The period for filing to run for public office ended Saturday, Jan. 25, at midnight, and the slate of candidates are set for the 2020 election.
Locally, nine fewer people filed for public office than the last presidential primary election in 2016, but the West Virginia Secretary of State reports that more than 1,000 candidates registered overall in West Virginia.
Only 14 individuals filed for county office in Hardy County. That number is much less than the 23 who ran in 2016, but slightly higher than the 12 who ran in the 2018 midterm election.
Any candidates who postmarked their filing before the Saturday deadline may not have not yet been recorded by the Secretary of State’s office as of press time. Below is the complete list as it stands on Monday morning.
Hardy County
For County Commissioner, Greg Greenwalt is alone on the Democrat ticket and will face the winner of the Republican primary between Tyler Bradfield or Steven Schetrom. Incumbent Democrat County Commissioner Harold Michael has not filed for a second term.
For Prosecuting Attorney, Democrat Lucas See is running unopposed for a fifth full term. He was first appointed to the position in 2001 and elected to fill the unexpired seat the following year.
For Sheriff, Republican Steven Dawson and Democrat Alicia Sanders are both running unopposed in the primary election and will face one another in November. They are seeking to replace current Sheriff Bryan Ward, who is limited to two terms.
For Assessor, Democrat Jim Wratchford is running unopposed for his sixth term. He first took office in 2001.
For Magistrate, both Craig Hose (Division 1) and Shawna Crites (Division 2) are running unopposed. Because of rules set forth in 2016, they will be reelected to their positions in the May 13 election.
For Surveyor, David Jopling has filed to fill the seat once again.
For Board of Education, three are vying for two positions. Current board members, Nancy Hahn and Jerry Yates are seeking reelection. They will face competition from Janet Clayton Rose.
George Leatherman has filed for a Conservation District Supervisor seat.
Also on the ballot are seats on the Wardensville Town Council. George Alderman and DeeDee Fridley have filed for town council, while Ryan Grimm has filed for recorder.
State Senate and House
Representing Hardy County at the state level is the District 14 State Senate and the District 55 for Delegate. Senate District 14 covers all of Barbour, Hardy, Preston, Taylor and Tucker Counties, as well as portions of Grant, Mineral and Monongalia.
In this race, incumbent Republican Randy Smith with face Democrat challenger David Childers of Wardensville.
House of Delegates District 55 covers Hardy County and portions of Pendleton County. Hardy County Sheriff Bryan Ward, Republican, is seeking election to this seat. He will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Bradley “B.J” Rinard of Wardensville and Jarod Shockey of Old Fields.
Incumbent Delegate Isaac Sponaugle chose not to run for reelection, opting instead to seek the office of West Virginia Attorney General.
State
Sponaugle will have to face a challenger for West Virginia Attorney General. To get to the general election, he will face Sam Brown Petsonk in the Democrat primary for a chance to face Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey in the general election.
Moorefield native William J.R. Keplinger has filed to[private] run for West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture on the Democrat ticket. He will face primary competition from Bob Beach and Dave Miller. On the Republican side, incumbent Kent Leonhardt will get a primary challenge from Roy Ramey.
Gov. Jim Justice is facing more competition from more Republicans than Democrats in the race for governor. In the Republican primary he will be challenged by Shelby Fitzhugh, Mike Folk, Brooke Lunsford, Charles Sheedy Sr., Doug Six and Woody Thrasher.
On the Democrat side, five candidates are vying to win the nomination. They are Douglas Hughes, Jody Murphy, Ben Salango, Stephen Smith and Ron Stollings.
U.S. Congress
Congressional District 2 consists of Berkeley, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Morgan, Pendleton, Putnam, Randolph, Roane, Upshur, and Wirt Counties. Representative Alex Mooney currently holds this seat and will face competition from Republican challenger Matthew Hahn of Berkeley Springs. The winner of the match will face Democrat challenger Cathy Kunkel in November.
For U.S. Senate, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will face a primary challenge from Larry Butcher and Allen Whitt. Vying the Democrat side are Richard Ojeda, Richie Robb and Paula Jean Swearengin.
A full list of candidates can be found on the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website. The full sample ballot for Hardy County will be found in the Examiner before the start of early primary voting, which runs from April 29 to May 9.The West Virginia Primary Election is on May 12, and the General Election is on Nov. 3.[/private]
Any voter who has not voted in the last two presidential elections has been removed from voter rolls and will have to register to vote again. In order to be eligible to vote in the primary, those wanting to vote must register by April 21.