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GOP keeps state House: Faces change but numbers nearly same

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead called and left a message with West Virginia governor-elect Jim Justice on Wednesday.

“When people send us here they expect us to work together and we’re going to do that,” Armstead (R-Kanawha) said on MetroNews “Talkline.”

“We’re going to look for ways to agree and move our state forward.”

House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha, 40)
House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha, 40)

The Republicans will have another strong majority in the House for the next two years. After the dust settled from Tuesday’s election, the GOP advantage was 63-37, just one less delegate than the last two years.

Keeping the majority number in the 60s wasn’t easy, Armstead said.

“We were somewhat concerned back in January because we had 14 of our incumbent Republican members who decided not to seek reelection or seek election to other offices,” Armstead said. “We went to work immediately to recruit good candidates to make sure we had strong candidates in those races.”

The unlikely Republican victories included Mark Dean knocking off incumbent Phyliss White (D-Mingo) in the 21st District, Zach Maynard leading the ticket in the Lincoln County-based 22nd District, Patrick Martin in the 46th District and Guy Ward winning a seat in the 50th District which has most of its precincts in Marion County.

Incumbents who lost Tuesday include Tim Manchin (D-Marion), Peggy Smith (D-Lewis), Steve Shaffer (D-Preston), Terry Waxman (R-Harrison), Ray Canterbury (R-Greenbrier), Nancy Guthrie (D-Kanawha), Bucky Blackwell (D-Wyoming), Michel Moffatt (R-Putnam), Michael Ihle (R-Jackson) and David Evans (R-Marshall).

In some multi-member districts where some incumbent Republicans lost some Republican newcomers won, Armstead said. The numbers may change again because there could be a recount in a Kanawha County district race.

When the regular legislative session begins next February, the House will continue to make moves to improve the state’s economy, Armstead said.

“This is an opportunity for us to really create a tax structure that can not only be fair to the people of West Virginia and allow them to keep more of their money, but also allow businesses to come and create jobs,” he said.

When Armstead called several new members, he said they prioritized a familiar problem: “Dealing with the drug epidemic and getting drugs out of communities and out of our children’s hands.”

As for remaining speaker of the House, Armstead said he has heard of no opposition in his party’s caucus.





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