CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Republican Party is looking to fill the opening in the seventh Senatorial District that came open when Mike Stuart resigned.
Sen. Mike Stuart
Stuart resigned last Thursday after he was confirmed as the new general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The GOP will take applications through 5 p.m. Wednesday. At that point, the Senatorial Vacancy Committee will meet to look over applications and resumes and compile a list of applicants to interview. After interviews are complete, three names will be sent to Governor Patrick Morrisey.
“We’ve had to do this process so much over the last several years when people get different positions or for health reasons or for whatever it may be,” said GOP Chair and Boone County Delegate Josh Holstein. “I think we’ve got it down pretty much to a science that we’re able to do it pretty efficiently.”
Holstein says the interest for the position is there.
“We always have more than three applicants and that really just goes to show that the process works and people have an interest in serving in state government,” Holstein told MetroNews.
Stuart’s term was set to expire next year, so the person Morrisey appoints will only be serving through then before the seat goes up for election.
Josh Holstein
Holstein says it would be ideal to find a candidate with a zeal to stay in the Capitol.
“We want to look for the most qualified candidate and obviously it’s beneficial if the person wants to run in the 2026 election,” Holstein said.
“It’s not that far away so of course that’s consideration and that’s something at the committee members will be asking the applicants,” he continued.
The seventh Senatorial District covers Boone, Lincoln and Logan counties and parts of Kanawha County.