Milton deserves proper representation

It’s easy to sit on the outside and criticize politicians for their actions, but sometimes that criticism is warranted. 

Democratic leadership has made mistake after mistake in its handling of the absence of Rep. Stell Parker Selby. 

Rather than address the situation and be transparent from the start, the party’s leaders dodged questions or deflected. With just over a week left in this year’s session, the situation is reaching a fever pitch. 

State leaders are still circling the wagons, but one upstate Democrat recently broke from the ranks and aired frustrations with her party’s handling of the situation in an exclusive television interview. 

Here are the facts: Parker Selby, who was 77 years old when elected, has missed every single day of the current session after suffering a medical incident following last year’s election, which she narrowly won over her Republican challenger. 

It’s also a fact that Democratic leaders can’t legally do anything about the situation, but they could ask Parker Selby to resign in order for a special election to be called. It’s not known if the party’s leaders have asked Parker Selby to resign, but the upstate legislator has suggested leadership is comfortable leaving the seat unoccupied until the next election in 2026. 

As stated in our last editorial about this situation, Parker Selby’s seat is important to the Republicans because Democrats are just one seat shy of a supermajority in the House, which would give Democrats supermajority control in both General Assembly chambers. Given the results of District 20’s last election, there’s no guarantee the District 20 seat will remain blue if a special election is held. 

But power and control should not be a factor. Milton residents are without representation in the House. They don’t have someone advocating for them in caucus, at committee meetings or on the floor of the House. They don’t have a familiar face attending public events where constituents can air concerns and make pitches for projects important to them. 

Democratic leadership has fumbled this from the start. This is exactly why people lose trust in politicians.