On Tuesday, November 3, Spiros Mantzavinos of Wilmington, Delaware was elected to the Delaware State Senate. In doing so, Mantzavinos becomes the only Greek-American serving in the Delaware General Assembly.
“It’s an incredible honor to have the opportunity to represent the hard-working families of the 7th State Senate District in Dover,” Mantzavinos said. “I’m deeply grateful for the support I received from so many Greek-Americans from around the country. Candidates alone don’t win elections – campaigns do. Everyone who donated their time, talent and hard-earned money was an integral part of our campaign.”
The grandson of immigrants from Cephalonia, Spiros ran against a first-term Republican in a State Senate District with a Democratic registration advantage of nearly two-to-one and a district which was ranked as a top ‘flippable’ state legislative district nationwide.
For nearly 30 years, he has been active in Delaware Democratic politics, working on state and local campaigns. Most recently, he served as Chief of Staff to State Auditor Kathy Kramedas McGuiness, the first Greek-American elected statewide in Delaware.
Additionally, Spiros has worked to advance Hellenic causes as well. Most recently, in 2019 he introduced Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member Senator Chris Coons to Greek-American leaders attending the 35th Annual Hellenic Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. In 2017, Spiros moderated a panel discussion during the 16th Annual Conference on the Future of Hellenism in America. Currently, he is a member of the American Hellenic Institute – Delaware Chapter and is a past president of AHEPA Chapter #95.
Spiros has also been active in his parish of Holy Trinity in Wilmington, Delaware. Since 2004, he has served as a Parish Council Member (Parish Council President 2009-2010). Additionally, he was a GOYA Advisor, GOYA basketball coach, Sunday School teacher and continues to work on the Parish’s Annual Greek Festival.
