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Morgan County voters back GOP candidates at all levels on 2022 ballot

County hits 41% voter turnout

Morgan County voters cast 5,316 ballots in the 2022 General Election, hitting 41.5% voter turnout, including ballots cast during early voting, through absentee voting and in-person at the county’s 13 polls on Tuesday, November 8.

Election Day voting held a steady pace at precinct locations on a sunny, bright but cool Tuesday.

Morgan County Clerk Kim Nickles delivered preliminary vote totals from all precincts by 9:30 p.m. in the Morgan County Courthouse, with no significant delays or glitches from any of the county’s precincts.

Voters turned out heavily during 10 days of early voting, casting 1,313 — nearly 25% of all county ballots – at the courthouse prior to Election Day. Another 104 ballots were cast by absentee voting.

There were no surprises in how Morgan County voted in county, district or Congressional races. All county-level offices on the ballot were uncontested races run by Republican candidates.

Morgan County Commissioner Bill Clark won his first full term in office with 4,484 votes. Clark was appointed to his seat two years ago, and will now serve out a full 6-year term.

Morgan County Clerk Kim Nickles won re-election to her post with 4,618 votes.

Morgan County Circuit Clerk Melanie Shambaugh secured re-election to her second term in office with 4,632 votes.

State Senator Charles Trump (R-Morgan) easily won his home county’s votes in his re-election bid to keep his seat representing the 15th district, which includes Morgan, Berkeley and Hampshire counties. Trump won across the district with a margin of 80-20 over write-in candidate Robin Mills of the Upwising Party.

In Morgan County, Trump took in 4,111 votes while Mills brought  in 760 votes. Across the district, Trump collected 20,751 votes over Mills’ 5,006.

Local voters cast ballots across two House of Delegates districts.

Republican George Miller won his bid to represent the 90th delegate district – a newly-formed district that encompasses 10 of Morgan County’s 13 precincts and part of Berkeley County. Miller took in 3,682 votes locally and 5,004 across both counties.

Residents in the western part of Morgan County voted for a delegate to represent the 89th district, which includes Hampshire County as well. In Morgan County, voters went heavily for Republican Darren Thorne over Independent challenger Robert Wolford. Thorne rolled up 683 votes in the western precincts, while Wolford pulled in 221. Across the district, Thorne won with a margin of 75-25 over Wolford.

Morgan County voters again backed Republican Congressman Alex Mooney to represent the 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mooney pulled in 3,938 votes in Morgan County and Democrat Barry Lee Wendell earned 1,174 votes locally. Across the district, Mooney pulled in 65.6% of the vote.

Local voters lent their narrow support for three of four constitutional amendments on the ballot, but those measures all failed in statewide voting.

Morgan County voters backed Amendment #1 by a thin margin, casting 2,539 votes for it and 2,527 against the amendment to clear up the role of the West Virginia judiciary during impeachment proceedings.  Statewide voting was against the amendment, at a margin of 58 to 42.

 

County voters also backed Amendment #3, relating to the incorporation of churches. Morgan County favored that measure 2,543 votes to 2,490. Statewide, voters opposed it, with 54.5% voting no.

The majority of Morgan County voters backed Amendment #4, again by a narrow margin. The amendment, which would allow the legislature to approve or disapprove policy by the Department of Education, got 2,736 votes of support here. Another 2,414 local voters were against the move. Across West Virginia, voters opposed the amendment 58-42.

Morgan County voted against Amendment #2, relating to property and business taxes. Locally, 2,704 votes were cast against the amendment, and 2,461 for it. Statewide, 65% of voters opposed the measure. Republican Governor Jim Justice spent the last month before the election campaigning heavily against the amendment.

All vote totals are preliminary until they are certified by canvass.

The Morgan County Commission met as the Board of Canvass on Monday, November 14  and Tuesday, November 15 to review and finalize vote totals.

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