The decision by long-time state Sen. Herb Snyder (D-Jefferson) not to run for re-election in 2016 has started a chain reaction of events in the eastern panhandle.
Delegate Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson) immediately announced he would run for the 16th District senate seat covering all of Jefferson and a northeastern portion of Berkeley County.
Republican Patricia Rucker filed last January to run for the 16th, well before she could have known Snyder was out. Rucker is a first-generation American citizen who emigrated from Venezuela in 1981. She is also a member of Jefferson County’s Tea Party organization, “We the People.”
Rucker challenged the incumbent Skinner in the 67th Delegate District (one of the more liberal districts of the state) in 2014, losing by just 133 votes (2,636 to 2,503). Rucker was helped by her relentless door-to-door campaigning and a depressed Democratic turnout.
Before we call the 16th District Senate race a rematch, understand there are still some moving parts.
Delegate Paul Espinosa (R-Jefferson) also is interested in the Senate seat, meaning the GOP could have a contested primary election there. Espinosa told me by email Tuesday that he’s “seriously considering” a Senate run and “hopes to come to a decision by the end of July.”
The stakes are extremely high in the 16th because of the narrow 18-16 margin the Republicans hold in the Senate. An open seat with a close race means outside money will come into play, driving the spending into several hundred thousand dollars.
Snyder has held the seat since the 1996 election, but that doesn’t mean it’s solid Democrat. He narrowly defeated Republican Bob Adams by 224 votes in 2008 and Republican Jim Ruland by 3,000 votes in 2012.
Skinner’s entry in the Senate race creates an open seat in the 67th Delegate District. Republican Riley Moore, nephew of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and grandson of the late Gov.Arch Moore, filed earlier this year to run. Snyder’s son, Rod, is said to be seriously considering running in the 67th as a Democrat, but has made no final decision.
Meanwhile in Jefferson County’s 66th Delegate District (the seat now held by Espinosa), Republican Bob Adams has filed pre-candidacy papers.