PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS: Incumbent legislators dominate while incumbent judges are swept

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By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

RONCEVERTE, WV – After a particularly contentious primary fueled by big money spent on negative advertising, the people have spoken at the polls.

Incumbent Republicans largely performed very well, especially in the state Senate. Only one incumbent, Sen. Kevan Bartlett, was defeated. The gridlock which was has marked the last two years will continue with the factions remaining largely unchanged.

Several incumbent delegates were defeated including targets of Gov. Morrisey–Vernon Criss and Scot Heckert–along with others such as Mark Zatezalo, Stanley Adkins, and Marshall Clay.

All three nonpartisan, incumbent judges on a state level were swept out of office in the primary, with Kirk Kirkpatrick winning a seat on the Supreme Court over Justice Gerald Titus, Bill Flanigan winning another seat on the Supreme Court over Justice Tom Ewing, and Jim Douglas winning a seat on the Intermediate Court of Appeals over Judge Dan Greear.

Here’s a full rundown of races from the primary:

Federal races

US Senate, Republican Primary: Incumbent Shelly Moore Capito defeated Tom Willis
US Senate, Democratic Primary: Rachel Fetty Anderson defeated Jeff Kessler
US House, District 1, Republican: Carol Miller defeated Larry Jackson
US House, District 1, Democratic: Vince George defeated Brit Aguirre
US House, District 2, Republican: Riley Moore was unopposed
US House, District 2, Democratic: Ace Parsi leads Stephanie Tomana

WV Senate

District 1, Republican: Incumbent Laura Chapman defeated Joe Eddy
District 1, Democratic: Shawn Fluharty was unopposed
District 3, Republican: Incumbent Mike Azinger defeated Bob Fehrenbacher
District 3, Democratic: Caci Petrehn was unopposed
District 4, Republican: Incumbent Eric Tarr narrowly won a three-way race against Travis Willard and Philip Surface
District 4, Democratic: Zachary Abbott was unopposed
District 6, Republican: Incumbent Mark Maynard defeated three opponents
District 6, Democratic: Wyatt Lilly defeated Joshua Hamby
District 8, Republican: Lance Wheeler defeated incumbent Kevan Bartlett
District 8, Democratic: Kim Hundley was unopposed
District 9: Republican: Incumbent Rollan Roberts defeated Michael Antolini
District 9, Democratic: Christy Cardwell was unopposed
District 10, Republican: Incumbent Vince Deeds defeated Jonathan Comer
District 10, Democratic: Kent GIlkerson was unopposed
District 11, Republican: Incumbent Bill Hamilton defeated Jack Reger and Robert Karnes
District 11, Democratic: Kevin Carpenter was unopposed
District 12, Republican: Incumbent Ben Queen defeated Joe Earley
District 12, Democratic: Lynette Murray was unopposed
District 14, Republican: Incumbent Jay Taylor defeats Marc Harman
District 14, Democratic: Jason Armentrout was unopposed
District 17, Republican: Tom Takubo leads Chris Pritt
District 17, Democratic: Wes Holden was unopposed
District 17, Republican: Anne Charnock leads Michael Jarrouj
District 17, Democratic: Richie Robb leads Ted Boettener by 62 votes

Incumbent losses: Kevan Bartlett

WV House

District 2, Republican: Tony Viola defeats incumbent Mark Zatezalo
District 2, Democratic: Daniel Day was unopposed
District 12, Republican: Charles Hartzog defeated incumbent Vernon Criss
District 12, Democratic: Dennis Rempel was unopposed
District 13: Republican: Melissa McCrady defeated incumbent Scot Heckert
District 13: Democratic: Marley Umensetter was unopposed
District 22: Republican: Incumbent Daniel Linville trails Aaron Holley by 2 votes
District 30, Republican: none
District 30, Democratic: Ryan Elkins was unopposed
District 46, Republican: Incumbent Jeff Campbell defeated Mark Robinson
District 46, Democratic: Sarah Umberger was unopposed
District 47, Republican: Ray Canterbury defeated Mary Catherine Tuckwiller
District 47, Democratic: Sarah Morrisy defeated Mark Phipps
District 48, Republican: Mackenzie Houldren defeated incumbent Greg Watt
District 48: Democratic: Jourdan Deitz was unopposed
District 49, Republican: Newt McCutcheon defeated incumbent Stanley Adkins
District 49, Democratic: Byron Tucker was unopposed
District 51: Republican: Cy Persinger defeated incumbent Marshall Clay
District 51: Democratic: Colby Lopez was unopposed
District 69, Republican: Danny Hamrick leads incumbent Keith Marple by 42 votes
District 69, Democratic: Jocelyn Blackwell leads Lou Assaro
District 71, Republican: Tim McNeely leads incumbent Laura Kimble by 2 votes
District 71, Democratic: Rob Garcia was unopposed

Incumbent losses: Mark Zatezalo, Jeff Stephens, Bill Bell, Betsy Kelly, Bill Anderson (by 5 votes), Vernon Criss, Scot Heckert, Dan Linville, Jordan Bridges, Greg Watt, Stanley Adkins, Marshall Clay.

WV Courts

Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Division 1: Kirk Kirkpatrick defeated incumbent Gerald Titus, who was appointed by Gov. Morrisey
Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Division 2: Bill Flanigan defeated incumbent Tom Ewing, who was appointed by Gov. Morrisey
Intermediate Court of Appeals: Jim Douglas defeated incumbent Dan Greear

Greenbrier County

County Commissioner, Republican: Matt Ford defeated Bill Bell
Board of Education: Jeanie Wyatt, Paula Dunford, & Andrew Utterback all re-elected

Fayette County Circuit Judge

Judge Sam Fox was elected to serve the remainder of the term to which he was appointed by Gov. Morrisey, defeating Larry Harrah and Wes Toney

All vote counts are unofficial until certified by their counties. Stay tuned to RealWV for further updates as more results are released.