CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice has appointed longtime delegate Tom Azinger of Vienna to fill the House of Delegates seat that was vacated after the death of Frank Deem.
Azinger, 83, previously served 10 consecutive terms in the House running from 1995-2015.
The other potential appointees who were recommended to the governor were Matthew Dodrill of Parkersburg and Edward Staats of Parkersburg.
The Wood County Republican Party Executive Committee earlier appointed Azinger to take the spot Deem would have had on General Election ballots.
“Tom Azinger gives us a fighting chance to keep the seat,” Wood County GOP Chairman Rob Cornelius stated then.
Deem, 90, died early this month. He was a longtime lawmaker, first elected to the House in 1954.
Azinger served in the state House from 1994 to 2014.
His son, Mike Azinger, then succeeded him in the House seat. After one term in the House, Mike Azinger ran for state Senate and is currently seated in that body.