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Jennings,Riley to Vie for Preston Commission: 26-Year-Old Takes Race on GOP Side

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 09:09 CDT

By Kathy Plum, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

May 10--KINGWOOD -- At 26, Republican Craig Jennings may be the youngest person to ever win a primary race for a Preston County Commission seat.

Preston County voters are selecting one new county commissioner this year. Incumbent Darwin Wolfe is not seeking re-election.

With all 35 precincts counted, Jennings won with 919 votes. Second on the Republican commission ballot at that point, as he was all night, was Dr. Mike Parsons, with 671. Behind them were John "Skip" Ellis with 695 votes; Paul Koontz, 189; and Donald Shaffer, 238.

Jennings said he was a little concerned early in the campaign that people might not take him seriously, because of his age, but he found voters considered his merits as a candidate, not his youth.

"It makes Preston County like a hub to give someone a chance. If you work hard here, you can make something of yourself," said Jennings, who is a civil engineer with his own firm in his hometown of Fellowsville.

Fellowsville hasn't yet seen the population boom hitting the western and northern edges of Preston County, but it was on minds countywide, Jennings said.

"Probably the biggest issue is how to integrate the people we already have with the incoming people," Jennings said. "I think we both want the same thing at the end of the day. It's going to take saying 'Lets all sit down and decide how to get there.'"

On the Democratic ticket for Preston County Commission, former commissioner Nimrod Riley was ahead with all 35 precincts counted. Riley served six years on the commission in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He lives in Arthurdale and is a contractor. With 20 precincts counted, Riley had 1,124 votes; Tom Shahan, 789; and Art George, 532.

Riley said people told him they don't see much personal benefit from the county commission. Fire departments said their insurance and fuel costs are increasing and want more help, Riley said. Then, there's infrastructure. "One thing is water in the southern end of the county, with the mining there," Riley said. "People are very worried about that."

Riley said commissioners need to work with state officials "and not fight with them," to get improvements.

"We need to plan a little bit for the future," he said. "That's the biggest thing I see with the commission is what have they done to plan for this growth ?"

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)

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