CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Although his name won’t appear on the ballot, Wood County Delegate Vernon Criss is confident enough people will put it there for him in the November general election. Criss this week announced he’ll be a write-in candidate for reelection for the 12th district House of Delegates seat.
“Based upon the amount of people wanting an opportunity to vote for me, the write-in campaign was the only avenue left to us to get our name on the ballot,” said Criss in an appearance Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline.
Criss was defeated in the May Primary election by Charles Hartzog. Hartzog won on the strength of support from Governor Patrick Morrisey and the Americans for Prosperity political action group. Criss was one of the Republican candidates the Morrisey administration targeted during the primary by spending a large sum of money and taking advantage of the closed primary allowing no votes from independents. It was the first time Independents had been blocked from voting in the GOP races.
“After the primary election, the Independents began coming out and asking questions about why they were excluded from the primary process on the Republican side. They came to me and asked would you please help us figure out how to fix this?” Criss explained.
The solution was to run as a write-in candidate. Anyone wanting to vote for Criss in the general election in November will have to touch the “write-in” space on the ballot and type in some combination of his name when the computer keyboard pops up. Criss thinks enough people are willing to take the extra step although write-in campaigns are historically difficult.
“According to the people who have come forward so far, it appears we have an opportunity here to gather enough votes to be successful in the fall,” he explained.
Criss serves as the House Finance Committee Chairman. He believed the leadership position was important, not only to the state, but to his constituents in the 12th Delegate District.
“I’m not running against them (Morrisey and the AFP), I’m running to represent the people of the 12th district. I think I’ve been very successful over the last 10 years. The 12th district and the Wood County area deserve to have people in leadership positions in Charleston to help move the state forward and to help move the 12th district and Wood County forward,” he said.