SUSSEX COUNTY, Del.- Steve Smyk spent most of Wednesday picking up signs and storing them in his garage.
This comes after he came up short in the District 6 Senate Race with Democrat Russ Huxtable earning the victory.
"It's a narrow margin," Smyk said. "Only a thousand votes is what I lost by. I know in my heart I know what I've done and touched a lot of people. But apparently not enough."
Huxtable speaking highly of Smyk and ready to be a bipartisan senator.
"There's issues like environment, healthcare, education, and affordable housing," Huxtable said. "Those aren't Republican or Democratic things. These are issues of how the community can grow together."
When breaking down the voting into the representative districts, you can see that Smyk's chances were hurt tremendously by how the voters voted in Districts 14 and 20.
In District 14 in 2018, Republican Ernie Lopez won by fewer than 100 votes. Huxtable was able to win this year by over 1,800 votes.
In District 20 in 2018, Lopez won by over 1,300 votes. Smyk was only able to win by over 200 votes this year.
Even though this district's population has grown a lot in the last four years, about 2,000 fewer voters came out to the polls for this election.
Smyk says he is not quite sure what he is going to do next but will for sure spend more time with his family.
"I need to be the father that they found, that they loved," Smyk said. "I need to be the husband again. I need to be the son, the uncle that I've been prevented from being. I also need a job."
It's a mini blue wave in Eastern Sussex County and the new legislators are ready to get to work.
"I love this community," Huxtable said. "I love what we have here. And really just want to be a good steward of the community."
Russ Huxtable and Stell Parker Selby will begin their new positions when the 2023 legislative session convenes for the first time on Tuesday, January 10th.