CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – There will be major turmoil in the West Virginia State Senate following Tuesday night’s primary election results, with four Republican incumbents losing.
State Senator Craig Blair (R-Berkeley) lost his primary, as did Senate Health Committee Chairman Mike Maroney (R-Marshall). State Senator Robert Karnes (R-Randolph) and Senator Chandler Swope (R-Mercer) also went down.
The large winner in those races was 2018 U.S. Senate candidate Tom Willis, who upset Senate President Blair.
By November there will be a fierce battle for those vying to become the next Senate president.
“So there’s going to be a lot of phone calls, a lot of negotiating, trying to figure out who is the candidate who will be our speaker in the next two years and lead the Republican Party and the Senate?” said Tom Susman, a political analyst with WMOV Radio.
Capitol watchers believe there could be multiple candidates for Senate President, including current Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha), Senate Majority Leader Ryan Weld (R-Brooke), and Finance Committee Chairman of the Senate, Eric Tarr (R-Putnam).
The vote likely won’t take place until after the November election.
This is not the first time in recent years that we have seen such an upheaval. In 2020, then-Senate President Mitch Carmichael also lost by three votes in a Republican primary. He lost to current Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady (R-Mason).
