By Charles Young, WV News/The State Journal
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Monday marked the official start of the 2024 election cycle as candidates began filing certificates of announcement with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office and local county clerk’s offices.
Candidates have until midnight on Jan. 27 to file their signed, notarized paperwork and pay the corresponding filing fee, according to Mike Queen, deputy chief of staff for Secretary of State Mac Warner.
In keeping with a tradition started by Warner, the secretary of state’s various office locations will remain open right up until the midnight deadline to give last-minute filers the opportunity to get their paperwork in, Queen said.
There are almost always candidates who wait until the very end of the filing period to start their candidacy, Queen said.
Harrison County Chief Judge Christopher McCarthy, who was accompanied by his wife Meredith, was at the Secretary of State’s Office regional location in Clarksburg just after 8:30 a.m. Monday to officially file his re-election paperwork.
“We’re just excited to kick off our campaign,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been working toward this for the last several months and thought that it couldn’t hurt to be first in line.”
