MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A political newcomer defeated a sitting Monongalia County Commission member in Tuesday’s Primary Election.
Morgantown realtor Julie Knight defeated incumbent Commissioner Jeff Arnett. She’ll now advance to the General Election.
Knight, who garnered 70 percent of the vote, said she heard a lot about affordability and infrastructure from voters. Knight wants to improve the quality of life, add affordable housing and work with volunteer fire departments in the county.
“What I was hearing a lot was there was a desperate need for the people to be seen and to be cared for in Mon County,” Knight said. “That was the reason I ran, and it was echoed by the community.”
She said during the campaign, voters validated her aspirations about affordable housing on the campaign trail. Additionally, she said many people are snowed under by the cost of living and need help.
“And as I moved through the county, that was just echoed and exacerbated with everyone I was speaking with,” Knight said.
She envisioned a scenario of using county resources to create development that would be ready for a contractor to start building homes. That’s one way to address a deep-seated problem.
“If we could have the county go in and lay the infrastructure, water, roads, and sewage,” Knight said. “Then we have the opportunity to bring in multiple builders that would build on that, and we would have affordable housing.”
Developing partnerships is another option, and one of those housing partners could be the federal government, according to Knight.
“See if we can get some government housing,” Knight said. “It’s not a really excitable topic to talk about, but I think we could use some government housing, some HUD housing, or Section 8 housing in Monongalia County.”
Arnett was seeking his second six-year term and said while he was shocked at the election loss, he said he remains grateful for the opportunity to serve.
“It’s been an honor for these last five years to serve, and I look forward to serving in other ways in the future,” Arnett said.
Knight will face Republican Ron Lytle in the November General Election.