WILMINGTON — Four residents — all Democrats — made their announcement to run for Wilmington City Council this year at a special engagement at the General Denver on Wednesday.
Democrats Angela Mitchell-Koster, Michael Allbright, Tyler Williams, and incumbent council member Kelsey Swindler have taken out petitions to run — the most Democrats to run for city council since at least the late 1990s.
Swindler, who currently sits in one of the three at-large seats on council, said she was excited to be running for re-election and couldn’t believe it was already time for another election.
“I’ve had a great year on city council. I feel like I’ve gotten halfway to what I promised, and that was delivering on this concept that Wilmington’s future starts with having the money, and that was a big task,” said Swindler.
She said it indeed was a major task to have the appropriate funds to move forward any projects within the city, including maintenance. Now, she said, the city can move forward in its development.
“It’s so exciting to be running with people,” said Swindler, “this was my dream when I ran two years ago — this idea to run alongside people.”
Angela Mitchell-Koster, running along with Swindler in the at-large election, said one of the biggest reasons she decided to run is because she has lived in Wilmington for years now and wants to make it more prosperous.
“I’ve seen things that have or have not been done and I want to know why,” said Mitchell-Koster. “I want to be a part of that why and why not. There’s a lot of things we can do.”
Michael Allbright, the Assistant Dean of Students for Housing and Residence Life at Wilmington College, took out a petition to run for the council’s second ward seat. He said that ever since he was young he has loved politics and being active in the community.
“I wanted to get involved in government. I was speaking to some individuals and they recommended I run for city council in ward two. I wanted to give a Democratic voice to ward two and in the community.”
The third at-large candidate, Tyler Williams, a guidance counselor at Wilmington High School, was involved with Campaign for Wilmington’s Future last year and said it’s time to invest in infrastructure and designing a city that people want to live in.
“There’s so much evidence of what kind of city people are looking for, young people, and I think we’re ready to start that,” said Williams.
If all candidates who took out petitions file, Swindler, Mitchell-Koster and Williams are currently up against Republican opponents Carter Cockman, current councilman Bill Liermann, and Chris Walls for council-at-large. Allbright is up against Republican incumbent Lonnie Stuckert for the second ward.
Deadline to file petitions is Feb. 1.
