Janet Scott Unseats Dave Blazer as Glen Dale Mayor
Photo by Derek Redd
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Voters overwhelmingly sided with political newcomer Janet Scott in her bid for the mayor's seat of Glen Dale, defeating incumbent David Blazer with more than twice as many votes.
Longtime mayor Blazer took 146 votes, according to unofficial totals released Tuesday night, with Scott taking 311, defeating Blazer with 68.05 percent of the vote. No write-in ballots were cast in the mayoral race.
Scott was in disbelief at the scope of her victory late Tuesday night, crediting her victory to the trust placed in her by residents and by earnest campaigning. The non-partisan mayor's seat will be Scott's first foray into politics.
"I didn't think it would be that big," Scott said. "I'm excited to get to work. I'm just blown away by all this. ... I have been walking, knocking and talking since the end of February, and I think that makes a big difference, getting out and letting people know who you are, and I think that makes all the difference in the world."
Scott said that despite not engaging with politics prior, she knows the council members well and is confident she'll be able to hit the ground running.
"I'm really happy that the people had confidence in me to do this job - and I can do it," she added.
Scott had run on a position of improving the alleys, roads and other infrastructure programs of Glen Dale. A lifelong resident, Scott works at WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital in radiology.
The Glen Dale mayoral seat was the sole contested local office on the ballot Tuesday evening. The two seats on Glen Dale's city council were split nearly evenly between Carl Eric Anderson, with 336 votes, and Lou Richmond, with 345. One write-in vote was cast.
Benwood and McMechen's council candidates all ran unopposed. Benwood's Curt Mele received 32 votes, Larry Ferrera received 43, Clyde Lunsford received 32, and Bob Rose got 43, with two write-in votes vying for Rose's seat the only competition - briefly tying with Rose in the first batch of votes tabulated.
In McMechen, Bill Wilson received 70 votes, Danielle McCombs got 72 votes and Mark Martin 81, and Grant Hercules received 44 votes, with Charla Wickham-Schultz getting 47.
Elsewhere in Marshall County, David Goddard ran unopposed for mayor of McMechen, taking 191 votes, with 23 write-ins. Mayor Greg Galentine likewise ran unopposed in Cameron, taking 67 votes, with 5 write-in; council members Stephanie Neely got 18 votes, Sherry Johnson got 18, and Joseph Wendy received 24. Glen Dale's recorder, Gerald Trembush, got 407 votes. Longtime Benwood chief of police Frank Longwell received 139 votes, with five write-ins.
On the Marshall County Board of Education, each incumbent retained their seat with no competition. Brenda Coffield took 3,341 votes, Duane Miller took 3,062, and Christie Robison took 2,934. Thirty-one write-in ballots were cast.