Many contested races for public office were decided on Tuesday in the Primary Election and many more move on to the November General Election. Moreover, voters cast their ballots for the First Responders Levy, which received more than the needed sixty percent to pass.
Robert Fields | WVOW News
Logan Several contentious races were decided Tuesday in Logan County’s Primary Election.
In the race for Logan County Prosecuting Attorney, Attorney Joe Spradling challenged incumbent David Wandling for the Republican nomination. Previously, in the 2020 Primary, Wandling ran for County Prosecutor under the Democrat ballot and Spradling ran as a registered independent. Tuesday’s election saw Wandling come out ahead by just over 400 votes, with a vote total of 1,754 to Spradling’s 1,352 votes. Wandling came to the Logan County Courthouse Tuesday night to give thanks for the support he’s received from his wife, his staff, and the voters of Logan County. Wandling, speaking with WVOW’s Aaron Stone, cited his track record in office, saying that he’s honored to continue his mission as County Prosecutor.
“We’re going to continue to prioritize the things that I believe should be prioritized,” he told WVOW News.
“If you attack our children, if you harm our children, if you sexually assault our children, we’re going to prioritize your case, we’re going to push it through, and we’re going to continue to get good results like the life sentences that we have already obtained on multiple occasions. We’re going to continue to work with law enforcement to target repeat offenders, and if you come here from out of state to sell drugs, we know who you are and we know where you’re going to go, and that’s prison. So, we’re going to continue to prioritize those things – there are a lot of other things that we want to work on – but those are the things that are most important to me and I believe are most important to the voters.”
In a particularly heated race for Logan County Assessor, one which has involved an ethical complaint filed against incumbent Glen “Houn’ Dog” Adkins, Triadelphia resident Chris Trent challenged Adkins for the seat. The votes favored Adkins, however, who led by nearly 800 votes with 2,014 to Trent’s 1,219 votes following the preliminary count.
Circuit Court Judges in the Eleventh Circuit are voted on by residents in both Logan and Mingo Counties. Running in Division 1 were Sabrina Deskins, Miki Thompson, and Robert Carlton. Deskins was the runner up in Mingo County, but won Logan by a substantial margin, beating out her opponents with a preliminary total of 4,656 votes between the two counties. Thompson won Mingo by 201 votes, but ended up following shortly behind Deskins in Tuesday’s final tally with 4,021 votes. Carlton trailed in both Logan and Mingo with a combined total of 845 votes.
Previously appointed to the role by Governor Jim Justice, Kelly Gilmore Codispoti ran a solo race in Division 2 for Circuit Court Judge, receiving 4,077 votes in the preliminary count.
In Division 3, Chief Circuit Judge Joshua Butcher maintains his position for another eight-year term. He was challenged in this election by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Shana O’Briant Thompson. Butcher and Thompson each took a grassroots approach to their campaigns, with both candidates going door to door leading up to the election. Between Logan and Mingo, however, Butcher came out ahead in both, winning 5,745 votes between the two counties. Thompson trailed, with the preliminary count showing 3,690 votes for her between Logan and Mingo Counties.
Election results out of Mingo County were provided Tuesday to WVOW courtesy of Josh Brown from Williamson Daily News.
In the Ninth Circuit, Justice appointee Robert McCormick Ilderton ran unopposed, winning the seat of Family Court Judge in Division 1 with 3,974 votes. For Family Court Judge in Division 2, Chris Workman also ran unopposed, winning the eight-year term with 3,822 votes.
Two Logan County Magistrate seats were contested this primary. In Division One, David Adkins received 3,307 votes while opponent Charlie Walls followed with 1,684 votes. Meanwhile in Division 2, Dwight A. Williamson won over Greg Vance, receiving 3,392 votes to Vance’s 1,768 votes. There were two magistrate seats this primary, however, that saw no opposition. Joe Mendez won Division 3 with 4,246 votes and no one running against him. In the new Division 4, Harold Ray Porter Jr. ran unopposed, ending the 2024 Primary Election with 3,916 votes.
The nonpartisan race for the Logan County Board of Education saw the most candidates out of any other local race. Two seats were up for grabs with six candidates vying for them. As of Tuesday, those seats go to Ralph Rodighiero, who received the most votes at 2,362, and Mark Keyser II, who wins the second open seat with 2,116 votes. Following behind was Harold McMillen with 1,251 votes, trailed closely by Barry Mullins, who received 1,223 votes. Stephen Stapleton followed with 1,071 and 765 votes went to Jason Spurlock.
Mark Keyser spoke with WVOW News at the Logan County Courthouse as the preliminary count was being tallied. He took a moment to thank the voters and those who supported him during his campaign, but said that he’s ready to get to work. October will mark two years since the state Board of Education voted to take over Logan County Schools after an investigation found widespread issues throughout the school system. Keyser said Tuesday that his goal is to see control given back to Logan County.
“I think on day one, we need to start healing the relationship between the state and our local board. We gotta regain the trust of the state,” Keyser said. “After we’re installed, I’d like to get a good briefing on where we stand on everything that was identified in the report, that way we can get a game plan as to how to proceed forward in correcting it and patching that relationship.”
Running unopposed for Logan County Sheriff was Paul “P.D.” Clemens, who will serve another term in the role after receiving 2,681 votes. In the race to fill the seat of County Commissioner Danny Godby following his decision to not seek re-election, Eric Porter ran unopposed on the Republican ballot, winning with 2,412 votes. Meanwhile, Bobby Boehm won the Democratic nomination for County Commissioner, receiving 1,011 votes after also running unopposed in his party. Porter and Boehm will vie against one another for the commission seat in the upcoming general election this fall.
A major point of concern for county officials this election has been the First Responders Levy, known commonly as the Fire and Ambulance Levy. Roger Bryant is executive director for the Logan Emergency Ambulance Service Authority. He spoke with WVOW News Tuesday about why concerns were so high surrounding a levy that has received overwhelming support for nearly forty years.
“On like, the school board levies that only take fifty percent plus one, we have to have sixty percent,” he said. “This one, according to the preliminary numbers I think was 85.6% passage rate, which is a little bit less than what we’ve run – we run in the nineties a lot. The people of Logan County have just been so good to us over the years, well, since 1986.”
In past years, the First Responders Levy has appeared on its own ballot in a special election. The levy being placed on the primary ballot raised concerns surround public awareness, as any ballot with the levy left blank counts as a “no” vote, meaning the sixty percent required for passage accounts for all ballots, not just the ballots with a “yes” or “no” vote. The levy does pass, however, with Tuesday’s final count showing 4,394 votes in favor of the levy and only 685 votes against.
Note that the results released immediately following the end of elections on Tuesday are preliminary results. The final numbers will not be released to the public until the end of Election Canvassing on May 20.
Logan County reports a total of 22,432 registered voters. Speaking with WVOW News Tuesday, Logan Circuit Clerk John Turner noted that voter turnout this primary was disappointing, giving it a fairly low grade on a scale of “A” to “F.”
“About a C,” Turner said. “For a presidential primary, that’s pretty low; I think 26 percent.”
Out of the county’s registered voters, this year’s primary saw 5,866 total votes cast, making for a voter turnout of only 26.15 percent.
With primary elections concluded in the Mountain State, candidates begin to look ahead to November in preparation for the coming 2024 General Election.