sharing the video of Crockett. The Senate primary battle has become one of the most contentious midterm election contests in the country. Cornyn has repeatedly brought up the litany of controversies related to the Texas Legislature's unsuccessful push to remove Paxton from office two years ago, and Paxton has framed Cornyn as insufficiently conservative and not a true believer in Trump, highlighting his past criticism of the president. Both candidates are tying themselves to Trump, who hasn't weighed in with his endorsement. Cornyn told NBC News last month that he's talked to the president 'about it a number of times.' Public surveys have found Paxton leading Cornyn in the GOP primary, but some Republicans have sounded alarms that Paxton's controversies would make for a more competitive general election with him as the nominee.
Newsweek
2 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Redistricting Wars: Map Shows How Many Seats Could Change Before Midterms
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. With over a dozen states weighing up the idea of redrawing their district boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Newsweek has mapped out the seats that could change hands if legislatures let fly. Some of the largest states in the union are currently engaged in a cold war over the House of Representatives, which the Republicans hold with a single-digits majority. At President Donald Trump's instruction, Texas legislators proposed a rare mid-decade congressional map change in a bid to maintain this hold, with five seats in Democratic areas redrawn into likely Republican gains. In response, governors of Democratic states have threatened to take their own pound of flesh, with California's Gavin Newsom, New York's Kathy Hochul, and Illinois' JB Pritzker all promising to redraw their own states' already-small Republican districts if Texas goes ahead. But how viable are these threats, and what would the 2026 election look like if everyone made good on them? Which States Could be Redistricted? Texas Last week, Trump claimed that Republicans were "entitled to five more seats" in the Lone Star state. On Wednesday, GOP state legislators answered the call, proposing a new map that would condense Democratic areas even further. The new boundaries would mean that five blue seats in Texas would be at risk of flipping, endangering Democratic lawmakers in the Rio Grande Valley, where many Latino voters have traditionally backed Democrats. California In retaliation, California Governor Gavin Newsom said, "California will not sit by idly and watch this democracy waste away," and threatened to match the Republican gains with redistricting of his own. The seats held by Republicans Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao and Doug LaMalfa in particular were highlighted as the five that would be targeted in the trade-off. Missouri Missouri's Republican Governor Mike Kehoe weighed in on Fox News on Tuesday, saying that he was open to the idea of redistricting. His office later confirmed that they "will always consider options" to "provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians." The state only has two Democratic seats, but Representative Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City has been highlighted as a potential target. Ohio Ohio is in a unique situation, as it is constitutionally mandated to redraw its map after the one approved in 2022 was struck down, because it was passed by a state commission without bipartisan support. Currently, Republicans hold 10 congressional districts while Democrats hold five, but a replacement map could take up to three more safe Democratic seats and make them lean red. Wisconsin Democrats in Wisconsin are eyeing the seats of Republicans Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, with a redrawing that would give Democrats a shot at two more votes in the House of Representatives. The redraw was proposed in a lawsuit to the Wisconsin Supreme Court that argued the current setup is gerrymandered to benefit Republicans. Indiana Frank Mrvan, one of just two Democratic representatives in Indiana, could be in danger of losing his seat if the state's Republican leaders fall in line with the White House's demands. Vice President JD Vance visited the state on Thursday to meet with Governor Mike Braun. Braun and other Republican leaders in the state seemed non-committal to the idea, CNN reported, with former Governor Mitch Daniels telling the network: "I think we have pretty fairly drawn lines now, and I don't see any good reason that they should be tampered with out of cycle." Maryland Maryland's Democratic legislators are considering a bill that would trigger redistricting if Texas goes ahead with plans to cut blue seats. Only one of Maryland's eight seats is held by a Republican, but a new map could take that down to zero. Washington Washington state lawmakers are in a similar situation, with their ten seats already split 8-2 in favor of Democrats. House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon said that it would take "very creative map drawing to get to 9-1". Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has indicated that he is on board with the White House's approach to redistricting, though he has not specified how many seats a redrawn map would target for Republicans. Florida is already operating with a recently redrawn map that DeSantis himself pushed for, which gives the bulk of the state's 28 seats to Republicans. Louisiana Louisiana is facing litigation that could change their maps before the 2026 midterms. The 2022 ruling that a second majority-black district, currently held by Democrats, be added to the map is being challenged in a case that could remove one blue seat from the state. Illinois JB Pritzker has been one of the most aggressive Democratic governors in his opposition to the Texas redistricting, offering to shelter fleeing Texas legislators in Illinois. When asked by Stephen Colbert on Tuesday if his state could match California's threat to "wipe out" Republican seats, Pritzker replied immediately: "It's possible. And, as I've said, everything's on the table. We've got to fight fire with fire. They've frankly tossed the rulebook out. And they're just acting in an unconstitutional fashion." New York Governor Kathy Hochul has made similar threats, saying in a press briefing this week that "I'm tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back. With all due respect to the good government groups, politics is a political process." the redistricting in New York she is backing could see Democrats gain 22 of the state's 26 seats, up from 19 in 2024. New Jersey New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has not made the same threats as his Democratic colleagues, but said that the topic was "high on the agenda" in his circles. Democrats already have nine of the state's 12 districts, but Republican Tom Kean Jr.'s seat has been targeted as a potential gain if redistricting does occur.
