Tennant, Gainer, Perdue All Win

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant has been re-elected, beating out Republican opponent Brian Savilla in Tuesday’s election. Tennant will serve a second term after first being elected in 2008.
“I’m just proud of the work we’ve done and I’m so honored the folks recognized that and decided to put me back in as Secretary of State,” Tennant said.
Tennant credited the people of West Virginia for turning out to vote after the storms that moved through the area the previous week, with many folks still being affected.
“We West Virginians came together, went out to vote, and showed that we are resilient and can come together,” she said.
She won Tuesday’s vote with 63 percent to Savilla’s 37 percent.
Tennant served as the Mountaineer mascot before graduating from West Virginia University and went on to work in television news in both Clarksburg and Charleston.
A graduate of West Virginia State University, Savilla works as a teacher and currently represents District 14 in the state House of Delegates. He was first elected in 2010.
Also, State Auditor Glen Gainer, a Democrat, was re-elected again as well over Republican Larry Faircloth. Gainer has served as the record keeper for West Virginia since first being elected in 1992. He has been reelected every four years since then. It’s a position his father first held from 1977 to 1993.
Gainer, from Parkersburg, worked with the state Treasurer’s Office, the state Department of Energy and spent a year in the private sector before becoming Auditor. Gainer finished Tuesday’s vote with 58 percent to Faircloth’s 42 percent.
State Treasurer John Perdue, meanwhile, won re-election over Republican Mike Hall. Perdue is West Virginia’s 24th Treasurer, a position he has held since 1996. In all, he has more than 35 years of experience in state government including his time in the Department of Agriculture and as a Senior Aide during Governor Gaston Caperton’s Administration.
Perdue, a Kanawha County resident, unsuccessfully ran for Governor during last year’s Special Gubernatorial Election. Perdue defeated Hall 56 percent to 44 percent on Tuesday.
As for the Commissioner of Agriculture, Democrat Walt Helmick beat Republican Kent Leonhardt 52 percent to 48 percent on Tuesday.