Close, Ambrose, Kidwell elected to board
David Ambrose and Eric Kidwell were reelected to the Morgan County School Board, and Aaron T. Close won the third board seat in yesterday’s elections.
Todd Farris emerged the winner of the three-way race for the Democratic nomination for the Morgan County Commission seat up this year.
About 18% of Morgan County voters cast ballots in the off-year School Board and Primary Election on a chilly, rainy Tuesday, May 11.
School board
Aaron Close was the top vote getter in the school board race, where seven candidates were vying for three seats.
Close, a newcomer to the board, received 1,320 votes, based on the unofficial totals.
Winning reelection to the board were David Ambrose, with 1,163 votes, and Eric Kidwell with 716.
The other candidates and their vote totals were: Sheila Vinson, 350; Jennifer M. Wolfe, 312, John Westerfeld, 254, and Tim Seims, 241.
County commissioner
Todd Farris won the only local Primary Election contest – the Democratic Party nomination for county commissioner from Magisterial District #3.
Farris received 321 votes, or 43% of the total, while Tony Lynch got 235 votes (31%) and Tutor 196 (26%).
Bradley J. Close rolled up 985 votes in his unopposed run for the Republican nomination for county commissioner.
Close and Farris will face off in the General Election on Tuesday, November 2.
Clerks
Republicans and Democrats endorsed their unopposed candidates for Morgan County Circuit Clerk.
Kimberly J. Jackson received 977 votes in the Republican Primary.
Donna Lechliter received 504 votes in the Democratic Primary.
The two will now face off in the General Election.
Debra Kesecker garnered 1,023 votes in getting the Republican nomination in her unopposed run for reelection as Morgan County Clerk. She received the most votes of any Republican.
West Virginia Legislature
Longtime state senator Walt Helmick won the Democratic nod to continue representing the 15th Senatorial District.
Helmick got 415 votes or 67% of the Morgan County total, while his opponent Tom Ditty picked up 208 votes, or 33%.
Helmick was also winning district-wide at presstime on Tuesday night.
Helmick will apparently face Republican Greg Brown in November.
Among Morgan County Republicans, Brown defeated his opponent W. Page Noe by 482 (61%) to 305 (39%).
Other legislative candidates were unopposed in the Primary Election.
Daryl E. Cowles, the incumbent in the 51st Delegate District, received 782 votes in the Republican Primary here, and 161 in the Hampshire County part of the district.
Alton W. Wolfe, Jr. will be Cowles’ opponent in November. Wolfe got 420 votes in yesterday’s Democratic Primary here, and 171 votes in Hampshire County.
Robin Mills will be the Mountain Party candidate for House of Delegates in the 51st district.
Mike Roberts won the Democratic nod for House of Delegates from the 52nd Delegate District, getting 158 votes from the portion of Morgan County in that district.
Larry D. Kump won the Republican nomination for the seat, picking up 208 votes here.
Other candidates
Shelley Moore Capito gathered 1,021 votes from Morgan County Republicans in her unopposed run for the party’s nomination for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Her Democratic opponent in the General Election will be Virginia Lynch Graf, who got 543 votes here in her unopposed run for the nomination.
The only statewide race on the November ballot is for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court. Both candidates were unopposed in seeking their party nominations.
Thomas E. McHugh, who now holds the seat, picked up 479 votes in the local Democratic Primary.
John Yoder, his opponent in November, got 875 votes in the local Republican Primary.
Vote to be certified
The Morgan County Commissioners will meet to canvass and certify the vote from the elections on Friday, May 14 at 9:30 a.m.
