Local Dems trying to hold back red tide

Nov. 8—beckley, w.va. — As southern West Virginians go to the polls today, Democrats will try to hold back a red tide of Republican gains in the Legislature in recent elections by defending one incumbency in the Senate, holding on to a reliably friendly House seat in Beckley and turning an open House seat from red to blue in a district, like all others, that has been reshaped by a new, one-district, one-representative House of Delegates map.

The Republicans own super majority advantages in both houses of the Legislature, with a 78-22 count in the House and 23-11 lead in the Senate. Those majorities are likely to remain in place.

Sen. Stephen Baldwin is defending his District 10 seat from a redrawn, sprawling district that is more rural and tilts more Republican than in 2018 when the seat was last contested. In 2018, he won reelection in his old district by beating George Ambler, the Republican candidate, by a little more than 2,000 votes, 17,495 to 15,421.

Previously, the Senate district covered all of Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe and Summers counties, but now, because of reapportionment, the district stretches further north into Nicholas County.

His opponent, Vince Deeds, captured 48.9 percent of the Republican primary vote in May, winning a three-way race. A former West Virginia State Police officer, Deeds is the chief investigator for the Greenbrier County prosecuting attorney's office, as well as the director of safety for Greenbrier County schools.

Baldwin, pastor of Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, is the Senate minority leader and has been politically active in Greenbrier County the past decade, having been elected to the Greenbrier Board of Education in 2012, to the House of Delegates in 2016. He was appointed to the Senate in 2017 by Gov. Jim Justice, winning reelection in 2018.

A third candidate, Aaron Ransom, is on the ballot as an Independent in the Senate 10 contest. A conservative, he could pull votes form Deeds. The two are aligned on conservative and Republican issues including cutting taxes and supporting amendments 2 and 4, which would give the Legislature greater control of local finances across the state and oversight of the state's Board of Education.

Baldwin has said he is against both amendments.

In Beckley, Tony O. Martin is seeking to return House District 44 to Democratic hands after Mick Bates, elected to the seat as a Democrat, flipped parties right before his failed run in the Republican primary for the Senate 9 seat.

Todd Kirby is the Republican candidate.

Both Martin and Kirby won three-way primaries to represent their respective parties. In the 2020 general election, as Republicans were winning other Democratic seats, Bates, who had established a liberal voting record in the House, won what was then District 30 over his Republican opponent with 60 percent of the vote.

In the 45th delegate district, formerly the 32nd, Democrat Christian Martine is making what appears by most measures a credible run for a seat long held by Republicans, most recently by Kayla Kessinger, who is not seeking reelection. Unlike some Democrats in Republican-dominated territories, Martine has yard signs up throughout the district, has been knocking on doors and is cutting Facebook pitches on a regular basis.

Whether or not it is enough to overcome the conservative profile of the district and his opponent, Eric Brooks, is to be decided Tuesday. The redrawn district has given up territory in Fayette County in exchange for a northern swath of Raleigh County, including the eastern rim of Beckley, and a bit of Summers County, stretching east to Highway 20.

Also awaiting a verdict, Austin Haynes, the Republican incumbent in House District 50 in Fayette County, is facing credible allegations of sexual harassment by multiple women who say he used his position in the House to seek sexual favors.

Beckley attorney Stephen New said he intends to bring a civil suit against Haynes, who is up for re-election, on behalf of a client.

Since going public with his client's allegations, New said his office has been hearing from other women who had similar interactions with Haynes.

Haynes has not responded to repeated attempts for comment by The Register-Herald.

Haynes faces Democrat David Pritt.

Farther north in Fayette County, Republican incumbent Tom Fast, who has served seven years in the House, is facing Democrat Gabe Peña for House District 51. In the 43rd Delegate District, Christopher Toney, the Republican incumbent, faces political newcomer JoAnna Vance, while Democrats failed to field candidates to run against Republican incumbent Brandon Steele in the 42nd District and Jordan Maynor in the 41st.

In Greenbrier County, Republican incumbent Mike Honaker faces Democrat Paul Detch for the 46th House District seat, and in the 47th District, Republican incumbent Todd Longanacre faces Heather Hill, who just three days ago informed county Democratic officials that she would serve if elected after saying earlier this summer that she could not campaign for the position because of the demands of her job.

In the 40th Delegate District, Republican incumbent Roy G. Cooper faces two opponents, Democrat Becky Crabtree and Libertarian Jonathon Fain.

In the 35th House District, which takes in most of Wyoming County, Democrat Dewey Houck and Republican Adam Vance are vying for the open seat.

In the 9th Senate District, covering Raleigh and Wyoming counties, Republican incumbent Rollan Roberts faces Libertarian Kari Woodson. The Democrats failed to find a candidate to test Roberts, but some Republicans did, supporting Bates in the May primary.

Roberts beat the former Democrat by about 300 votes, 4,561 to 4,272, in a hotly contested race that saw Brandon Steele, who is running for speaker of the House, pushing hard for Bates to upset a sitting member of the Republican Senate.

Steele also campaigned aggressively for another former Democrat, Daniel Hall, in a failed primary run against sitting Republican County Commissioner Dave Tolliver, who is unopposed in today's general election vote.