November 6, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
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Helmick: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Leonhardt: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in West Virginia |
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The 2012 West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, and other state and local elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012. [1]
Incumbent Democratic commissioner Gus Douglass, the longest serving agriculture commissioner in U.S. history, opted not to seek re-election to an eleventh term in office. [2] [3] Democratic state senator Walt Helmick won the open seat over Republican candidate Kent Leonhardt. [4]
Local officials
Statewide officials
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Walt Helmick | 59,376 | 32.89 | |
| Democratic | Sally Shepherd | 44,454 | 24.62 | |
| Democratic | Steve Miller | 39,130 | 21.67 | |
| Democratic | Joe Messineo | 24,613 | 13.63 | |
| Democratic | Bob Tabb | 12,976 | 7.19 | |
| Total votes | 180,549 | 100.0 | ||
Labor unions
Newspapers and other media
Organizations
Organizations
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Walt Helmick | 316,591 | 51.59 | ||
| Republican | Kent Leonhardt | 297,088 | 48.41 | ||
| Total votes | 613,679 | 100.0 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Tabb stressed the fact that she is running as a Republican candidate in the primary since her brother-in-law, Bob Tabb, is running as a Democratic candidate for commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
In the upcoming Agriculture Commissioner race, the Farm Bureau has endorsed Republican Kent Leonhardt over incumbent Democrat Walt Helmick, just as it did in 2012.