Irvine Vs Arbogast For Pocahontas Commissioner In The Fall General Election

Marlinton, WV – After the first three precincts were tabulated Tuesday night, Christine Campbell took an early lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for Pocahontas County Commissioner. She held onto a slim lead after six precincts had been tabulated. However, by the time 10 precincts had been counted, her opponent Dolan Irvine overtook her and went on to win the nomination Tuesday night by a vote of 953 to Campbell’s 774. Irvine will face Republican Lloyd Arbogast in the November general election. Arbogast won the nomination by defeating his opponent Norman Alderman by a vote of 594 to Alderman’s 223.

In the race for Pocahontas County Sheriff, David R. Jonese easily won the Republican nomination. In the Democratic race for Sheriff, as in the County Commission race one candidate took an early lead but ultimately lost the election to another by the end of the night. Former Pocahontas County Sheriff’s deputy Ben Wilfong was leading through the first 10 precincts to report. However, as the last precincts from the northern end of the county came in Durbin resident Kenneth “Buster” Varner took the lead to win the Democratic nomination.

In the race for Pocahontas County Prosecuting Attorney, Donna Meadows-Price took the lead early and held on to win the Democratic nomination. Price got 634 votes, while her fellow Democratic candidates Robert “Bob” Martin and Martin V. Saffer received 572 and 481 votes respectively. At the beginning of the evening, Price seemed resigned to whatever outcome came of the voting, good or bad, saying it was in the Lord’s hands. As the final results came, she appeared to be visibly relieved. There were no Republican candidates for Prosecuting Attorney.

The top three vote getters in the Board of Education race are Cheryl Beverage from the central district with 1,269 votes, Kenneth Vance from the northern district with 1,113 votes, and Hanna Sizemore from the southern district with 1,092 votes.

In other races, Democrat Tom Lane will face Republican Scott Triplett in the general election for the position of County Assessor.

In the Magistrate races, Janet Kershner-Vanover and Carrie Wilfong won the Democratic nominations. Cynthia Broce-Kelley and Joel Srodes won the Republican nominations for Magistrate.

Walt Helmick, former Pocahontas County Commissioner and long time state senator representing the county won the Democratic nomination for Commissioner of Agriculture with 63% of the vote in Pocahontas and 33% of the vote statewide. He will face Republican Kent Leonhardt in the general election.

Although Circuit Court Judge James J. Rowe won overwhelming Pocahontas County support for his bid for the Democratic nomination to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, at the state level he came in third behind Robin Jean Davis and Letitia “Tish” Chafin. John Yoder and Allen Loughry ran unopposed for the Republican nominations.

Joe Manchin easily carried Pocahontas County as well as the rest of the state to win the Democratic nomination for the West Virginia US Senate seat. In a repeat of the 2010 special election, he will once again face Republican opponent John Raese.

Similarly, Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin will once again face Republican opponent Bill Maloney in the West Virginia Governor’s race this November. In a special election held last October, Tomblin beat Maloney for the Governor’s office.

Rick Snuffer won the Republican nomination for the US House of Representatives, 3rd District. He will face Democratic candidate Nick Rahall in the fall.

In the race for the state senator 11th district, Margaret Kerr Beckwith won the Democratic nomination. Republican Clark Barnes ran unopposed. For the 43rd district House of Delegates, Denise Campbell and Bill Hartman won the Democratic nominations. Donna Auvil ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

You can find a full list of the vote totals for Pocahontas County at our website, amr.org. All results are unofficial. The votes will be canvassed on Monday, May 14th beginning at 9am at the courthouse in Marlinton.