|Photo by Emma Delk| Dave McLaughlin celebrated his win with his family at the Marshall County Courthouse late Tuesday night. From left, Lori Mclaughlin, Dave McLaughlin, Alyssa McLaughlin, Kailynn Saunders and Aiden Bushovisky.

Dave McLaughlin, a Republican, defeated incumbent Michael Ferro, a Democrat, in a close Marshall County Commissioner race.

According to unofficial Marshall County vote totals, McLaughlin, a Republican, received 6,738 votes at 51.81% and Ferro, a Democrat, received 6,257 votes at 48.12%.

McLaughlin celebrated the victory with his family late Tuesday night at the Marshall County courthouse.

The results were delivered following substantial delays in receiving vote totals from Precinct 13. According to Marshall County Clerk Connie Howard, poll workers neglected to close two voting machines, which resulted in a delay as poll workers had to open and close all five Precinct 13 voting machines to get the final vote count.

“Opening and closing the machines was taking so long we decided to zero everything out because all our other precincts were in and being held up waiting on [Precinct] 13,” Howard said. “We zeroed the vote counts out and ran everything we go. By the time the Precinct 13 results got back, we could run the vote counts.”

Though the night was “stressful” for McLaughlin due to the delays, he said he was “excited and ready to go” in the position.

“I appreciate the voters of Marshall County for having the faith to elect me to this position,” McLaughlin said. “I won’t let them down, and I will work hard. I want to thank my opponent for having a great campaign, and I look forward to representing the people of Marshall County.”

The first item on McLaughlin’s agenda in office is to address population loss in the county, noting Marshall County placed 54th out of 55th counties in lost population. McLaughlin said he would target population loss by bringing industrial businesses back to the area and building more homes in the county.

“Anybody who knows me knows that working with the citizens is second nature to me,” McLaughlin added. “I work with communities up and down the river in Marshall County and I’m involved in a lot of organizations. I’m looking forward to doing even more at the county level here at the commission office.”

McLaughlin is the current director of operations and development for Benwood. He served as a police officer in the city for 20 years. He has served two terms as Marshall County magistrate and was a Glen Dale council member. McLaughlin is also the president of the Marshall County Fraternal Order of Police and has been vice president of the West Virginia Magistrates Association.