CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The newest-elected Kanawha County Commissioner Natalie Tennant said her Tuesday night victory hasn’t even truly sunk in yet following the confusion caused from a corrupted data stick that delayed the election results.
In a Wednesday morning statement, the Kanawha County Commission said they, alongside the County Clerk’s Office finalized the results just about 15 minutes prior to 7 a.m. after first discovering the data stick issue around 7:30 p.m. on Election night, right when the polls had closed.
Tennant’s race with her Republican opponent for county commission, Chris Walters was one most impacted by the issue.
Natalie Tennant
Although Tennant had the lead when county ballots were concluded, she declined to accept victory until all unofficial results were counted for.
Tennant said on 580 Live the following morning that although she wanted to make sure all of the votes were being properly counted for to be able to claim her win, she decided to go home and wait until Wednesday morning for the official results.
“I had to throw in the towel around 1:30 when the 31,000 absentee ballots were being recounted to get to the 1700 that would be added to it, and I just can’t believe it, they probably didn’t get home until 8 in the morning,” Tennant said.
The final result shows Tennant with 50% of the vote, but Walters was very close behind at approximately 49.48% of the vote.
She said it’s a close result, because Walters had put in the same amount of effort and energy into his campaign in vying for a win in the commission seat.
“I mean think about it, Chris was everywhere I was and he was offering ideas, I saw his signs he saw mine, and that’s the way it was supposed to be,” she said.
Tennant said now, it’s time to get to work.
She will officially assume the role and take office as the third Kanawha County Commissioner on January 1, 2025. Tennant will replace the interim Commissioner who has been filling the seat in a sixth-month unexpired term, Marc Slotnick, who was longtime Commissioner Kent Carper’s replacement after he retired in May.
Tennant said she is grateful for everyone’s support, and for believing in her and her plans for Kanawha County.
“First and foremost I thank the voters who believed in me, I’ve gotten so many texts and messages saying that’s where we need you Natalie, we need you to be there,” said Tennant. “I also thank them, not just for their vote, but also their time, and confiding in me of what they’re concerned about.”
She said she is, of course, planning to get to work on all of the issues her supporters have been coming to her about throughout her campaign, which ranges from the delivery of safe, clean drinking water to all areas of the county as well as broadband expansion.
Tennant said for that broadband internet expansion, she plans to really push for Kanawha County to benefit from the $1.2 billion in the Infrastructure and Job Act’s Broadband Access and Deployment program funding, which U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito has also been pushing for to get on the ground in West Virginia.
She said she is excited for all of the communication and collaboration between elected officials that comes with the job as county commissioner, not just on a county-wide level, but working with state and federal elected officials as well.
“I’m going to call Patrick Morrisey, I’m going to call Jim Justice, I’m going to call Shelley Moore Capito, because, she’s the senior senator now and there is that relationship among counties and our federal representatives, that we still need that help, and I want them to know that I’m right here and we can still move forward,” said Tennant.
She said she is hoping to get some of the same federal funding the commission has gotten over the last four years, such as the American Rescue Plan Act funding.
She will be working alongside Commission President Lance Wheeler and Commissioner Ben Salango in the decision-making process for the county.
Tennant said no matter the role she is elected for or the job she is doing, she plans to stay the same at her core and true to herself.
“All of this is who I am and I will remain that,” Tennant said. “I always just gut check myself, you know my dad is no longer living my mom has been gone 13 years, but I’m still like, if I make this decision can I go back to the farm and explain to my dad, to my mom and to my siblings, and it will still be that.”
Tennant has been appointed to a full six-year term within the Kanawha County Commission.
She also makes Kanawha County history as the first woman to serve as commissioner in the county. This comes alongside newly-elected Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak, who was elected as the first woman to serve in that role Tuesday night.
Tennant had formerly served as Secretary of State for a total of two-terms.