KINGWOOD, W.Va. — The State Supreme Court’s ruling in an election case Sept. 12 means two Preston County candidates are off the ballot.
Tina Bishop and Charles Lewis filed candidate nomination petitions to be placed on the November ballot. Bishop was running for Preston County clerk against incumbent Linda Huggins and Lewis against incumbent County Commissioner Dave Price.
Both already paid the filing fee for office and begun buying campaign materials.
On Sept. 12, the court upheld a Kanawha County Circuit Court judge’s ruling that Erik Patrick Wells could not remain on the ballot as a candidate for Kanawha County clerk.
Huggins said her office followed the secretary of state’s direction when allowing Bishop and Lewis to file petitions while still registered as Republicans. The thought was that they were running “independently,” she said.
State code allows candidates to submit a petition to be on the ballot. Huggins said the court interpreted that as meaning the petition process applies only to minor party candidates.
Minor parties are anything other than the state- recognized parties of Democrat, Republican, Libertarian and Mountain.