Bruce Knell defeated an incumbent for a spot on Putnam County's Board of Education Tuesday - the first time an incumbent board member has lost an election in six years.
With all 46 precincts reporting, Knell received 7,180 votes in the race for two open spots on the school board.
Since 2010, every incumbent whose seat has been on the ballot and ran for re-election has won.
Knell, who has 40 years of teaching experience in various positions, was followed by incumbent Sam Sentelle with 5,274 votes.
Sentelle, a former Putnam schools superintendent, is president of the West Virginia School Board Association and has served on the county school board for three terms.
Jack Coyner, who has also served on the school board for three terms, received 4,710 votes, while Diana McCallister received 4,577 votes.
Ronald Reagan Foster won the Republican primary race for County Commission with 3,798 votes (47 percent).
Joseph Tyree and Dusty Hurley followed with 2,506 and 1,745 votes, respectively.
Tyree was the only candidate to show up at the Putnam County Courthouse on Tuesday night to watch election results come in.
Foster will go up against Democrat Mark Whitt in November to replace outgoing Commissioner Joe Haynes.
Jean Anne Luikart won the race for magistrate in the county's Division 2. She received 8,135 votes to opponent Earl Gorrell's 4,025 votes. A third candidate in that race, Troy Sexton, was ordered removed from the ballot by the state Supreme Court early in the campaign.
According to unofficial election results, 3,359 people took part in early voting in Putnam County.
Circuit Clerk Ronnie Matthews, County Clerk Brian Wood and Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia all ran uncontested in the election. Putnam County Sheriff Steve DeWeese and Assessor Sherry Hayes also ran uncontested. All are Republicans.
Staff writer Erin Beck contributed to this report.
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