May 9th, 2018 by WCBC Radio
There were local races in Tuesday’s West Virginia Primary Election, with District 56 incumbent Gary Howell holding off party challenges from Luke McKenzie and Charles Von Hagel. In November, he’ll be facing Democrat Tim Ryan, who defeated Will Skehan. In the 54th District, John Paul Hott II won the GOP Primary and has no competition in the fall, so he will replace the retiring Allen Evans. In Congress, First District Congressman David McKinley will be facing Democrat Kendra Fershee in November, although Favorite son Tom Payne carried Mineral County. Overall, Fershee defeated Ralph Baker by about 5,000 votes, with Payne finishing a distant third in the contest.
Jerry Whisner will keep his seat as a Mineral County Commissioner after yesterday’s primary election. According to numbers gathered by the News Tribune, Whisner held off challengers Troy Kesner and Dan Stemple, by about 500 and 900 votes respectively. With no Democratic opposition in November, Whisner gets another term. The Board of Education election is final in the primary, with the winners taking seats officially on July 1st. Incumbents Lara Courrier and Mary Jane Baniak led the field with over 1600 votes each. The third seat determined was tight, with Terry Puffinberger edging Butch Wahl by about 100 votes. Representation will have two each from Districts 1 and 2, and one from District 3.
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