CHARLESTON — Beginning in January, Carol Miller will be represent West Virginia in Congress.
Miller won the only Congressional District race in the Mountain State that did not include an incumbent for this 2018 election season.
Miller’s opponent was state Senator Richard Ojeda, a Democrat who won national attention for his branch of populist politics.
Miller, the majority whip in the West Virginia House of Delegates, has served in the House since 2007.
Ojeda, who was first elected to the West Virginia Senate in 2016, was nominated for U.S. House in the May Democratic primary when he received 52 percent of the vote in a race that included three other candidates.
He is a U.S. Army veteran and has made that service a central component of his campaign along with his support for teachers and school service workers in West Virginia who walked off the job for nine days earlier this year demanding better pay and benefits.
“I’m not scared to say what needs to be said,” Ojeda previously told MetroNews. “And I’m not scared to stand up against anybody. I don’t care what your party is.”
Miller was one of seven candidates in the Republican primary and was nominated with 23.8 percent of the vote.
She has campaigned on her endorsement from President Donald Trump who won in the 3rd District by a 49-point margin in 2016.
During the campaign, Miller did not respond to multiple interview requests from MetroNews and other media organizations.
Ojeda and Miller did not appear jointly at any debates prior to Election Day.
Former Congressman Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) represented the 3rd District in the U.S. House up until Governor Jim Justice temporarily appointed him to the West Virginia Supreme Court earlier this year along with former House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha).
Both Jenkins and Armstead were candidates for the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Jenkins unsuccessfully sought the Republican nominationfor U.S. Senate in the May 2018 Primary Election.
In 2014, Jenkins was first elected to the U.S. House when he beat long-time Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).
The 3rd Congressional District covers southern West Virginia.
Included in it are the following counties: Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, Webster and Wyoming.
