With 46 out of 46 precincts reporting, Republican Ronald Reagan Foster won the race for Putnam County Commission against Independent candidate and former Putnam County assessor D.W. "Peachie" Arthur.
Foster will replace outgoing commissioner Joe Haynes, who decided not run for re-election.
Foster, the owner of Scott Depot-based business Foster Supply, led Tuesday night with about 62% of the vote. The Democratic candidate, Mark Whitt, dropped out of the race in June.
"I'm elated with the results," Foster said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to represent the people of Putnam County. We won't let you down."
Foster touted his experience as a business owner heavily during his campaign. He believes running the county should be similar to running a business.
In March, he told Gazette-Mail editors his main motivation for running for office was to create jobs in the county, and to discourage the government from getting involved in private industries.
Foster said if he wins he will meet with local and prospective business owners to make Putnam County more business-friendly. He also said he plans on pushing for business-friendly policies to attract new companies to the area.
Arthur said late Tuesday that he was disappointed in the results of the race. He said at a forum in October that Foster's experience does not make him qualified to run the county.
"I do not think you can run a county like a business because a business is there to make a profit," Arthur said at the forum. "County government is not there to make a profit. County Commission is there to make a better life for the citizens of the county and [increase] safety."
Arthur criticized Foster for refusing to pay almost $5,000 in fire fees to the county. Foster filed a lawsuit against the Putnam County Fire Service Board and the Putnam County Commission in 2014 against a fee increase. Foster says the ordinance amendment increasing the fee uses an "arbitrary square footage formula to buildings in the county regardless of use, construction techniques, fire risk, location and accessibility of fire services," and "discriminates between residential and commercial buildings," according to previous Gazette-Mail reports.
Foster says the current fire fee policy is one of many he would like to change if elected.
"We can fund our fire service in other legal ways other than what the county enacted," Foster said.
Arthur told the Gazette-Mail that Foster was untrustworthy as the results came in Tuesday night.
"They love a crook. He don't (sic) pay his taxes," Arthur said. "He don't (sic) pay his fire fees. He's a crook."
Arthur previously ran for the same seat as a Democrat in 2010. He lost to Haynes by more than 2,600 votes. If he loses this race, he will not plan on running for office in the future.
"I've worked my entire life for the county while he worked for himself," Arthur said.
Putnam residents also voted make a decision on whether to pass a county ordinance to allow restaurants to begin serving alcohol at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. on Sundays. About 52% of voters were encouraging the county to pass the ordinance allowing early alcohol sales, with 1,213 votes separating those in favor and those not.
This follows the "brunch bill" signed into law by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in March. The law allows counties to request a referendum for voters in the upcoming election to decide if they want bars, restaurants and wineries to serve alcohol starting at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
Circuit Clerk Ronnie Matthews, County Clerk Brian Wood, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia, Sheriff Steve Deweese, Assessor Sherry Troyer Hayes, and Surveyor Kevin Schafer ran unopposed. All are Republican incumbents, except for Schafer. He is a Republican running for office for the first time.
Reach Ali Schmitz
at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow
@schmitzmedia on Twitter.