Morgan County voters cast ballots early and in relatively large numbers during this mid-term election, with 40% of the county registered voters marking ballots in local, district and federal races. According to preliminary vote tabulations provided by the Morgan County Clerk’s office around 9:30 p.m. on Election Day, a total of 5,826 ballots were cast during the 2026 general election — 3,716 of those on Election Day and 2,110 during 10 days of early voting at the county courthouse.
County voters gave Republican Joel Tuttle another six-year term on the Morgan County Commission. Tuttle earned 3,873 votes while Democratic challenger and political newcomer Judith Shumate pulled in 1,852 votes. Shumate won Precinct 7, but fell short in the rest of the county as Tuttle rolled up 67.5% of the vote.
“My hat’s off to Judith. She has been a formidable opponent and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her over the past few months,” Tuttle said in a statement given on election night at the courthouse. “Thank you, Morgan County for your support and confidence in me to lead you for another six years. We have more work to do and I”m up for the task.”
All other races were still being settled at 10 p.m. as other counties and districts tabulated their votes to determine winners in judicial and legislative contests.
Morgan County voters favored Joe Kinser for Circuit Court for the 27th Judicial Circuit to serve out the unexpired term left empty by the retirement of Judge Steven Redding. Kinser earned 2,708 local votes while Richard Stephens brought in 1,848 votes locally. Ballots in Berkeley County were also being counted in that race.
County voters backed Amendment 1 in large measure, with 4,691 votes in favor of amending the state constitution to reiterate that only citizens could vote in West Virginia elections. Just 16% of voters were against the measure.
In the House of Delegates race to represent the 90th district, which includes parts of Morgan and Berkeley counties, incumbent Republican George Miller appeared to be holding onto his seat as Berkeley County ballots continued to be counted. Morgan County voters backed Miller, a Berkeley Springs resident, with 70.6% of the vote over Democrat Ashley Braner of Hedgesville, who brought in 29% of Morgan County votes.
In the House of Delegates race to represent the 89th district, which includes parts of Morgan and Hampshire counties, Republican appointee David Cannon of Romney got a majority of Morgan County votes, bringing in 679 votes to 356 votes collected by Democrat JR Hepworth of Paw Paw. Totals from Hampshire County voting were still being added to district totals at 10 p.m. on Election night.
A high-interest race for State Senator representing the 15th senatorial district has been between Republican incumbent Darren Thorne of Romney and Democrat Elizabeth Ferris of Berkeley Springs. Adding a twist to the race was the entry of Republican Ken Reed as a write-in candidate during the general election. In Morgan County vote totals, Thorne secured 61.5% of the local votes and Ferris brought in 35.4%. Reed collected 176 write-in votes. The 15th district is large, encompassing parts of Morgan, Berkeley, Hampshire and Mineral counties. Final vote totals for the entire district were still being tallied at 10 p.m. on Election night.
Morgan County voters backed Republican U.S. Congressman Riley Moore in his re-election bid to represent the 2nd congressional district over Democratic challenger Ace Parsi with a margin of 68.5% to 31.2%. Districtwide results were still being tabulated at press time, but appeared to show a Moore victory.
Local voters also remained loyal to longtime Republican representative Shelley Moore Capito in her race to win re-election to the U.S. Senate representing West Virginia. Capito faced a lively contest as Democrat Rachel Fetty Anderson campaigned against Capito, bringing in nearly 30% of the Morgan County vote to Capito’s 64%. Statewide results appeared to show a similar margin in favor of Capito at press time.
Morgan County Commissioners will canvass the vote on Monday, November 9 and Tuesday, November 10 before certifying the results.
Morgan County Clerk Kim Nickles closed the vote tabulation session at the Morgan County Courthouse on Tuesday evening with her thanks to voters and staff. Nickles will retire from her post as Morgan County’s chief election officer in December. She expressed her appreciation for all those who had been with her on her journey of public service.
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