CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – There is likely to be major upheaval in the West Virginia Senate following Tuesday night’s primary election results in which four incumbent Republicans lost.
State Senate President Craig Blair (R-Berkeley) lost in the primary, as did Senate Health Committee Chairman Mike Maloney (R-Marshall). State Sen. Robert Kearns (R-Randolph) and Sen. Chandler Swope (R-Mercer) also lost.
The big winner in these races was 2018 U.S. Senate candidate Tom Willis, who upset Senate President Blair.
From now until November, there will be a lot of competition between those vying to become the next Senate president.
“So there’s going to be a lot of calls and a lot of negotiations to figure out who’s going to be the speaker candidate to lead the Republican Party and lead the Senate over the next two years.” WMOV Radio Political Analyst , Tom Sussman says:
Capitol watchers note that the Senate president is current Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo (R-Kan.), Senate Majority Leader Ryan Weld (R-Brook.), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr. It is thought that there may be multiple candidates, including the committee chairman (Republican, Mr. Putnam).
Voting probably won’t take place until after the November election.
This is not the first time we have seen such chaos in recent years. In 2020, then-Senate President Mitch Carmichael also lost a three-way Republican primary. He lost to current Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady (R-Mason).
