Local 19 Rep Wins Delaware Race

Democrat Ken Woods was elected in May to a Council seat in Delaware’s New Castle County after the death of former Councilman Joe Reda. Woods defeated his Republican challenger with an overwhelming 70 percent of the vote and will serve the remainder of Reda’s four-year term, which ends in 2018.
Woods is a Business Representative for Philadelphia-based Sheet Metal Local 19, which also covers the entire state of Delaware. Reda, who he replaced, was a retired member of Local
19. Woods’ campaign focused on economic development to spur new high paying jobs for working families in his district.
In a statement on the victory, Woods noted that “special elections require a lot out of candidates, volunteers, and voters. With the help of my brothers and sisters in the labor movement, especially Local 19, we were able to secure a victory.”
Long active in political life, Brother Woods served as Chairman of the Democratic Committee in his district for nearly a decade and has also been an elected member of the Red Clay School Board since 2008.
Public and union offices run in the family; his father, J. Robert Woods, also held the positions of New Castle County Councilman and Sheet Metal Local 19 Business Representative. This is the first time in New Castle history that both a father and son have held the same position in government.