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By JOSELYN KING
Staff Writer
WHEELING -- Voters in West Virginia's 3rd Delegate District voted Tuesday to keep their representation.
Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, will see a sixth two-year term in the House of Delegates, while Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, will get a third term.
Two delegates were elected in the four-candidate race.
Storch was the top vote-getter with 11,330 votes; Fluharty, 8,840; Republican Dalton Haas, 5,681; and Democrat Ben Schneider, 3,516.
Storch, 49, is employed as president of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.
She was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2010. She serves as chairwoman of the interstate cooperation and political subdivisions committees, and is a member of the finance and technology and infrastructure committees.
"Thank you," Storch said to voters. "I appreciate the confidence they have in me to keep sending me back, and I look forward to working with Shawn Fluharty and other colleagues in the Legislature and moving the state forward."
She hopes to help create more development in the state.
"I want to create an environment that is conducive to attracting people to the state," she said. " I want to show all West Virginia has to offer."
Fluharty, 36, a Wheeling attorney, is completing his second term in the House of Delegates.
He serves as minority vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, and is a member of the Industry and Labor Committee.
He also was recently named co-chairman of the bipartisan Tech Caucus.
"I thank the voters for their trust in me," Fluharty said. "I've worked hard for them, and that was reflected tonight."
He said he will continue his bi-partisan work with Storch.
"We've built a great team, and I look forward to taking it back to Charleston," Fluharty said.
He hopes to work toward expanding broadband opportunities in the state over the next two years.
"As co-chair of the Tech Caucus, I plan to make West Virginia a destination location for our ever changing economy," Fluharty said.