From the Well | May 11, 2022

May 11, 2022

Primary Election

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At the center of the West Virginia state Capitol is an area known as The Well.

It is the informal gathering place for lobbyists, reporters, constituents and lawmakers.

Centrally situated between the chambers of the House of Delegates and Senate,

The Well is where information is often shared, alliances are formed, and deals are made.

With the redistricting of political subdivisions across the state following the 2020 Census, West Virginia now has two seats rather than three in the U.S. House of Representatives. That change resulted in a faceoff between two Republican incumbents.

In addition, state leaders threw out the old 67-district House of Delegates maps and created 100 single-member districts. Incumbents faced incumbents. Newcomers stepped up to run for office. Change is inevitable in the Legislature, although Republicans will retain their leadership position during the upcoming sessions.

Click here for WVMetroNews’ election voting results.

Redistricting reshaped the political landscape across West Virginia, leaving incumbent Republican congressmen Alex Mooney and David McKinley in a faceoff primary election on Tuesday. Congressman Mooney prevailed in the Second District race, and it wasn’t close.

Mooney, a Charles Town resident who is seeking his fifth term in Congress, captured 52% of the vote in the five-candidate field. McKinley won 36% of the votes. Mooney’s base in the growing Eastern Panhandle appeared to be an advantage. He also had the endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

In the general election in November, Mooney will face Democrat Barry Lee Wendell, who won 57% of the votes in his primary race against Angela J. Dwyer.

Click here to read more from WVMetroNews.

Seeking her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Carol Miller easily prevailed Tuesday in the First Congressional District primary, winning nearly two-thirds of the votes in the five-candidate Republican field.

She will be the favorite in November, when she will face Democrat Lacy Watson in the general election. Watson was unopposed in the primary.

Click here to read more from WVMetroNews.

The state Senate will change as the result of Tuesday’s primary elections.

Half of the seats were on the ballot in West Virginia’s 34-member state Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 23-11 supermajority.

District boundaries changed through the redistricting process as the result of population shifts in the state, and a couple of matchups pitted incumbent senators against challenging delegates.

One of those was Senator Mike Azinger, a Wood County Republican who won by 390 votes over his challenger, Delegate John Kelly, also of Wood County. Azinger will face Democrat Jody Murphy next fall.

Incumbent Republican Senator Rollan Roberts of Raleigh County defeated Mick Bates, a delegate from Raleigh County who switched from Democrat to Republican. The Democrats have no candidate in the race.

Click here to read more from WVMetroNews.

Hancock County native Randy Swartzmiller, a former member of the House of Delegates, swamped incumbent Senator Owen Brown in the First District (Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio) Democrat primary. In the general election, he will face Republican Laura Wakim Chapman, who handily defeated Judi Varner Meyer.

Seventh

In the Seventh Senate District (Boone, Logan, Lincoln, Kanawha), Mike Stuart, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and former state Republican Party chairman, won a tight primary against Chad McCormick. Stuart is scheduled to face longtime Senator Ron Stollings in the general election.

Eighth

Mark Hunt, a Kanawha County attorney and a former Democrat member of the House of Delegates, will be the GOP candidate in November to represent the Eighth Senate District (Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Putnam, Roane). Hunt prevailed in a primary that saw the courts rule candidate Andrea Garrett Kiessling of Roane County did not meet residency requirements. The court ruling came after early voting started. The four-candidate Republican field also included Josh Higginbotham, a former House member who objected to Kiesseling’s candidacy. Hunt is scheduled to face incumbent Senator Richard Lindsay, who ran unopposed in the Democrat primary.

10th

Republican Vince Deeds won the nomination in the 10th Senatorial District (Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, Summers). He won 49% of the vote in the three-candidate field. He is scheduled to face Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin in the November general election.

13th

In the 13th Senatorial District (Marion, Monongalia), Republican Mike Oliverio easily won the nomination and will face Democrat Barbara Evans Fleischauer, a longtime member of the House of Delegates. Fleischauer easily won her party’s nomination. Oliverio formerly served in the state Senate as a Democrat. Senator Robert D. Beach chose not to run for the Senate.

14th

In the 14th Senatorial District (Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Preston, Taylor, Tucker), Republican Jay Taylor won a plurality (36%) in the five-candidate field. He will face Amanda Jo Pitzer, who was unopposed in the Democrat primary. Longtime Republican Senator Dave Sypolt retired from the seat.

After shifting from 67 House of Delegates districts to 100 single-member districts, several incumbent delegates lost primary election races on Tuesday. While changes occurred, the House will remain in the hands of Republicans.

Right now, Republicans have a 78-22 supermajority in the House of Delegates. More than half of the incumbents had no opposition in the Primary Election.

Losing were Republican delegates Roger Conley and Shannon Kimes of Wood County, Johnnie Wamsley of Mason County, Josh Booth in Wayne County, Dianna Graves of Kanawha County, Danny Hamrick of Harrison County, Guy Ward of Marion County, and Ruth Rowan of Hampshire County.

Delegate Conley lost to Bob Fehrenbacher, who had been in a controversy over his party affiliation.

Some races matched incumbents against incumbents, which means a sitting officeholder was bound to lose.

One of those was Republican George Miller, who defeated fellow incumbent Ken Reed in a district that includes parts of Berkeley and Morgan counties.

Democratic incumbent Chad Lovejoy lost to fellow incumbent Ric Griffith in a head-to-head matchup that came about because of redistricting.

As it turned out, 84 of the 85 incumbents who filed for re-election did so in districts with different boundaries than those they represented before 2022.

Click here to read more from WVMetroNews.

Unopposed in the Fourth House District (Ohio), incumbent Republican Erikka Storch could face a test in the general election in November, when she will face Democrat Teresa Toriseva, a well-known Wheeling attorney who was unopposed in the primary.

11th

In the 11th House District (Wood), Republican Bob Fehrenbacher defeated incumbent Roger Conley 1,145-1,138. Fehrenbacher faced eligibility questions from his own party. He is scheduled to face attorney Harry Deitzler in the general.

14th

Republican Dave Foggin nudged incumbent D. Shannon Kimes in the primary in the 14h House District (Wirt, Wood), setting up a faceoff in November against Democrat Jim Marion, who was unopposed in the primary.

18th

In the 18th House District (Mason, Putnam), incumbent Johnnie Wamsley lost to challenger Jim Butler. No Democrat filed to run for the office.

27th

Democrat Chad Lovejoy lost his re-election bid to fellow incumbent Ric Griffith in the new 27th House District (Cabell, Wayne). Griffith is slated to face Republican Jeff Maynard in the general election.

28th

In the 28th House District (Wayne), incumbent Republican Josh Booth lost by one vote to challenger Mark A. Ross. No Democrat filed to run for the office.

53rd

Two incumbents will square off in the general election for the 53rd House District (Kanawha) seat. Democrat Jim Baruch and Republican Chris Pritt were unopposed in the primary.

54th

Incumbents also will face one another in the 54th House District (Kanawha). Republican Larry Pack and Democrat Kayla Young will vie for the 54th District seat in the realigned House of Delegates.

59th

Incumbent Republican Dianna Graves lost her bid for a third term, falling to Andy Shamblin 709-604 in the race for the 59th House District (Kanawha) seat. Shamblin is scheduled to face Democrat Rusty Williams in the general.

69th

In the 69th House District (Harrison, Lewis), incumbent Republican Danny Hamrick fell to Keith Marple. Democrat Ron Watson is scheduled to oppose Marple in November.

74th

In the general election, Democrat Mike Manypenny, a former three-term member of the House of Delegates, will face House Majority Leader Amy Summers in the 74th House District (Marion, Taylor). Both were unopposed in the primary.

89th

In the 89th House District (Hampshire, Morgan), longtime Republican incumbent Ruth Rowan fell 971-927 to challenger Darren J. Thorne. Democrats did not have a candidate.

90th

Incumbent Republicans George Miller and Ken Reed faced off in the 90th House District (Berkeley, Morgan), and Miller came away with the victory 1,307-952. Democrats did not have a candidate.

Although the governor’s race wasn’t on the ballot during the 2022 primary election, it is on the minds of those who may be interested in the job.

Governor Jim Justice has a little more than two years left on his second and final term, and it’s not clear who will emerge as his successor.

WVMetroNews takes a look at the 2024 gubernatorial election. Click here for details.

West Virginia State Senator Ryan Weld of Ohio County is among those taking part in the Aspen Institute Germany’s Transatlantic Laboratories of Democracy Initiative, giving the Mountain State a seat during discussions with German and American policy leaders.

In addition to virtual meetings, this year’s group is scheduled to meet May 10-14 in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Sept. 13-17 in Trenton, N.J.

The Institute said participants will discuss innovative policy solutions and opportunities for transatlantic cooperation, visit best practices in the region, and meet with local representatives from politics, business, science, and academia.

Senator Weld and seven other state legislators from across the U.S. will travel to Germany and exchange ideas with seven members of the country’s state parliament. The focus will be on climate and energy policies.

“Obviously West Virginia is one of the leading states in the nation of energy production, so I just thought that it was important for West Virginia to have its perspective, its roll as a part of this conversation,” Senator Weld said.

Click here to read more from WTRF-TV, Wheeling.

Interim Meetings Schedule

·    May 22-24 (Morgantown/West Virginia University)

·    June 12-14

·    July 24-26

·    Sept. 11-13

·    Nov. 13-15 (Cacapon State Park/Berkeley Springs)

·    Dec. 5-6

·    Jan. 8-10, 2023

Hartman Harman Cosco, Public Policy Strategists, LLC, (H2C) is a strategically assembled bipartisan lobbying firm comprised of legal, communications and policy professionals. H2C possesses the insight and intuition that only comes from decades of hands on experience leading community and statewide initiatives.