4 newcomers, 1 incumbent to represent Wood County in House of Delegates
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PARKERSBURG - Two incumbent state senators reelected Tuesday will be joined in the West Virginia Legislature by one incumbent and four newcomers - including a Democrat - in Wood County House of Delegates districts, according to final, unofficial results.
Democrat Dennis Rempel won the race for the House of Delegates 12th District seat with 1,781 votes to 1,630 for Republican nominee Charles Hartzog. Del. Vernon Cross, running as a write-in after losing to Hartzog in the primary, garnered 261 votes, while on-the-ballot Libertarian Stephen Thomas Smith tallied 215.
"I am very excited," Rempel said Tuesday evening. "I think everyone ran a good race."
Rempel said he is looking forward to helping veterans and the elderly. He also wants to work on legislation that lets those people live on the income they are receiving to be able to afford the medications they need as well as energy costs.
"I am very excited about being able to support everyone in District 12 and in West Virginia," Rempel said. "I'm pretty stoked about everything."
Criss said Wood County "turned over a new leaf" with a group of first-time delegates outside of District 14's Del. Dave Foggin.
"They will have, at best, a difficult time, needing to learn the ropes and develop the relationships with the other 96 people they're going to be in the room with for ... 60 days and dealing with the governor and his antics," Criss said.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey and affiliated independent expenditure groups opposed Criss in the primary.
Criss said he did not regret running as a write-in and receiving votes that, had they gone to Hartzog, could have kept the seat in Republican hands.
"The nominee from the Republican Party was quote-unquote a stooge for Morrisey," he said, claiming Hartzog had said he wouldn't make a vote without consulting the governor.
Hartzog on Wednesday said Criss "lied" and that he only ever intended to consult with other people if he was undecided on a difficult issue.
"I wasn't there to just greenlight his (Morrisey's) agenda," Hartzog said.
He added that he considered Criss' write-in effort a bump in the road that did not cause his loss Tuesday.
"I would have easily won this had there not been some cry for a blue wave," Hartzog said.
He added that he considered it a victory to have defeated the "well-entrenched, well-known" House Finance Committee chairman in the primary.
In other House races, Republican Justin Beanard won his race for the 10th District seat. The unofficial tally has 2,972 votes for Beanard and 1,958 for Democrat Christopher Jones.
"I can't really put it into words," Beanard said. "It is an amazing feeling to let the voters do the talking.
"They spoke up in the primary and now in the general. They want something different."
Beanard, who defeated incumbent Del. Bill Anderson in the GOP primary, touted his conservative values. He said he wants to end qualified immunity for government officials and end property tax for senior citizens.
"Those are my two big pushes," he said.
Republican Jeff Sandy won the race for the House's 11th District with 2,668 votes to 2,235 for Democrat Daniel Miller.
"I really look forward to working with many of the people I worked with when I was a cabinet secretary," said Sandy who served as secretary for the Department of Homeland Security under former Gov. Jim Justice, "and I am really looking forward to doing some things for the people of Wood County, especially property tax relief for senior citizens."
The former Wood County sheriff said he feels blessed by all of the people who came out and supported him in the community. Sandy also spoke Tuesday evening with Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw and others and said he is looking forward to working with House leadership.
"We will see what happens," he said. "We want to have a very productive legislative session."
Republican Melissa McCrady won the 13th District seat, receiving 2,488 votes to 1,296 for Democrat Marley Umensetter and 375 for independent candidate James Hendershot Jr.
"I worked really hard to get the win," said McCrady, who defeated Del. Scot Heckert in the GOP primary. "It's much appreciated that the people of Wood County have faith in me."
Foggin was the only incumbent to be reelected in a House district covering a portion of Wood County and the only one whose name was on the ballot. Foggin, a Republican, defeated Democrat Crystal Butcher by a margin of 3,060 to 1,274.
"I'm proud that the people in the (14th) District want me to represent them, and I hope I can meet their expectations," said Foggin, set to begin his third term in the Legislature. "I'm ready to ... get back to work for the people of the 14th District and the state of West Virginia."
Incumbents were victorious in both state Senate seats for the 3rd District, encompassing Wood, Wirt, Pleasants and Ritchie counties.
In the race for a full term, Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, received 17,256 votes between Wood, Wirt, Pleasants and Ritchie counties, more than 61%, to 10,798, or nearly 38.5%, for Democrat Caci Petrehn, according to the Secretary of State's office.
"It's always good to get the election over with. I'm glad we had a good night," Azinger said, adding he will work to produce "more freedom bills, pro-business, pro-life and pro-God."
The other seat was on the ballot as a result of the retirement of Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, in January. Fellow Pleasants County Republican Trenton Barnhart was appointed to that seat after spending seven years in the House of Delegates. On Tuesday, he won the race to complete the remaining two years of the term, with 18,239 votes (74%), according to the Secretary of State's office. Constitution Party candidate Ronnie Green received 6,436 (26%).
"We were just really honored by the results last night," Barnhart said Wednesday. "We worked really hard to take our message to all the communities in the district."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.