dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – The state Senate Republican supermajority got a bit more super Tuesday night as the Democrats lost one of their three seats, shifting the balance from 31-3 to 32-2.
Two Democrats were on the ballot on Tuesday and one of them lost, while a Marion County Democrat – current Delegate Joey Garcia – kept the 13th District seat blue.
Garcia faced Republican Rebecca Polis as they aimed to succeed Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, who deiced to retire at the end of this year.
The 13th District runs along the I-68 and I-78 corridors in Monongalia and Marion counties. One seat is always held by a Mon County resident and one by a Marion resident.
According to final unofficial numbers (pending canvassing) Garcia won by a solid margin, with 21,780 votes (54.4%) to Polis’ 18,254 (45.6%).
Commenting on Wednesday on his win, he said, “It’s always humbling to have the people in Marion County and Monongalia County think enough to trust you to represent them in Charleston at the state Capitol.”
He plans to work very hard, he said, to accomplish things and make life better for his constituents and work on the issues they think are important.
We asked him about the Democratic micro-minority. “It doesn’t really change the way I approach being a legislator,” he said. “It’s not from a partisan standpoint, but looking at every issue as far as whether is it s a good issue or a bad issue for the people I represent.”
He’s known many senators for a long time and has good relationships with them, he said. “I plan to work collaboratively with them. If there are moments where we disagree, I will be happy to let them know I disagree, as I always have.”
His 13th District colleague will be Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia. “Mike is someone I’ve always had the utmost respect for,” Garcia said. Oliverio always made an effort to work with him in the House on issues involving their overlapping districts. “I think we will work well together; we talk often.”
The Senate has 18 committees and we talked to Garcia about how he and Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell might split the load.
There are two chief committees, Judiciary and Finance. And with the current three Democrats, Caputo and Woelfel sit on Judiciary. Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne sits on Finance. Plymale chose not to run again and Republican Scott Fuller defeated Democratic Delegate Ric Griffith for that seat.
Garica said he’s spoken with Woelfel but assignments are still up in the air. Both are lawyers and Garcia is House Judiciary minority chair. They want to keep a minority voice in the committees and may split Judiciary and Finance between them.
In the other local contested Senate race, the 14th District, incumbent Energy chair Randy Smith won in a landslide, with 36,122 votes (86.68%) to Mountain Party’s Betsy Orndoff-Sayers, 5,551 votes (13.32%). No Democrat ran.
Some 13th District numbers
Republican candidates typically fare better in Marion than in Mon in this district, and that was the case this time. Garcia carried Mon 56.44% to 43.56%, but the margin was narrower in Marion, where he had 51.36% to Polis’ 48.64%.
In 2022, Oliverio defeated Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer for that 13th District seat by a razor-thin margin: 13,495 votes (50.29%) to Fleischauer’s 13,342 (49.71%).
Fleischauer took Mon by a solid margin 55.59% to 44.41% for Oliverio. It was Marion that won the day for Oliverio; he won there 59.36% to 40.64%.
And in 2020, Polis fell to Caputo, tallying 43.78% of the vote to Caputo’s 56.22%.
She lost in both counties but did better in Marion. In Mon it was Caputo with 59.49% and Polis with 40.51%. But it was closer in Marion, with Caputo taking 52.09% to Polis’ 47.91%.
