CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Four candidates in Kanawha County are vying for the open seat on the county commission left behind by Hoppy Shores.
Shores, a Republican, has served on the commission for 42 years and announced in January he would not seek an eighth term. Two Republicans and two Democrats are running in contested primaries on Tuesday.
Those running for the Republicans nomination include Dewayne Duncan and Lance Wheeler.
Wheeler was born and raised in St. Albans and a graduate of St. Albans High School. The University of Kentucky graduate moved back to West Virginia after a short time in D.C. because he wanted to make a difference in the area.
“I knew the amount of work and effort it would go into running for a county commission race, especially with an opponent in the primary and general,” Wheeler told 580-WCHS. “But I remember my wife (Jessica) looking at me and told me ‘Lance if you think you can make a difference in our community and our county by running for county commission then you have to do it.’
“I knew right then I was all in.”
Wheeler calls himself the conservative candidate in the race and a great communicator that will be able to talk to mayors, sheriffs and city council members.
He said he’s been able to take his communication skills on the virtual campaign trail during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wheeler said he has used Facebook lives to campaign but also give COVID updates and talk about the issues.
“Today when we do talk to voters, they talk about our Facebook lives,” he said. “They talk about how much they love them and how enthusiastic they are to see a candidate willing to talk to the people and not just through a microphone.”
Wheeler said one of his biggest initiatives is to create an economic development group within the commission. He said the group would be in communications with businesses inside and outside West Virginia and help as a “middle man” showing the opportunity and the economic development growth in Kanawha County.
He was complimentary of the current commission but said he would be new energy and ideas.
“I think with those new ideas and that fresh perspective and that willingness to work with them that we can help make Kanawha Cotuny greater than it is today,” he said.
His Republican opponent is Dewayne Duncan, a real estate developer from the Edgewood community on Charleston’s West Side.
Duncan told 580-WCHS he sees great potential all over the county to grow like the growth in the Elk City neighborhood. He said the infrastructure is there to do great things.
“I vow to work closely with community leaders and community members throughout the county to promote and ignite that same growth for the entire county of Kanawha,” Duncan said.
“There are pockets of the infrastructure everywhere you look in Kanawha County. Just meeting with municipal leaders, mayors, city leaders and determining how we can improve, how we can expand and how we can grow on what’s existing and looking into the future for new developments.”
Duncan said his initiatives are to stabilize and support current businesses under the COVID climate but look for new development projects. He also said he wants to support the sheriff’s department and law enforcement to make communities safer for everyone
The University of Charleston grad also said the conversation needs to continue about opioid abuse and homelessness in the county. He said the county’s biggest asset is its people.
“The people in Kanawha County have this drive, this desire to see Kanawha County be a better place. I am talking about the youngest voter I have talked to and some of the oldest voters in the county,” Duncan said.
Duncan said the people have rallied around his ideas, raising $30,000 in his first fundraiser. He said he contributed another $30,000 to match those funds.
“If the citizens of Kanawha County can give me $30,000 of their hard-earned money, I have to match what they are giving me and have faith in my own abilities like they have in me,” Duncan said.
Greg Childress of St. Albans and Mark Hunt of Charleston on the Democratic side. A WCHS story on them will be out before the primary.
Story by Jake Flatley