CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and activist Paula Jean Swearengin each faced two opponents in their runs for their respective party’s nomination in this year’s Senate contest.
Capito, who is seeking her second term in the Senate, easily defeated religious advocacy leader Allen Whitt and Larry Butcher with an unofficial 83.6% of Republican primary voters.
Swearengin unofficially won the Democratic Party’s nomination with 37.8% of Democratic voters, followed by former state Sen. Richard Ojeda (32.8%) and former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb (29.2%).
“I asked voters to send me (to Washington, D.C.) six years ago to be a voice for them, and I’m ready to continue that work,” Capito told MetroNews.
Capito won her first Senate term in 2014 after tenures in the House of Representatives and the West Virginia House of Delegates.
“I’ve always run very active and vigorous campaigns, and I would say this would be no different,” she told reporters Tuesday evening. “I’m going to run on my record: my record of listening to people (and) of responding to concerns of West Virginians.”
Capito said she wants to return to the Senate to continue working on multiple issues, including economic development, broadband expansion and preparing the state for what is after the coronavirus pandemic.
Whitt, the president of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, had criticized Capito for not being conservative enough and placed himself to the right of the senator on the political spectrum.
“I want to congratulate Shelley Moore Capito on her victory,” Whitt posted on Facebook. “Whatever our policy differences, Senator Capito is the Republican nominee. I supported her in 2014 and I will support her in the fall.”
Swearengin ran for the U.S. Senate in 2018 and lost in her bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination. She started a video message to supporters on Tuesday asking Ojeda and Robb to support her campaign; her platform includes legalization of marijuana, guaranteed health insurance and increasing the minimum wage to a “living wage.”
“These are the values that I fought for for years, and these are the values that I will continue to fight for,” she said. “Tonight, the people of West Virginia have spoken.”
Ojeda, who left the state Senate to run an unsuccessful bid for the presidency, endorsed Swearengin with a Facebook post.
“I want to take this time to congratulate Paula Jean Swearingin on her victory and I will also take this time to give my entire support to her for the general election because that’s what good democrats do,” he said.