District 20 campaign finance: One report in, one to come

With a week to go until the special election for a new District 20 representative, Republican candidate Nikki Miller has filed a 30-day campaign finance report, and now appears as a candidate on the Department of Elections website after she was erroneously left off.

According to a special election calendar posted on the Department of Elections website specifically for the Tuesday, Aug. 5 election for District 20, the 30-day report was due July 8, with the Miller campaign posting the report July 9, a 24-hour extension that Patrick Jackson, campaign finance manager for the Department of Elections, said is given to any candidate on request, no questions asked.

Miller’s total receipts are listed close to $22,000 with about $4,300 in expenses. Thirty contributors, including elected Republicans throughout the state, contributed $600 each, with about a dozen Cape Region contributors giving various amounts.

The eight-day campaign finance report is due Wednesday, July 30, according to the special election calendar.

Democrat Alonna Berry said she officially filed to run July 8, and in accordance with campaign finance rules, the first campaign finance report is due at the end of this month.

Jackson said Berry’s filing on the day the first campaign finance report was due exempted Berry from the deadline since her committee had not yet been activated.

Berry will be required to file the eight-day report, he said, and if she requests a 24-hour extension, that will be granted. Berry said she will file her 8-day report on July 30.

Any contributions posted after July 28 will go on the candidate’s annual finance report, Jackson said.

In a separate issue, Jackson said Miller was not listed as a candidate on the Department of Elections website until July 28. 

“That was an error, and the department has apologized to everyone for that,” he said. “We’re reviewing our internal policies on website updates and confirmation that updates are completed in a timely manner. For some reason, Nikki’s nomination was on our social media channels on [July] 11 following her nomination, but somehow that didn’t translate over onto the website.”

Now updated, the Department of Elections website lists July 8 as the date Berry’s nomination was received and July 10 as the date Miller became the GOP nominee. 

The GOP announced Miller as the nominee July 2; Democrats chose Berry as their nominee July 3.

Miller and Berry are running to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Stell Parker Selby, D-Milton, who did not attend a day of the last legislative session that began in January after experiencing a life-changing medical event.

Parker Selby officially resigned from her seat June 24, six days before the end of the session, which triggered the special election.

Miller challenged Parker Selby in the 2024 election for the two-year seat that mostly includes Lewes and Milton, losing by 245 votes.

Both Miller and Berry have filed to run for the 2026 general election for District 20. Democrat Ruby Schaeffer has also filed to run in the 2026 general election for the seat.