WHEELING — Former Delegate Randy Swartzmiller will vie for the West Virginia Senate District 1 seat in the fall.
Swartzmiller edged out a narrow victory Tuesday for the Democratic nomination to the seat over current Sen. Owens Brown, D-Ohio.
District 1 includes Hancock, Brooke, Ohio and parts of Marshall counties.
Swartzmiller received a total of 3,520 votes in defeating Brown, who captured 3,088, according to unofficial numbers from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.
“It was pretty close all night long, but we pulled it out,” Swartzmiller said.
He credited hard work on the campaign trail for helping him to win the race.
“We’ve been working hard to get the message out,” he said. “It was back and forth all night, but we got the momentum down the stretch.”
Swartzmiller added his strategy for the fall is “not going to be anything out of the ordinary.”
“We will get into areas where our name ID needs to be built up,” he said. “I’ve always been a grassroots campaigner. I’m not afraid to get out the word.
“I also have to give it all to the people who supported me. It means a lot.”
Swartzmiller, a New Cumberland native and Chester resident, had a strong showing in Hancock County, where he received 78.37 percent of the vote. Similarly, he was successful in nearby Brooke County, capturing 67 percent of ballots cast.
Brown, of Wheeling, however, took in 69.8 percent of the votes in his home Ohio County. The vote in Marshall County again showed Brown with 58 percent of the vote over Swartzmiller with 42 percent.
Swartzmiller represented the 1st Delegate District in the state House of Delegates from 2004 to 2014, and again from 2018 to 2020.
He will next face Republican Laura Wakim-Chapman in the Nov. 8 general election.
He is a graduate of West Liberty University, where he earned a Board of Regents degree; and of Mountain State University, through which he earned a master’s degree in strategic leadership.
An employee for Weirton Steel for 20 years, he is currently a senior regulatory specialist at Ergon-West Virginia Inc., where he also oversees security.
Swartzmiller believes his expertise and contacts in Charleston will prove beneficial to the Northern Panhandle as the state seeks to distribute federal American Recovery Act funds.
“The bottom line with me is my campaign is always about people, and it always will be about people,” Swartzmiller said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and my experience is going to count in Charleston. That is why I am in the race
“There is no time for a learning curve. There are a lot of opportunities, and a lot of money for a change. We need somebody who knows how to make connections and bring back money to the Northern Panhandle so people can see their tax dollars back here.”
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