The closest race in Wetzel County General Election Tuesday was for a vacant seat on the Wetzel County Board of Education.

The position vacated by the death of Willie Baker on June 1 will be filled by retired educator Bill Aberegg who won the position with 1,863 votes in the non-partisan race. Baker’s son, Chris Baker, who has filled the seat in the interim, received a respectable 1,330 votes. The other two contenders, Sherry Lemasters Bachman and Mary Kay Milliken garnered 977 and 764 votes, respectively.

Del. Dave Pethtel easily retained his seat in the House of Delegates, representing the Fifth District. The Democrat received 4,276 votes while Mountain Party candidate Raymond V. Davis III and Constitution Party candidate Denzil W. Sloan had 733 and 319 votes, respectively, cast in their favor.

The only other contested race in Wetzel County was for sheriff. Democratic nominee John Brookover won overwhelmingly with 4,520 votes compared to Jeffrey-Frank Jarrell’s 771. Jarrell was the Constitution Party’s nominee.

For county commissioner, incumbent Democrat Robert L. “Bob” Gorby was unopposed and received 4,688 votes. Current Commissioner Scott Lemley, a Democrat, had 4,852 votes cast in his favor for the position of assessor.

A total of 4,899 votes went to Prosecutor Timothy E. Haught, a Democrat, to retain his position.

Incumbent and unopposed Magistrates Judith Phillips Goontz and Thomas J. Shepherd, both Democrats, received 4,182 and 4,489 votes, respectively. Longtime Surveyor Henry Parsons, Democrat, was affirmed with 4,772 votes.

While Wetzel County only makes up a portion of the Second Senatorial District, incumbent Democrat Jeffrey V. Kessler received 4,712 votes here. He was unopposed.

Also in Wetzel County, voters supported Republican Mitt Romney, 3,449, for President over incumbent Democrat Barack Obama, 2,194.

A total of 5,992 ballots were cast in Wetzel County, representing a nearly 47 percent voter turnout. Of those ballots, 1,683 were submitted during the early voting period. The county’s party affiliation percentages are as follows: Democratic, 59.4; Republican, 38.85; Mountain, 0.7; Libertarian, 0.63; and Constitution, 0.42.

The Wetzel Chronicle will provide full, precinct by precinct results in next week’s edition.