CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Given the sudden resignation of Kanawha County Commissioner and candidate Kent Carper on Friday, the timing of all this is a huge coincidence as Friday was also the day WOWK 13 News profiled this year’s County Commission race planned.
Embattled County Commissioner Kent Carper, a Democrat, tried to win his eighth term but has now resigned. Carper had a primary opponent in former Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, so she will be the presumptive nominee.
On the Republican side, former Sen. Chris Walters is running against developer Dewayne Duncan in his second attempt for public office. We recently sat down with three of the candidates to talk about their priorities and goals if elected.
“I found a lot of parallels between the Secretary of State’s Office and the County Commission when it comes to economic development, helping people find jobs and finding innovations and ideas that we can have for the future,” said Natalie Tennant (D) Candidate for Kanawha County Commission.
“You know what, I have my experiences, Mark, that I bring to the table. My development experience here in the city, my business experience, my educational experience, I think that will be very helpful to the people of Kanawha County,” said Dewayne Duncan, (R) candidate for Kanawha County Commission.
“We continue to lose population. We see companies leaving and there is a lot we can do to change that. And I want to take some of my ideas and implement them with a focus on different regions of the county to try to improve our county for the future,” said Chris Walters, (R) candidate for Kanawha County Commission.
WOWK 13 News contacted Acting County Commissioner Kent Carper with four separate phone call invitations to interview for this candidate profile, but he never returned our calls. It could be that there was no point in knowing he would resign today.
Carper was under state and federal investigation after a woman alleged he indecently exposed himself to her at Daniel Boone Park in Charleston last May. Again, Carper has resigned and will not be charged in this matter.
Shortly after this incident, Carper’s family issued a statement saying that what happened at the park was a “terrible misunderstanding” and that Carper had stern medical problems.
In fact, he suffered a heart attack, a stroke and underwent open heart surgery later that week.
