Why Should Delaware Care?
Wilmington’s charter requires at least one of the city’s four at-large council members to be elected as a member of a minority party. In the liberal city, the rule ensures that one person on the elected body will not be a Democrat. Last fall, the council’s lone Republican became a Democrat, sparking questions of whether the policy goal has been undone.
A majority of Wilmington City Council members voted Thursday to oust their colleague, Councilman James Spadola, but their decision will not immediately remove him from the elected seat.
Just hours before the vote, a Delaware judge ruled that any such council action would be paused until a lawsuit Spadola brought against Council President Trippi Congo and the broader council could be adjudicated.
The court will ultimately decide whether the City Council has the power to remove him.
It all amounts to the latest chapter of a monthslong feud between Spadola and his colleagues, stemming from his decision last fall to change party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
Currently, Wilmington’s charter prohibits a majority party – currently Democrats – from nominating more than three candidates for the city’s four at-large seats on the council.
The rule guarantees the election of at least one minority party candidate. The charter does not explicitly prohibit council members from changing party affiliation while in office.
Since Spadola made the switch, several members of the all-Democratic City Council said he had exploited a “loophole” in the city’s charter and disenfranchized the residents who voted him in.
Another council member noted that Spadola and Congo may each have plans to run for higher office.
As part of a council backlash against the party change, Congo sent a letter to Spadola in February, stating his seat would be declared vacant if he did not switch back to the Republican Party.
Then, last month, the City Council approved a resolution asking Delaware’s legislature to prevent any future minority-party at-large member from switching parties mid-term. If they did, they would forfeit their seat.
Spadola, for his part, has said his colleagues on the council have misinterpreted the city’s charter.
Whose rights are infringed?
In his lawsuit filed Monday, Spadola’s attorney upped the rhetoric, calling the council’s likely decision to oust him an “extreme and reactionary path.” He said the move would infringe on Spadola’s own rights and on those of Wilmington voters.
“The sole impetus for the Council’s action is merely that Mr. Spadola has switched political parties from Republican to Democrat in an exercise of his First Amendment,” the legal complaint stated.
Spadola’s attorney in the case is William Larson with the Wilmington-based law firm, MG+M.
Representing the City Council is Jane Brady, who has served in a variety of public capacities in past decades, including chair for the Delaware Republican party, a Superior Court judge, and Delaware attorney general.
As of Friday, Brady had not yet responded to Spadola’s central claims because the immediate issue was whether the council’s decision to oust him should be paused pending the lawsuit’s outcome.
Still, even in those arguments, Brady emphasized the City Council’s stance that Spadola’s party switch “disenfranchised” voters who chose him on the ballot.
The case is expected to be resolved between June and July, Spadola and Congo have each said.
Several council members, including Congo declined to comment for this story, citing the pending lawsuit.
Congo, who introduced the resolution to vacate Spadola’s seat, has previously noted that the City Council sought legal advice from the city’s law department on the matter, but said they were misled.
Last fall, City Council Chief of Staff Elijah Simmons said Spadola would be able to finish his term, which ends in 2028.
He stated the city’s charter contained “no written prohibitions against party affiliation changes while in office.”
The court will decide
The City Council resolution that passed Thursday states that the intent of the city’s charter is to ensure representation for minority parties.
The resolution also states that Spadola was elected over other candidates because of his party affiliation, and claimed that his choice to become a Democrat has “disenfranchise[d] approximately 15% of non-majority voters.”
During the meeting Thursday, Congo announced that a Delaware Chancery Court judge presiding over Spadola’s lawsuit would allow the City Council to vote on the resolution but that it would be “stayed,” or paused, until the case is resolved.
Spadola was the only council member to make comment about the resolution before the vote. He noted that during a court hearing earlier in the day the judge — Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick — was surprised the council would hold a vote before getting the court’s opinion first.
Spadola also asserted that the council moving forward with the resolution amounted simply to a “show vote.”
“I joined the Democratic Party because it is a big tent party, and despite the lack of inclusiveness that this council may be showing me, I have full faith the rule of law will prevail,” Spadola said during the meeting.
After his comments, eight members of council voted in favor of the resolution, including Councilmembers Alexander Hackett, Coby Owens, Shane Darby, Zanthia Oliver, Christian Willauer, Yolanda McCoy, Chris Johnson, and Congo.
Councilmembers Latisha Bracy and Nathan Field voted “present.” Councilmembers Michelle Harlee and Maria Cabrera were absent.
Spadola was the sole vote against the resolution.
