|Photo by Joselyn King| Ohio County ballot commissioners Walter "Fuzz" Larue, left, a Democrat, and Greg Smith, a Republican, prepare to insert accepted provisional ballots into a ballot machine for counting.

WHEELING – Connie Cain is now the top vote-getter in the race for the Ward 3 seat on Wheeling City Council.

A canvass of votes submitted in last week’s primary in Ohio County took place Monday morning, and resulted in five additional votes being added to the Ward 3 council race. All five went in Cain’s favor. She will be the first Black woman to serve on Wheeling City Council.

Election night totals showed Jerome “Jake” Henry in the lead with 199 votes, and Cain close by with 197. Following Monday morning’s canvass, Cain now has 202 votes, with all other vote totals in the race staying the same. Henry is still at 199; Chris Hamm, 188; and George P. Greenbaum Jr., 41.

Ward 3 encompasses the neighborhoods of Mozart, South Wheeling, Center Wheeling and East Wheeling.

“I would like to thank everyone who came out and voted for me,” Cain said. “I would also like to thank my campaign staff who came out on Saturday and made sure we knocked on every door.”

“It’s a blessed moment. I’ll be the first Black woman on council, and it’s been a long time since we had someone to represent us.”

Former Wheeling Ironman Clyde Thomas in 1971 was the first Black man elected to Wheeling City Council. He served for 20 years, and was selected vice mayor during his tenure, according to information from the Ohio County Library.

“We have to be united if we are to get anything done,” Cain added. “I’ve prayed for this moment for a whole year, and thank Jesus Christ.”

Cain, 55, is a resident of East Wheeling and is married to husband Kendall Cain. She is the mother of three and has nine grandchildren.

Cain has worked for the First Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corporation for 29 years as an administrator for the Wheeling-Weirton offices covering Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties. She also has worked with elderly and disabled people as a second job for West Virginia Choice for the last 14 years.

Henry, 59, of Mozart was working at his day job as mobility manager for Ohio Valley Regional Transit on Monday.

“There will be no recount,” Henry said at the end of his workday. “The voters spoke, and that just has to be the way it is. Thank you to all my supporters.”

A total of 118 provisional ballots from across the county were presented before county commissioners as the canvassing board Monday morning, with each being examined individually.

In the end, 54 ballots were accepted by the canvassing board then inserted into the voting system by ballot commissioners Greg Smith, a Republican, and Walter “Fuzz” Larue, a Democrat. Ballots not readable by the machine were manually voted by the pair.

There was a recurring theme among provisional ballots rejected during the canvass. Roughly half of those disqualified were cast by persons voting a specific party ballot when they were registered as a member of another party.

For example, someone registered as a Democrat asked at the polls to vote a Republican ballot instead to perhaps vote for a specific candidate known to them. This is not permissible under West Virginia law.

Poll workers can’t reject ballots or tell voters they can’t vote a Republican ballot if they are registered as Republican. Instead, their ballots are put in a provisional envelope and later investigated by elections workers leading up to the canvass.

County Solicitor Don Tennant noticed the trend, and asked election officials if they would be reaching out to those people to tell them their vote wasn’t counted and why.

“We should make every effort to advise them why their vote didn’t count,” he noted.

Rodd Archey, county finance director, said all those who had ballots disqualified will be notified by letter. He added the county also will attempt to reach out to them and help them get registered to the party in which they want to belong.

More voter education is needed by the county, Tennant continued.

“It’s just sad when these votes can’t get counted,” he said. “It’s a big mistake.”

Voters registered as “non-party” or independent had the option in this primary election to request a Democrat or Republican ballot.

But the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee this year voted to close their primary to non-party voters beginning with the next primary election in 2026.