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WHEELING – A first-time candidate for political office and another whose name has been on multiple ballots over the past several years are seeking the GOP nomination for West Virginia secretary of state on May 10.
Barry Holstein and Mac Warner, both military veterans, are asking voters for the chance to unseat Secretary of State Natalie Tennant – who faces a primary challenge of her own on the Democrat side – in November’s general election.
- Holstein, 47, of Cross Lanes joined the U.S. Army in 1987. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Holstein said he served as a civilian affairs operator and earned the Bronze Star. When Holstein retired as a first sergeant in 2008, he had 21 years of service in various roles including work as a field artillery surveyor, a nuclear, biological and chemical specialist, drill sergeant and platoon sergeant. This is the first time Holstein has sought elected office.
“I think my experience in the military and as the son of a hardworking West Virginia coal miner that I’ve learned the values of hard work and integrity,” he said. “As secretary of state, I would bring those values to the office.”
Holstein supports recently approved state legislation that provides a list of qualified identification to be shown to poll workers before a vote is cast.
“I support this legislation and as secretary of state, I would enforce the laws as written in an effort to reduce voter fraud,” he said. “I think the current legislation that was passed is very broad and provides many approved identification methods. I also support the affidavit process for those who do not have the approved identification or may have forgotten their ID on the day that they went to vote.”
- Warner – who in 2010 finished second in not one but two primary elections for seats representing the Mountain State in Congress – announced his candidacy in December during a radio interview from Afghanistan, where he had been working as a civilian State Department contractor for the last several years. He has since returned.
A 1977 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Warner received his law degree from West Virginia University in 1982 and later attended the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Va. He is retired from the military.
Warner, 60, finished second to Rep. David McKinley in a six-way race for the Republican nomination for West Virginia’s 1st District congressional seat in 2010. Months later, he entered the special election to fill the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s seat and finished a distant second to Morgantown businessman John Raese, who would go on to lose the general election to Sen. Joe Manchin.