Rep. Parker Selby resigns after prolonged absence

Following weeks of outcry and near daily local TV coverage, Rep. Stell Parker Selby (D-Milton), who has missed the entirety of the 2025 Delaware Legislative Session to date after suffering a significant stroke late last year, has resigned.

In a statement from House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, she said Parker Selby sent her resignation letter on Tuesday morning.

The top House of Representative leader, who in recent weeks has been under scrutiny for her responses to questions about the representative’s absence, thanked Parker Selby for her service to the state.

Parker Selby’s absence, and the lack of communication from Democrats, raised questions about if members of the legislature aimed to keep her in office long enough to mount a strong campaign for the district after session ended later this month.

She won her race against Republican Nikki Miller in November by only a 245-vote margin out of nearly 17,500 votes cast, making it one of the closest races anywhere in the state. Before the district was remapped in the 2020 redistricting, it was a reliably Republican district stretching down toward Long Neck.

Last week, Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Bear) slammed members of her own party in an interview with Spotlight Delaware, where she accused her party of a cover-up.

“As a Democrat, I think it’s important for us to come out and speak the truth, regardless of if it hurts our party or not,” she said. “What really hurts our party is when people associate the Democratic Party with a lack of transparency and lack of accountability.”

According to Minor-Brown’s statement, she has 10 days to request a special election for the district. After a writ of election is issued, the election would have to be scheduled within 30-35 days.

It is immediately unclear who the Democrats may put up for the seat.

In her resignation letter, Parker Selby said she made the decision to resign after conversations with her family and doctors. She wrote her December stroke has “profoundly changed the rhythm” of her life.

“Please know that I gave everything I had to this role, and I wanted more than anything to return to it,” her letter said. “But I also know when it’s time to let go – and to trust that the seeds planted over a lifetime of service will continue to grow.”

Representative hasn’t been heard from publicly

Since being re-elected to a second term in November, Parker Selby has seldom been seen or heard from in public. She was present Nov. 7 at Return Day, a post-election tradition in Georgetown that sees former electoral candidates literally and figuratively “bury the hatchet.”

But Parker Selby suffered a “massive stroke” in early December that was initially feared to be life-threatening, according to Democratic party sources. The representative has reportedly since been recovering at home after moving from a rehab facility.

Her absence at the opening day of the Delaware General Assembly and in the lead-up to a significant vote early in the session on corporate law reform only drew more attention as to her whereabouts.

In late March, House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown sought to defuse those questions by completing a private swearing-in ceremony with the representative in Sussex County. A photo released from the day shows Parker Selby in a wheelchair with a crouching Minor-Brown behind her – the representative had not used a wheelchair previously.

Swearing-in ceremonies are purely celebratory though. Representatives legally take office the day after the election in Delaware, and begin drawing a $50,678 annual salary and receiving state benefits for their service. She will also qualify for a legislator’s pension for the time she spends as an elected official.

With the end of the legislative year now just 20 days away, Parker Selby is unlikely to participate in any vote on behalf of her roughly 23,000 constituents this year, and it’s raising calls for a special election to replace her if she cannot return to office.

GOP questioned absence

In recent months, the Sussex County Republican Party has begun questioning Parker Selby’s absence and calling for answers from House Democratic leadership.

“Our democratic system is structured to ensure that every citizen has representation in both chambers of the General Assembly, and in this case, the people of the 20th District are being deprived of that right,” they wrote in a March 17 letter. “If she is unable to fill the responsibilities of her office in the near future, then a discussion must be had on how to ensure that the people of her district are properly represented moving forward.”

Democratic leadership reportedly investigated whether the state Constitution allows for the removal of a legislator who cannot fulfill his or her duties, but it only provides for a vacated office by resignation or death. Removal of a legislator through impeachment is only available in cases where the accused has committed treason, bribery or a crime in office.

With no recourse to remove a legislator who neither serves constituents nor chooses to resign, Democratic House leaders had defaulted to waiting out the situation rather than trying to convince Parker Selby to step down.

Now that she has resigned, it could leave Democrats vulnerable to losing a seat in the House of Representatives just as they near a crucial point of full supermajority in the chamber. With Parker Selby’s seat, they are one seat away from being able to amend the state Constitution without Republican support.

Sussex County Republican Party Chair Daniel Willis said that while he had sympathy for the representative’s condition, consideration also needed to be given to the rights of the voters who elected her to the legislature.

In a phone call with Spotlight Delaware on Tuesday, Willis said the party will make an announcement on a candidate for the district by July 2. Additionally, he said the party will be releasing more information on its decision-making process soon.

On the call, he read a statement on the resignation, where he praised Parker Selby for her decades of service to the state.

“Among the 80,252 registered Republicans in Sussex County, there is broad respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service, regardless of party affiliation,” Willis said.