CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Secretary of State Mac Warner had high praise for election workers across the state of West Virginia.
“West Virginia has become a model for the rest of the nation on how you run an election. By 10:30 most every race had been called,” said Warner in an appearance Friday on MetroNews Talkline.
More than 360,000 total ballots were cast in the May 14th Primary Election in West Virginia. The breakdown had 63-percent of the ballots cast as Republican and 27-percent Democrat. Warner said that was not a surprise to him because of the gains in Republican registration in West Virginia in recent years. He noted there was also more excitement on the Republican side, particularly in the Governor’s race.
That was the a race which also generated a considerable amount of campaign spending.
“I think that may prove to be be the most expensive primary race in state history. Yes, a lot of money was spent and I expect we’ll see a lot more spent in the upcoming general election,” he said.
Warner said he was encouraged even more by a couple of things. He noted a record number of candidates actually signed up to run for an office.
“Almost 1,800 candidates across the state ran for anything from the national ticket all the way down to sheriff’s races and that sort of thing,” he explained.
Warner was also excited more young people started taking an active interest in the election. He pointed out six poll workers in Barbour County were high school students and hoped the trend would continue in the years ahead.
There were just over 7,000 absentee ballots cast in the primary. The Secretary believed was also a good sign.
“That’s back to pre-covid days in the races back then, so I think we’re back to normal,” he said.