By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Several local candidates filed for office for this year’s primary before the deadline closed. Candidates had between Monday January 12th and Saturday, January 31st to file.
Locally, the potentially most heated race will be that for County Commissioner. Independent incumbent Michael “Mike” Rosenau of Parson has once again filed as “No Party Affiliation.” He will be running against Republican Jon Bush of Parsons for the position of Tucker County Commissioner. Rosenau has served as County Commissioner for two terms with eight years serving as the County Commission’s President. He served as President for two years in his first term of 2008-2014 and the entirety of his second term.
In the race for County Clerk – Unexpired, Republican Barbie Evans of Hambleton is the only candidate who filed for this year’s election.
The Tucker County Board of Education have four Non-Partisan candidates for this year’s election. From Parsons, incumbent Cathy Hebb and Teresa Samples-Simmons are running, along with Davis Mayor Al Tomson and incumbent Kevin White of Hambleton.
The County Executive Committee – Female has two Democrats running: Mary C. Kibler of Parsons and Marilyn Shoenfeld of Davis.
The County Executive Committee – Male have Democrat Michael McClintock of Hendricks and Republican Mayor of Parsons Bruce A. Kolsun in the running.
Locals have also filed for elected positions in races at the State level, as well. Among the five candidates registered in the House of Delegates District 85, two residents of Parsons and one from Thomas have registered. Democrats Dean Bonney of Thomas and Deborah K. Stiles of Parsons along with Republican Mayor of Parsons Bruce A. Kolsun will all appear on the ballot along with candidates from Petersburg and Maysville.
Republican Parsons Mayor Kolsun has also filed along with eight other candidates in the State Executive Committee – Male, Senatorial District 14 race. Kolsun is one of five Republicans in the race and will face off against republicans from Keyser, Grafton, Terra Alta and Bruceton Mills.
In the Congressional District Executive Committee – Male, Congressional District 2 race, Republican Mayor of Parsons Bruce A. Kolsun is the only candidate who has filed.
The Senatorial District Executive Committee – Male, Senatorial District 14 race saw Democrat Michael McClintock of Hendricks and Republican Bruce A. Kolsun of Parsons file in the race.
In the Delegate Executive Committee – Male, Delegate District 85 race, the only candidate to file was Republican Mayor of Parsons Bruce A. Kolsun.
Write-in candidates can still file for the election through March 27th, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State office.
In total on the ballot there will be a total of 62 candidates for 27 offices for the Tucker County Primary 2026, according to the Tucker County Clerk’s office.
The Tucker County Primary election will be held May 12th. Voters have until April 21st to register to vote for the Primary. The deadline for the General Election Voter Registration will be October 13th, with the General Election to be held on November 3rd.
For more information of election dates and rules, go to the Secretary of State’s webpage for GoVoteWV at https://sos.wv.gov/elections/pages/govotewv.aspx.
The State of West Virginia is broken up into several Senatorial Districts by the legislature. Tucker County is in District 14 with Preston, Taylor, Barbour, Hardy and half of Mineral and Grant Counties.
