Ridgeview News covered our very first election, and it was not without issue for me, but certainly it was not without issues for the County.
I arrived at the Calhoun County Courthouse shortly before eight at the height of candidate nerves and expectation of ease for those dealing with the mechanics of the election. Ease was not on the menu for the evening unfortunately. A series of software issues had County Clerk Jean Simers at wits end for a few hours with calls to software experts, until finally everything worked out. In the beginning Jean had said she would not have anything to do with the election results due to the fact that she was on the ballot, but with inexperienced election staff, she had to step in and complete the process. It would have been far worse if she had been opposed, but she was not.
The voting machines were purchased around 2007 and are in a serious need of an update. That update will come at a cost to the county of at least $172,000 with a possibility of matching grant funds but no guarantee.
What new machines will not fix is the community apathy that continues. With barely one quarter of the registered voters turning out to vote, it was once again a sad indictment against the County’s concern for the issues and who’s governing our County. The worst case in point was the Emergency Services levy failing with a lack of just 1.14% of the votes needed too pass. Sixty percent of the votes is required and it reached only 58.86%.
Although the results are not official the overall County and Statewide Results are as Follows:
CIRCUIT CLERK
| Democrat Sheila Garretson (unopposed) | 331 votes |
| No Republican Candidate |
COUNTY COMMISSIONER
| Democrat Michelle Sears | 183 / 40.85% |
| Democrat Jacob McCumbers | 265/ 59.15% |
| Republican Craig Anthony Arthur | 278/ 52.26% |
| Republican Brenda Ball | 254/ 47.74% |
COUNTY CLERK
| Democrat Jean Simers (unoppoed) | 373 |
| No Republican Candidate |
NON PARTISAN
CALHOUN BOARD OF EDUCATION
| JENNA JETT | 676/ 37.47% |
| TAMBREE YOAK | 585/ 32.43% |
| HORTZ MOTZ | 538/ 29.82% |
CONSERVATION DISTRICT SUPERVISOR
| DALE CUNNINGHAM | 825 |
EMERGENCY SERVICES LEVY BALLOT (60% NEEDED TO PASS
| FOR THE LEVIES | 611 / 58.86% |
| AGAINT THE LEVIES | 427 / 41.14% |
U.S. HOUSE
2022 W.VA. DISTRICT 2 DEM PRIMARY
Updated May 11, 2022, 12:28 AM
Barry Wendell wins. AP race call at 9:36 p.m. on May 10, 2022.
| Barry Wendell D | 22,010 votes | 57.2% |
| Angela Dwyer D | 16,493 votes | 42.8% |
U.S. HOUSE
2022 W.VA. DISTRICT 2 GOP PRIMARY
| Alexander Mooney R | 44,806 votes | 54.2% |
| David McKinley (i) R | 29,442 votes | 35.6% |
| Susan Buchser-Lochocki R | 3,297 votes | 4.0% |
| Mike Seckman R | 3,049 votes | 3.7% |
| Rhonda Hercules R | 2,062 votes | 2.5% |
Republican Primary
>95% REPORTED
| Candidate | Votes | Pct.% | |
| Carol Miller* | 41,571 | 66.4% | |
| Scott Fuller | 6,130 | 9.8% | |
| Zane Lawhorn | 5,461 | 8.7% | |
| Total reported | 62,613 |
Democratic Primary
| Candidate |
| Lacy Watson – Uncontested |
Democrat Congressional
U.S. HOUSE
2022 W.VA. DISTRICT 2 DEM PRIMARY
| Barry Wendell D | 22,010 votes | 57.2% |
| Angela Dwyer D | 16,493 votes | 42.8% |
U.S. HOUSE
2022 W.VA. DISTRICT 2 GOP PRIMARY
| Alexander Mooney R | 44,806 votes | 54.2% |
| David McKinley (i) R | 29,442 votes | 35.6% |
| Susan Buchser-Lochocki R | 3,297 votes | 4.0% |
| Mike Seckman R | 3,049 votes | 3.7% |
| Rhonda Hercules R | 2,062 votes | 2.5% |
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Votes | Pct.% | |
| Carol Miller* | 41,571 | 66.4% | |
| Scott Fuller | 6,130 | 9.8% | |
| Zane Lawhorn | 5,461 | 8.7% | |
| Total reported | 62,613 |
Democratic Primary
| Candidate |
| Lacy Watson – Uncontested |
