Primary election held Tuesday, May 8

Local voters will decide the fate of political party candidates during West Virginia’s Primary Election Tuesday, May 8.

Early voting in the primary is already underway and will end on Saturday, May 5.

As of Monday, 188 voters in Morgan County had already cast a ballot in the primary.
Registered voters in each party will choose which of their candidates will represent their party in the General election in November.

Voters will pick candidates for every level of national office, from President and U.S. Senate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

At the state level, candidates are vying for their party’s nomination for Governor of West Virginia, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Agricultural Commissioners, Attorney General and State Supreme Court of Appeals.

Regional, local seats
Seats in the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates are also on the ballot, with candidates unopposed in the primary.

Republican Craig Blair is seeking his seat in the State Senate. Republican Daryl Cowles is seeking re-election to the House of Delegates in the new 58th district. In the new 59th district, Republican Larry Kump is also unopposed in his re-election bid.

The unexpired seat of family court judge is also on the ballot, with Republican Glen Stotler unopposed in the primary.

Locally, the only contested primary race is for the Republican nomination for Morgan County Sheriff.

Current Sheriff Vince Shambaugh is facing Town of Bath police officer Tim “T.J.” Johnson for their party’s nomination. The winner of the Sheriff’s primary race will go up against Democrat Larry Bradley in November.

Unopposed in the Republican primary are Bob Ford, seeking the post of County Commissioner; Greg Miller and Kermit Ambrose for two Magistrate seats; Ronnie McIntire for Assessor and Debra McLaughlin for Prosecuting Attorney.

Unopposed in the Democratic primary are Brenda Hutchinson for County Commissioner; Debbie Ditto for Magistrate; John Allen Swaim for Assessor and Larry Bradley for Sheriff.

School board
During the primary, Morgan County voters will also choose two new members for the Morgan County Board of Education.

Vying for the two seats are five candidates. Because of the school board’s current makeup, voters must cast a vote with the candidate’s Magisterial district in mind.

Candidates from District #1 are James Price and John Rowland. Candidates from District #2 include Glen Pugh, Susan Shick and Pat Springer. Voters can select no
more than one board member from District #1, though they could
choose both board members from District #2.