Huxtable’s honeymoon is over

Over a year has passed since the start of Sen. Russ Huxtable’s term. I did not vote for him in the 2022 election due to the negative and personal attacks Russ used against his opponent in the campaign. I had gotten to know Sen. Ernie Lopez during his successful electoral run, and while Huxtable obviously had big shoes to fill, I was inclined these last 12 months to give him a chance; every newly elected official from the president on down gets a honeymoon period.   

What has become woefully apparent over the last year is how unprepared, inadequate and disturbingly partisan Huxtable has been on important issues that face the district. While local Democrats seethed angrily and hyperventilated for years about not getting their fair share even though they’ve controlled the governor’s office since 1993 and the state Senate since the 1970s, Huxtable’s tenure has seen a state funding decrease in important areas throughout the Cape Region. Significant streams of taxpayer dollars disappeared in funding lines ranging from services for seniors and retirees to dollars for capital improvements to state-owned property and facilities. Local nonprofits that for years had received support from the bipartisan representation of Steve Smyk, Pete Schwartzkopf and Lopez were left in the cold, with phone calls and emails to Huxtable going unanswered time and time again. To put it bluntly, Huxtable’s first year in office has been what in Latin is termed as “di minimis.” 

While Huxtable’s affluent political base and donors complain about the lack of pickleball courts and names of local roads and beaches, town budgets are suffering and working families are struggling. I was grateful to see a competent and capable candidate in Kim Hoey Stevenson announce her candidacy to challenge Huxtable, and I hope her message of bipartisanship and collaboration, along with responsive fiscal accountability, is one that voters take to heart when they go to the polls in 2024.