By Stephen Smoot
Pendleton County officials met all day Monday to complete the canvas of election results from last week’s primary. They confirmed the accuracy of the count made on Election Day and also included other ballots, such as absentee.
The result? No overall results changed, but it revealed some interesting numbers.
Although many around the state bemoaned the overall voter participation rate, which hovered around 30 percent, breaking down the numbers tells a different story. Registered Republicans in Pendleton County turned out in large numbers to choose among competitive races for United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, Governor, and the Board of Public Works.
Locally, Republican incumbent Roger Dahmer also faced a primary challenger, as did state senator Robert Karnes.
A little less than 55 percent of registered Republicans turned out to cast their ballots. Considering the circumstances, county Democrats also turned out in respectable numbers, their percentage coming in at a little over 30 percent.
Overall, almost 35 percent of registered voters in Pendleton County went to the polls.
One of the most competitive local races came for the Pendleton County Board of Education. Betty Kimble and Sonny O’Neil ran as incumbents, while Charles Burgoyne II had served in the role prior. The incumbents prevailed in the race, as did Wilma Pitsenbarger, whose total only bested Jamie DiFalco by 10 votes.
Kimble topped all vote getters, bringing in 1,053.
Another local nonpartisan race that attracted county attention was for Pendleton County Magistrate Division One with candidates Morgan Basagic, Jeremy Bodkin, and James Young. Basagic won in the race by almost 300 votes, gaining 905 in total.
Both circuit judge seats came open. H. Charles Carl III ran unopposed, but incumbent C. Carter Williams faced a challenger in John H. Treadway Jr. Treadway took the race with 840 votes to 612 for Williams. S. Ryan White took the state and county tally for Judge of the Intermediate Court of Appeals, Division One. This was a new office created in recent years by the West Virginia State Legislature to handle cases appealed from circuit court.
Statewide, Haley Bunn and former State Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump IV each ran unopposed for separate seats on the West Virginia State Supreme Court of Appeals.
In the local county commission primary, incumbent Roger Dahmer held off challenger Travis Moyers 580 to 415 while incumbent Bradley Kimble kept his role as Pendleton County Sheriff, winning 787 over Josh Nesselrodt’s 198.
April Mallow faced no opponents for prosecuting attorney.
Democratic Party results for West Virginia Legislature saw Mandy Smith Weirich nominated for State Senate, Cody Thompson nominated for the 67th District of the House of Delegates, and no one selected to run for the House 86th District.
Republican voters in legislative races gave Robbie Morris a victory over incumbent Robert Karnes, 478 to 401. Morris also took the nomination across the entire district. Sitting delegates Elias Coop-Gonzalez and Bryan C. Ward faced no competitors for the 67th and 86th districts, respectively.
For the Board of Public Works positions statewide, Pendleton County voters mainly selected those who won across the state. In the county, incumbent Kent Leonhardt earned more votes than his other two opponents, Roy Ramey and Joshua Higginbotham combined. J. B. McCluskey also prevailed over former United States Attorney Mike Stuart. For Secretary of State, Kris Warner bested Ken Reed, Brian Wood, and Doug Skaff for the job currently held by his brother, Mac Warner.
The only outlier on the Board of Public Works was Pendleton County’s support for former House Finance Chair Eric Householder, who lost the race statewide for auditor to Mark Hunt. Caleb Hanna and Tricia Jackson also ran for that office.
Larry Pack had no opposition for treasurer.
Thornton Cooper ran unopposed for Secretary of State on the Democratic side, as did Mary Ann Roebuck Clayton for auditor and Deborah Stiles for commissioner of agriculture.
Huntington mayor Steve Williams ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won in a landslide locally, but by more slender margins statewide, for governor on the Republican ticket. He had more than 200 votes than his nearest competitor, Moore Capito.
In a surprise result not duplicated statewide, former delegate and Jan. 6th defendant Derrick Evans won the county vote for U.S. House of Representatives. Carol Miller won statewide, but lost Pendleton County 441 to 392.
Congressman Alex Mooney also fell short in his attempt to defeat Governor Jim Justice for GOP nomination for US Senate. On the Democratic side, Zachary Shrewsbury garnered more local votes than Don Blankenship and Glenn Elliot for that office.
And for president, no surprises here either. Joe Biden won nomination in the county, state, and nation from the Democratic Party for president. Former president and current frontrunner in this election, Donald Trump, received 914 county votes. The next nearest competitor, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, got 70.
