Tucker County Levy Fails
PARSONS – Tucker County voters elected Patrick Darlington as the new Tucker County Commissioner Tuesday during the general election. Incumbent Mike Rosenau, who served on the Tucker County Commission for six years, shook hands with Darlington and wished him well on his win.
Rosenau, who also served in the past on the Parsons City Council and Parsons City Park Board, served as the President of the Commission. Rosenau, a Democrat, had 1,253 votes while Darlington, a Republican, had 1,443. Darlington said that he is very excited to be a Tucker County Commissioner.
“I want to thank my family for all of their support and being with me through all this,” Darlington said. “I am thankful for my wife, my daughters, my mom and dad. I want to thank them for being by my side the whole time.”
Darlington said he was thankful for the Tucker County residents who supported him in his quest to be a Commissioner.
“Thanks to those in Tucker County who had the confidence to vote me into this position,” Darlington said. “I look forward to working for them and with them to bring better things to Tucker County and enhance things already here. I want to work with a spirit of cooperation because that’s what it takes to make things happen.”
Darlington said he wanted to commend Rosenau on a good race.
“I want to thank him for all the service he has done for Tucker County,” Darlington said. “He has done things for the county and I want to commend him and thank him for all he has done.”
Results of Tuesday’s election also saw the failure of the proposed Tucker County Schools Levy. The levy was defeated by voters with 1,081 voting for the levy and 1,575 voting against the levy. Tucker County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Eddie Campbell said he was not surprised by the end result.
“I guess the community spoke with their votes and they are not in favor of the levy,” Campbell said. “I think they made their voice very clear.”
This is the second time the school system has put the levy to a vote. During the primary election in May, the levy was defeated by a small margin – only two votes. Campbell said there are no plans for another levy.
“We told the community all along there is not money for needed repairs,” Campbell said. “There is just going to have to be a halt on plans to move those projects forward. We have made it very clear the money is just not there to do those projects without levy funds. Those take significant amounts of money and it’s just not there and it’s not going to be there.”
Campbell said the budget situation is not going to get any better and projects will be put on hold until something changes. He said the next opportunity to run a levy will be in 2016.
“I hope the school system can keep its financial situation afloat until we get another chance,” Campbell said. “Hopefully people see it differently next time.”
Campbell said Tuesday’s voting expresses a ‘no’ to the kids.
“I know people have had some negative things to say about our school system,” Campbell said. “Some of the decisions the school board have made over the last year or so (have been criticized.) I think people just don’t understand what is going on and I think they have not asked the right questions. It has been difficult to change those people’s minds. I think the only statement this makes is that a community that is known for supporting their school system, with today’s election, made a strong statement that it is not in support of its school system. I don’t see that there is any other explanation for this.”
Other Tucker County election results include in the race for U.S. Senator: Shelley Moore Capito, Republican, 1,740 votes; Natalie Tennant, Democrat, 815 votes; John S. Buckley, Libertarian, 54 votes; Bob Henry Baber, Mountain Party, 30 votes; and Phil Hudok, Constitution Party, 58 votes.
In the race for U.S. House of Representatives, 1st Congressional District Incumbent David McKinley, Republican, received 1,601 votes and Glen B. Gainer II, Democrat, received 1,038 votes.
Incumbent David Sypolt, a Republican, received 1,444 votes for the West Virginia 14th Senatorial District race, while Stan Shaver, a Democrat, received 1,198 votes.
In the 47th District House of Delegates race Danny Wagner, a Republican, received 587 votes, while Tamula “Tammy” Stemple, a Democrat, received 377 votes.
Incumbent Randy E. Smith, a Republican, was unopposed in the House of Delegates 53rd District race. He received 1,200 votes.
Voters were also asked to consider a W.Va. Constitutional Amendment that would allow the Boy Scouts to use their Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve property in Fayetteville for other purposes without losing their currently available charitable use property tax exemption. Tucker County voters cast 1,081 votes for the amendment and 1,575 votes against the amendment.
Tucker County Clerk Sherry Simmons said, unofficially, 2,774 votes were cast and there are 5,400 registered voters in Tucker County. She said the county employed 55 election officials to work the polls on Election Day. The canvass will be 1 p.m. Nov. 10 and after a 48 hour window for recounts, official election results will be available.
