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    • Election 2024: Sussex County results
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    Election 2024: Sussex County results

    Online Niel Posted on

    While incumbents have ruled state races in Delaware’s southernmost county, the Sussex County Council will have not two, but three new members in January.

    Democrat Jane Gruenebaum shook things up by taking the District 3 seat from Sussex County Councilman Mark Schaeffer. In Rehoboth Beach, Democrat Claire Snyder Hall will take over for retiring Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, but the incumbents otherwise held their seats in Sussex County.

    Here’s who will ride on the winning side of the carriage at Return Day in Georgetown on Thursday.

    Sussex County Council

    The Sussex County Council seat District 3 (Lewes) went to the Democratic newcomer Jane Gruenebaumwho defeated the incumbent Republican Mark Schaeffer 20,610 to 17,050 votes.

    One of the first things she wants to focus on is a voluntary school assessment or equal mechanism, she said when reached by phone Tuesday night.

    “There are different ways you can do this, to make the developers pay for the costs of the impact on our schools,” she said.

    She also wants to create a forest protection ordinance and require supporting infrastructure before development, she said. Gruenebaum has held leadership positions at several policy-oriented nonprofits in Washington, DC, worked in executive search and taught political science at Columbia University, her website says. She was the founder of the Sussex Preservation Coalition and resigned as president to run for office.

    The District 3 race was the only Sussex County Council race in the general election after newcomers Matt Lloyd, R-District 1, and Steve McCarron, R-District 2, they won their primary races and faced no Democratic challengers.

    Senate District 6 (Lewes)

    Democratic incumbent Russ Huxtable defeated republican Kim Hoey Stevenson in this race. He was first elected two years ago after Republican Sen. Ernie Lopez retired and turned the district blue.

    Huxtable is a graduate of the University of Delaware and for more than 18 years has “worked for a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the development of affordable housing in Sussex County” and Delaware, its website says.

    Issues Huxtable focuses on include transportation and infrastructure, investing in Delaware and the District 6 community, more balanced growth, housing, quality of life, health care, education, environmental stewardship, public safety, equality and voting, his website says.

    House District 4 (Long Neck)

    The incumbent Republican representative. Jeff Hilovsky defeated the Democratic challenger Greg Lindner in this election, 10,529 to 7,629 votes.

    House District 4 was created in 2022 as a result of a mandated redistricting process due to population growth. Hilovsky, an optometrist and retired Air Force reservist, was the first elected representative there.

    Issues important to him include improving education, finance, public safety, support for small businesses, veterans, manufactured housing, government accountability and improving health care, his website says.

    House District 14 (Rehoboth Beach)

    Democrat Claire Snyder-Hall will take over the seat held by retiring Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf for more than 20 years. She defeated Republican Mike Simpler, 9,627 to 7,989 votes, in the general election after defeating Kathy McGuiness and Marty Rendon in the primary.

    “I look forward to being at the table when laws are made for the state of Delaware,” she said when reached by phone Tuesday night, “So we can make the state even better and stronger.”

    Snyder-Hall is particularly interested in voting rights, such as early voting and voting by mail, she said. She also wants to “get rid of the Jim Crow language, especially the literacy test requirement” in the Delaware Code, she said.

    Snyder-Hall has a PhD in political science, her website says. She is the former director of Common Cause Delaware, has held Democratic Party leadership positions in Delaware and Florida and, before moving to Delaware in 2011, taught political science at George Mason University, according to her website.

    House District 20 (Milton)

    Incumbent Democrat Stell Parker Selby narrowly defeated Republican challenger Nikki Miller in Milton, 8,854 to 8,610 votes.

    Parker Selby turned House District 20 blue when he won in 2022, defeating Republican challenger Dallas Wingate after Republican Steve Smyk vacated the seat to run (unsuccessfully) for senator.

    Parker Selby holds a master’s degree in education, her website says. She was a teacher and administrator in the Cape Henlopen School District for over 30 years, then spent five years on the school board. Parker Selby’s “focus points,” as they are called on her website, include smart growth, environmental conservation, education, health care, safety and human rights.

    House District 36 (Milford)

    Republican in office Bryan Shupe defeated the Democratic challenger Rony Baltazar-Lopez in Milford, 7,460 to 4,351 votes.

    Shupe defeated fellow Republican Patrick Smith in the primary by just 12 votes. He is the 2018 District 36 Representative and before that was the Mayor of Milford. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and owns four businesses, his website says, including Delaware LIVE News, Milford LIVE News, Fur Baby Pet Resort and The Farmacy Market.

    According to his website, Shupe’s “Vision for the Future of Delaware” includes revitalizing the economy, restoring law and order, restoring health care, reforming education, promoting government transparency and accountability, embracing innovation and promoting responsible growth.

    House District 41 (Millsboro)

    Rep. Republican. Rich Collins will retain his seat in Millsboro after defeating his Democratic challenger Tom Brett.

    Collins is a graduate of the University of Delaware, his Delaware House Republicans bio says, previously worked in insurance and is now a “working farmer.” First elected in 2014, and in the General Assembly, Collins has “sponsored numerous bills to reduce the tax burden on Delawareans, curtail the regulatory authority of state agencies, and make public officials more accountable to the people they serve,” according to the Delaware House Republicans website.

    Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @MarvelMcNaught.

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