Dana Paskins announces county council candidacy

Retired Air Force veteran Dana Paskins officially declared her candidacy for Sussex County Council Oct. 13 at a kickoff event at the Lewes library.

Paskins, a Democrat, is running for the District 3 seat currently held by Republican Mark Schaeffer. The election will be held in November 2024. District 3 encompasses an area from Slaughter Beach to Delaware Bay and includes Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.

A retired Air Force major, Paskins was introduced at the kickoff event by Rep. Stell Parker Selby, D-Milton, and Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes. A resident of Rehoboth Beach and graduate of Cape Henlopen High School, Paskins moved back to Rehoboth in 2020, five years after she retired from the Air Force, to be closer to her family. 

She said she decided to run for county council after seeing a lack of affordable housing in the area, despite a large amount of development. Paskins said that lack of affordable housing filters down to key industries like hospitals and doctors’ offices, which cannot hire enough workers because those workers cannot afford to live in the Lewes-Rehoboth area. 

“Today is just the beginning,” Paskins said. “There is a lot of ground to cover between now and next November when the election happens. There is a lot of work to do in Sussex County. We want to make it a great place for all.”