Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison (center), has served in the House of Representatives since 2020. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
The Harrison County Commission voted Wednesday to reject Rep. Laura Kimble’s challenge to the House District 71 primary election results.
The commission confirmed that Kimble’s opponent, Tim McNeely, won the Republican nomination over Kimble, R-Harrison, according to a news release from McNeely.
Kimble challenged the results after losing to McNeely by just six votes, receiving 682 votes to McNeely’s 688 votes.
“I would like to thank the Harrison County Commissioners for their careful review of this matter and for the professionalism and integrity they demonstrated throughout the entire process,” McNeely said in a statement Wednesday.
“I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Harrison County Clerk John Spiers, his staff, our election workers and everyone who worked so diligently to conduct a fair, safe and accurate election,” he said. “Their commitment to protecting the integrity of our elections deserves our respect and gratitude, and they have my full confidence. Our community is fortunate to have such dedicated officials.”
Kimble filed the lawsuit on June 5 with McNeely and the Harrison County Commission. According to the filing, “there are discrepancies between voter history and precinct results that indicate that more Republican ballots were counted than the number of registered Republicans who voted” in several precincts in the 71st District.
“Because I requested the recount … I still had the window of opportunity to ask those questions and then challenge the election,” Kimble said at the time.
Kimble emphasized that she doesn’t blame poll workers for potential errors and said paper ballots could have prevented potential errors in ballot distribution.
Kimble did not respond to a request for comment on the vote in Harrison County on Wednesday.
McNeely is the former athletic director at Fairmont State University. In the November general election, he will face Democratic challenger Robert Garcia, brother of current House Speaker Del. Rick Garcia, D-Marion.
“Now is the time to look forward,” McNeely said in the release. “In just 34 days, students across Harrison County will return to classrooms. In 51 days, our community will come together to celebrate the Italian Heritage Festival, one of our state’s great traditions. And in 111 days, voters will once again have the opportunity to shape the future of our community and our state.”
