Breaking news: Tomblin wins 2011 West Virginia Governor election
October 4, 2011
| Governor of West Virginia, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Earl Ray Tomblin |
49.1% | 102,234 | |
| Republican | Bill Maloney | 47.5% | 99,013 | |
| Mountain Party | Bob Henry Baber | 2% | 4,193 | |
| Independent | Marla Ingels | 0.9% | 1,967 | |
| American Third Position | Harry Bertram | 0.4% | 795 | |
| Total Votes | 208,324 | |||
Charleston, WV: If ever there were a nail-biting October election for a 14-month gubernatorial reign, tonight was it. The Mountain State's acting governor, Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin, faced off against four challengers: Republican Bill Maloney, Mountain Party candidate Bob Henry Baber, Independent candidate Marla Ingels, and Harry Bertram, who represented the American Third Position party.
The West Virginia Secretary of State hasn't released its official results yet, but the Associated Press declared Tomblin the winner at approximately 9:15 this evening.[1] Tonight's race was closer than initially expected, although a poll released Monday showed Tomblin's advantage over Maloney dwindled to just 1 point.[2] But with 98% of the precincts reporting, Tomblin led Maloney by 6,244 votes. The third-party and write-in candidates managed to capture a cumulative 10,240 votes - roughly 3.4% of the total votes cast.
There was a lot on the line with this election. With his win tonight, Tomblin technically only earned another 14 month term in office, serving the remainder of Joe Manchin's unexpired term. But now, in addition to setting the 2012 legislative agenda of the West Virginia General Assembly, he is in a much better position to win re-election to a full four-year term of his own in 2012.
On a national level, tonight's election was a huge win for the Democratic Party. Part of Maloney's campaign strategy was to tie Tomblin to President Obama and somehow translate West Virginia voters' dissatisfaction with national politics into votes for the Republican party. Tonight's showing demonstrated the ability of voters to evaluate candidates based on their own merits, and not on the actions of their national party - an advantage both parties will likely try to exploit in the remaining 2011 and upcoming 2012 gubernatorial elections.
The irony of an election with such tremendous implications? Only 25.03% of West Virginia's eligible voters cast a ballot.[3]
See also
- West Virginia special gubernatorial election, 2011
- Breaking news: West Virginia Governor election coverage
- General election season opens tomorrow in West Virginia
- Ad analysis: The West Virginia gubernatorial race
- By the numbers: A comparison of West Virginia's gubernatorial candidates
- Earl Ray Tomblin
- Bill Maloney
- Bob Henry Baber
- Harry Bertram
- Marla Ingels
References
| ||
| Propositions • | Recall | • Law |
| ||||||||||
