CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Tuesday’s series of midterm election races saw a great many surprises as several incumbents will now be faced with the reality of their positions changing hands in the near future.
But it is likely that no result from Tuesday’s West Virginia State Senatorial races shook the foundation quite as substantially as that of Republican Mike Stuart’s victory over Democrat and 16 year incumbent Ron Stollings for the 7th District.
Stuart came into the race aware of his probable perception as an unlikely contender to unseat the longtime state senator for the district.
“I think folks said, ‘There’s no chance that Mike Stuart can win this,’ when I started in January,” Stuart remarked in an exclusive election night interview with LOOTPRESS just as the final votes were tallied.
“But I’ll tell you this, we worked hard. I outworked my opponent and it’s not only the results, but where I started,” he continued. “[To defeat] a 16 year incumbent, it’s pretty historic.”
Stuart went on to commend the team he had behind him throughout the process of the race, the district for which comprises Kanawha, Logan, Lincoln, and perhaps most notably, Boone County.
“I won Boone County, that is a remarkable thing to do,” Stuart continued. “And I owe it to a bunch of incredible people,[and] an incredible team. We worked hard from day one – until this evening when the polls closed we were working hard.”
While the candidate’s enthusiasm and excitement at the result were clearly evident, what was perhaps most discernible in our conversation with Stuart was a tremendous sense of determination and ambition at the prospect of getting down to business.
“We feel great and I feel humbled, certainly. Campaigns can humble a person,” explained the former West Virginia Republican Party chairman..
“I feel a distinct sense of obligation now to do the job I’ve promised to do. So I’m going to roll up my sleeves and get in the mud and work with Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and leadership in these counties to try to focus on growth.”
But first and foremost, Stuart says he plans to bask in the jubilation of the evening at hand.
“I want to celebrate here for a little while because this was unforeseen, nobody saw it coming, especially the numbers that we ended up with,” he declared.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage of the 2022 midterm elections can be found here.