Charleston primary election races unchanged following recount

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After canvassing and a recount by the Kanawha County Commission, two primary election results on the ballot in Charleston were unchanged and certified.

The results of the Charleston City Council Ward 8 Democratic race remained the same as Kathy Rubio finished one vote ahead of incumbent Robert Sheets, 48-47. The recount of election results took place Tuesday morning at the Kanawha County Clerk’s office.

Kathy Rubio

Rubio, a business owner in Charleston, told 580-WCHS she has trusted the system over the past few weeks.

“Every vote counts. This time for sure,” she said.

Rubio has owned Spa Bliss in the warehouse district for 20 years and has grown it to over 50 employees working there. She’s never held office before but said she wanted a challenge and to give back to her ward.

“Charleston has been a great city for me to build my business in and I’m hoping to give back a little bit,” Rubio said.

“This ward is important to me. I see things that I would like changed and thought I would try to do something about it instead of talking about it.”

The ward includes the warehouse district as it stretches from Washington Street E on the East End from Capitol Market near St. Francis Hosptial and Court Street, to near the state Capitol. The ward also goes across the interstate on the hillsides with Spring Hill Cemetery and Barlow Drive.

Rubio said she would prefer to be placed on the CURA board and the planning and zoning board while serving on the council.

In another recounted race, the results of the city council Democratic at-large race was certified.

Corey Zinn requested a recount of 23 precincts after finishing seventh, 19 votes behind Shawn Taylor in sixth. The top six candidates move on to the general election this fall for at-large city council.

According to a news release from the Kanawha County Commission, as the teams recounted 13 precincts, Zinn requested the recount be stopped as the results had not changed.

Jennifer Pharr, Caitlin Cook, Becky Ceperly, Joe Solomon, Emmett Pepper and Shawn Taylor were the top six vote-getters in the race.