Kyle Grantham says a New Castle County councilwoman tried to talk him out of running for office by dangling the possibility of a government job that doesn't actually exist. Grantham, a first-time candidate challenging Kira Alejandro in the September 15 Democratic primary for the county's vacant District 3 council seat, met with Councilwoman Dee Durham at Brew HaHa Cafe in Greenville on the same day he issued his candidacy press release, and he says she kept steering the conversation back to a possible communications specialist job that could be created for him if he lost.
Durham tells a different version of the same meeting. As reported by WHYY News, Durham says she presented only a theoretical possibility for Grantham's future if he lost the race, insisted nothing was imminent, and said she never offered or promised him a job in exchange for not running. Grantham, for his part, described the roughly two-hour conversation as feeling like an attempt to bribe him with a county council job to drop out, and he says Durham asked him at one point whether he should consider not running while budget work was underway.
What Durham Says She Actually Offered
Durham, who has represented the greater Brandywine Hundred area since 2018 and is seeking a third four-year term, acknowledged she mentioned the possibility of a communications specialist post to Grantham and said the idea had been discussed among council members for at least three years. She maintained the position was not open, said she had made no efforts to create it since speaking with Grantham, and said the job could theoretically be created with fellow council members, according to the same WHYY report. She has also said Grantham was twisting their conversation, and she denied trying to get him to leave the race, according to the outlet.
Grantham disputes that framing. He says Durham lacked the authority to grant the proposed job on her own and repeatedly returned to the possibility of creating it during their talk. Grantham says the proposed communications specialist and chief of staff positions could cost taxpayers roughly $250,000 annually including benefits, and creating a new county job would require seven votes on the 13-member county council.
After the meeting, Grantham texted Delaware political consultant Jordyn Pusey, who heads the Elsmere-area Democratic Committee and supports Grantham's campaign. Pusey's one-word reply, per the WHYY account: “Eww.” Pusey has said elected officials with political power sometimes treat voters as too unsophisticated to make their own decisions.
A Legal Wrinkle Durham's Idea Runs Into
Even setting aside the dispute over what was said, state law creates a real obstacle for any such arrangement. Delaware law forbids a county council member from simultaneously holding another county office, and under Delaware Code Title 9, Section 1143, former council members are barred from taking a compensated appointed county job for one year after leaving office. Grantham has said state law prohibits a person hired for the proposed media relations job from also serving on county council.
Delaware's criminal code also classifies bribery of a public servant as a Class E felony punishable by up to five years in prison, defined in part as offering a personal benefit to influence official action or secure an appointment to public office, per Justia Law. Legal distinctions may exist between a formal job offer from a hiring authority and an informal suggestion of theoretical future employment from a council member who lacks sole hiring power, a nuance that separates Durham's case from a second, more concrete episode playing out elsewhere in county government.
A Separate, More Explicit Offer Under Review
That second episode involves New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Mike Kozikowski, who in June 2026 offered Councilman Dave Tackett a newly created county job paying $76,295 a year, according to Tackett. Tackett recorded the roughly 90-minute lunch conversation at a Newport-area diner after being tipped off, and he has since asked prosecutors to investigate Kozikowski's conduct, according to Delaware Liberal. Kozikowski has said he engaged in no wrongdoing because Tackett was not yet a candidate when the offer was made; Tackett filed his own candidacy the same day as the conversation. Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings's office has not said whether its Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust has opened a probe into Tackett's complaint.
The District 3 Race and Its Endorsement Split
Grantham, who wants the public to know about his own experience heading into the primary, worked as a News Journal photojournalist before joining New Castle County government, where he served as Digital Media Director under former Executive Matt Meyer and was appointed Deputy Director of Strategic Communications for Executive Marcus Henry in February 2025, according to background compiled by The Philly Soccer Page, where he also serves as executive editor. Two documentary short films produced under his leadership at the county, “Return to Hockessin #107C” and “Restless Ground: The Untold Story of Mt. Olive,” received Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nominations.
His opponent, Kira Alejandro, co-founded the Yorklyn Community Association and led a campaign that blocked a six-story luxury development while helping preserve nearly 30 acres for Auburn Valley State Park, according to Ballotpedia. Alejandro did not return WHYY's requests for comment on Grantham's allegations. The endorsement lines in the race are sharply drawn: retiring District 3 Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick has backed Grantham, while Alejandro has the support of Councilwoman Durham herself, State Senator Laura Sturgeon, State Representative Frank Burns, and the Sierra Club.
District 3 covers the Pike Creek and Hockessin areas, part of a 13-member New Castle County Council on which members are paid $59,000 a year. Durham faces Republican Jamie Collins in the general election, while the winner of the Grantham-Alejandro primary will face Republican Melissa Brayman on November 3.
