Published: May 16, 2008 10:45 pm         

Canvass narrows margin; LaRue wins by mere two votes

Incumbent’s victory carries her to general election

KEYSER - The votes are all counted and incumbent Mineral County Commissioner Janice LaRue maintained her position as top vote-getter on the Republican ticket for the county commission.

The margin between her and challenger Roger Leatherman, however, was narrowed from five votes to a mere two.

County Clerk Lauren Ellifritz called it the closest race she can remember in recent Mineral County history.

Results from Tuesday’s election initially placed LaRue with 1,102 votes and Leatherman with 1,097. Annette Favara trailed a distant third with 834 votes.

Those results did not include the provisional ballots, however, which were not counted until the official canvass on Friday afternoon.

The provisional ballots — ballots that have been contested or questioned for some reason — included 30 for the Republican ticket, meaning the race between LaRue and Leatherman could easily have gone either way.

With LaRue now the official winner, she will proceed on to the general election in November, where she will face Democratic candidate Donald C. Ashby.

Ashby, who was uncontested on his party’s ballot, finished with 3,058 votes.

Contact Liz Beavers at lizbeavers@yahoo.com.