By Elle Wood

MILFORD — By 11 votes, incumbent Bryan Shupe narrowly defeated Patrick Smith in the Republican primary for the 36th district.

“My goal is to go back out and go door knocking and listening to people and focus on the general election,” said Mr. Shupe, who has been in office since 2018. “It is coming up very quickly.”

His goal is to get back into a position to help those in need around his district.

“I am really focused on getting back in office again or helping in anyway that I can,” he said. “I am going to host a community coffee again in October and just keep on listening to what people want in the district.”

If re-elected as a state representative, he said he wants to solve some of the problems that residents have expressed to him.

“One of the biggest things I hear out there is inflation,” said Mr. Shupe. “It’s the prices of gas and going to the supermarket or any commodity you can think of. So doing anything that we can government wise, creating an environment where prices are able to be relieved on people.”

There have also been concerns about overdevelopment in Sussex County and growing the support of fire and EMS first responders, he added.

Mr. Shupe, a small business owner, will be up against the Democratic Party’s Rony Baltazar-Lopez in the General Election on Nov. 5. The district represents the Milford, Lincoln and Ellendale areas.

Staff writer Elle Wood can be reached at ewood@iniusa.org

Department of Elections