Voters:
Did you know:
- Only about half of those age-eligible citizens of the United States to register to vote actually register to vote.
- Of those register, only a little more than 50 percent choose to vote on Election Day.
- The percentage of registered voters that vote during a mid-term election often is lower than the number of ballots casts during general elections that include the race for POTUS.
But it is our hope the usual does not play out on May 3 in Belmont County or in the Northern Panhandle on May 10 because very important Republican primaries. For example, the race for the lone available seat on the Belmont County Commission has attracted a total of three candidates, two of which are Republicans. Incumbent Jerry Echemann is running for second term while Vince Gianangeli is the challenger.
The winner will advance to the general election in November and will face Democrat Jack Regis, a long-time Martins Ferry councilman who even served as the municipality’s mayor.
The other giant-sized primary will be on ballots throughout the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia involving two siting congressional members in U.S. Rep. David McKinley and the Eastern Panhandle’s Rep. Alex Mooney. The campaigns have been heated, the mailers of many, and many political analysts have only said the race is too close to call.
“If the people of the Northern Panhandle like how David McKinley has represented them since he was first elected in 2010, then they will need to get out and vote on Tuesday,” insisted Greg Thomas, political consultant to River Talk-Wheeling 100.1 FM. “Mooney does have Trump’s endorsement because McKinley voted in favor of the Jan. 6 Commission, but McKinley voted for the Trump agenda more often during his four years than did Mooney.
“Mooney likes to call McKinley a ‘RHINO’ and a liberal, and to me, that’s desperate campaigning because McKinley has been involved with the state Republican party for a lot of years,” he explained. “But who knows how much do the voters in the Eastern Panhandle actually know about him? Probably not much.”
Early voting has ended in Ohio but continues in West Virginia through May 7.
Sincerely,
Voting Is Our Voice
