MORGANTOWN – Longtime West Virginia Senator Bob Beach wasn’t thinking about another run for public office when he announced in October that he would not seek re-election to the state senate. However, not long after revealing his decision to step away from the legislature after more than two decades of service in Charleston Beach was approached with a new proposition that piqued his interest enough to run for public office once more.
“I’ve decided to put my name in the hat and file my papers to run for county commission in Monongalia County,” Beach said in a video posted to Facebook.
Beach, a Democrat, was first appointed to the state House of Delegates in 1998 to fill the vacancy created by the passing of his father, Robert C. Beach and has served in the legislature ever since. He served in the house through 2010 when he was first elected to the state senate. Beach formerly chaired the Senate Transportation Committee when Democrats held the majority in the senate.
In November, Beach said he was approached about the possibility of running for the county commission and explored the idea for the past couple of months and as he did so identified what he believed to be weaknesses he could address as a commissioner.
“One of those being the nature of the contact or the interaction with those in the rural areas and we believe there are some weaknesses there,” Beach explained. “We’ve had some folks step up and say ‘that is a problem for us.'”
Incumbent Republican Sean Sikora has filed to seek re-election and a second six-year term on the commission. Republican Charles Hartzog has also filed to run for county commission.