Why Should Delaware Care?
Wilmington’s city charter requires at least one of the City’s Council four at-large seats to be held by someone from a minority party. In the liberal city, the rule ensures that one member of the City Council will not be a Democrat. After the council’s lone Republican became a Democrat last fall, questions of whether the policy goal has been undone has propelled a debate in recent weeks — one that could have broader political implications.
Months after the sole Republican on the Wilmington City Council abruptly became a Democrat, the issue of party switches on the council is headed to the Delaware legislature.
On Thursday, the Wilmington City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution asking the legislature to bar future minority-party members from switching their political affiliation during the middle of a term.
A day after the vote, Delaware Rep. Josue Ortega (D-Wilmington) said he would sponsor state legislation to allow the city to write the rule change into its founding charter.
While the proposed change was sparked by Councilman James Spadola’s change of parties last October, it would not impact him because it would not be retroactive.
Still, his party switch was front and center in a City Council debate Thursday that featured claims he had exploited a loophole in the law when changing political parties.
“You caused all of this unnecessary noise,” Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver said to Spadola during the meeting.
Wilmington’s charter prohibits the majority party from nominating more than three candidates for the city’s four at-large council seats. The rule guarantees that at least one at-large council member from a minority political party.
The charter does not explicitly say that council members cannot change their party affiliation while in office.
For his part, Spadola – who was first elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2024 – said his colleagues were misinterpreting the law.
He also lashed out at City Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo, who had previously said in a letter that Spadola could be removed from his elected council seat if he didn’t switch back to Republican.
Spadola characterized the letter as Congo acting like a king.
“I say firmly, no kings in [Washington] D.C, but no kings in Wilmington either,” Spadola said, referencing recent protests against President Donald Trump.
Also during Thursday’s meeting, multiple residents spoke during public comment in support of Spadola, and in opposition to the resolution prohibiting mid-term party changes.
One also questioned why Democrats on the council would be upset with another member joining their party.
“Focusing on one person’s political affiliation, especially when they decided to align themselves with good people, is not where I expect my elected officials to spend their time or energy,” one resident, Dwayne Randolph, said.
On Friday, Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver told Spotlight Delaware she believes Spadola switched parties to position himself for a run for a higher political office.
She similarly claimed that Congo has plans to run for higher office – in his case for mayor, she said.
When reached for comment about whether he will run for mayor, Congo chuckled, then said, “Oh my goodness. You’re killing me.”
He ultimately did not address the question, but did state that he believes Spadola’s decision to switch parties was “politically motivated.”
Spotlight Delaware also asked Spadola about the claims that his party switch was political. In response, he suggested his colleagues were trying to pick apart his actions, claiming the party switch actually removed any “safe path” to re-election in 2028.
“We’re two and a half years away. It’s a crazy conversation to have,” Spadola said.
When asked in October about future political campaigns in an interview with Delaware Public Media, Spadola said “anything I would do in 2028 would be city-focused.”
What do legislators say?
The City Council’s resolution about party switches has already gained some traction in Dover.
Ortega told Spotlight Delaware that he is reviewing the resolution and plans to send it to his policy team for them to begin drafting a bill. He said he hopes to introduce a bill in May.
He said it is not fair to voters for council members to change their party affiliation midway through a term.
“If you’re in there as a party, you finish it as that party, and then you can change if you want to after you finish your term,” Ortega said.
Other Wilmington legislators were not as immediately supportive.
Rep. Stephanie Bolden (D-Wilmington), said “no comment” when asked whether she would support Ortega’s upcoming bill. She also stated that council members need to figure out a solution on their own.
State Sen. Dan Cruce (D-Wilmington) told Spotlight Delaware he has not yet decided whether he will support the bill. But he questioned whether the city should even reserve council seats for a member of a minority party, saying his focus in any upcoming debate will be on whether that limits voters’ voices.
“Do we believe that folks, in this case, in the City of Wilmington, does their vote matter?” Cruce asked. “And if it does, then we shouldn’t have a restriction like that in the first place?”
State Sens. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman (D-Wilmington) and Darius Brown (D-Wilmington) did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Will the dispute go to court?
After switching his party registration from Republican to Democrat in October, Spadola told Spotlight Delaware he had considered making the move for the previous five years.
He said he finally did so because of his disagreement with several policies associated with President Donald Trump, including tariffs, ICE enforcement, and federal troop deployments into U.S. cities.
Last fall, the city council’s chief of staff Elijah Simmons said Spadola would be able to finish his term, which ends in 2028. He said the city’s charter contained “no written prohibitions against party affiliation changes while in office.”
After his party switch, the City Council was relatively quiet about the matter.
But last month, Congo told Spotlight Delaware that conversations with other council members, city residents, and various attorneys led him to send his letter in February telling Spadola that he had to change his party affiliation back to Republican.
In response to Congo’s letter, Spadola took to social media to say that council members were trying to remove him from his city office so that they could replace him with an “unelected, handpicked successor.”
Spadola also hired William Larson, an attorney with the firm MG+M. In a subsequent letter to Congo, Larson asserted that the city’s charter does not prohibit Spadola from changing party affiliation.
“We reserve all rights to seek declaratory judgment, an injunction, and additional relief in the Court of Chancery should you take any further action to vacate Councilmember Spadola’s seat,” Larson said in the Feb. 12 letter.
On Friday, Congo told Spotlight Delaware that Council still plans to take further steps to clarify whether Spadola’s party change violated Wilmington’s charter, by taking the matter to Delaware’s Chancery Court.
