CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Although it is now a non-partisan race, most of Kanawha County’s magistrates won reelection on Tuesday.
The one exception was in the second magistrate district where former Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto won a three person race which included longtime Kanawha County Magistrate Ward Harshbarger.
“I worked the last two months practically every day working to be elected,” Casto said. “Got out, met some people; very grassroots campaign. I really look forward to serving the people of Kanawha County in the magistrate office.”
Casto had just over 36 percent of the vote. Harshbarger finished third in the race with 31 percent to Cecilia Thomas who garnered 32 percent.
Casto said he sought public office again because he “missed it, terribly.” He credited his campaign manager and cousin Mike Young for his hard work.
“There’s no question I had a lot of name recognition going into this,” Casto said of his tenure as Nitro’s mayor. “The last 30 years I’ve really volunteered hard in the schools. A lot of the young people in Cross Lanes and Nitro really voted strongly for me.”
Casto said he would be learning the ropes for a while once he takes office.
“The first thing I want to do is learn the job. Several of the incumbents have already contacted me and said they’d be glad to help me and learn the ropes,” he said. “Anything I can do to help, I want to be part of the solution and not part of any problem.”
Also winning in the contested magistrate races were Brent Hall, Mike Sisson, Julie Yeager, Kim Aaron, and Tim Halloran.