(Photo by Will Price/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
“You’re either with us or against us.” – George W. Bush
Background
The West Virginia primaries are right around the corner, and State Navigate went into the field this week to check in on a key race in the Randy Smith-Tom Takubo civil war in the Beckley area: State Senate District 9. The district is one of the battlegrounds in the ongoing contest between Smith, the Senate President, and Takubo, who serves as the de facto opposition leader given the dearth of Democratic representation in the chamber. Based on our polls across various swaths of the state thus far, Smith’s faction has an upper hand if the electorate looks closer to 2022 and 2024, with Takubo himself in a toss-up race against his primary opponent, former Delegate Chris Pritt. Here in the 9th District, State Senator Rollan Roberts, a Smith ally, is seeking renomination for a third term, while challenger Dr. Michael Antolini is trying to unseat him.
Roberts has been endorsed by many lawmakers in Smith’s camp, including Smith himself, as well as Americans for Prosperity, a key super PAC helping many of the Smith/Morrisey-aligned candidates. Antolini is a medical doctor and president of the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association, who has received support from outside groups acting to thwart Smith, including significant spending from the Mountaineer Freedom Alliance, a PAC supported in part by the WV Chamber of Commerce that has spent heavily on Takubo-aligned candidates this year. While Takubo himself hasn’t endorsed Antolini, he’s donated to his campaign, and Antolini did get the endorsement of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who has also been endorsing Takubo-aligned candidates. And perhaps complicating the picture in the district, Roberts risks losing some more conservative voters to potential spoiler candidate Adam Vance, a coal miner from Wyoming County who, despite low polling numbers, could siphon votes from the top two candidates.
