Evan Jenkins
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In the first test of his federal congressional career, Republican Evan Jenkins passed with flying colors.
Jenkins, 56, of Huntington, was re-elected to represent West Virginias 3rd Congressional District Tuesday night, beating Democratic challenger Matt Detch, of Lewisburg, and Libertarian Zane Lawhorn, of Princeton, to represent the states 3rd Congressional District, which includes 18 counties in southern West Virginia.
Jenkins first was elected to the U.S. House in 2014, when he defeated incumbent Democrat Nick Jo Rahall, who had represented the district for 38 years, with 55 percent of the vote in the district. He served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1995 to 2001 and the West Virginia Senate from 2003 until his U.S. House term began in 2015.
Jenkins is an attorney and former executive director of the West Virginia State Medical Association. A former Democrat, he switched to the Republican Party in 2013.
On Tuesday, Jenkins said he was eager to see the results of the election, saying each election serves as a report card of an incumbents work.
“It’s a humbling opportunity to walk onto the House floor representing the roughly 600,000 people in southern West Virginia, Jenkins said.” They only have one member of the House of Representatives fighting for them, and to have that respect, I take it seriously. I always want to respect the vote of the people, and the confidence they’ve given me to serve them for two more years, its a humbling thing.”
Lawhorn, 58, of Princeton, has been a practicing optometrist in Mercer County for 30 years.
At press time, Jenkins had 127,283 votes with 94 percent of precincts in the district reporting. Detch had 43,981 votes, and Lawhorn had 16,167 votes.
