CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson) will get the chance to defend his spot in the state Senate in November despite attacks that came at him from both sides leading up to primary day.
Carmichael faced criticism from both pro-labor groups who were incensed over the passage of Right to Work and the repeal of the prevailing wage during the legislative session, as well as pro-family groups unhappy that the “Religious Freedom” bill didn’t make it through the Senate.
Carmichael held off fellow Republican Dustin Lewis in the 4th Senatorial district race.
“I’m obviously very pleased with the victory. And I’m particularly pleased, not for myself, but that the people of West Virginia rejected overwhelmingly this negative character assassination,” he said. “Old-school, gutter level politics.”
The attacks got ugly at times, Carmichael said, and rarely focused on his policies.
“I’m so disappointed that people who run for public office would resort to that type of campaigning. I’m just so proud of the people that they rejected that message,” he said. “We’re tired of that stuff. It’s lies and deceit; instead, let’s talk about the issues.”
He thought that the Republican Party was making a comeback in the Mountain State, which showed in Tuesday night’s primary.
“In West Virginia now you can see that (voters) are so tired of that status-quo, that old-school way of doing things that has been propagated by the Democratic Party for years and years,” Carmichael said. “They’re adopting and embracing the new, bold aggressive agenda of the Republican Party that’s going to put West Virginia on the path to progress.”
Carmichael will run in the November general election against Democratic nominee and Putnam County attorney Brian Prim.