Republican candidate Craig Hart has won a Senate race in southwest Virginia that was affected by a polling disaster in Mingo County.
The Associated Press called the District 6 race for Hart at 10:32 p.m. Tuesday night.
With 22,394 votes, Hart clearly beat Democratic opponent Jeff Disibbio with 12,818 votes, with 83% of the votes counted.
Disibbio was canceled voting in Mingo County starting WednesdayOctober 23, when early voting began, to Monday, October 28, when the error was corrected. On the ballot instead was Randy Fowler, who won the Democratic primary but was barred from running in the general election for failing to file campaign finance reports. About 700 people voted with phony ballots during this time.
A representative of the Office of the Secretary of State had said that if the race were decided by about 700 votes or fewer, that would be a “very good reason” for Democrats to challenge the result.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, that ACLU of West Virginia filed suit v. Mingo County Circuit Clerk Larry Croaff, asking a court to “conduct the election of a candidate for West Virginia’s 6th Senate District consistent with his clear and established statutory duty.”
