By Rick Steelhammer
For HDMedia
The West Virginia Republican Executive Committee reelected Delegate Josh Holstein, R-Boone, as chairman of the state Republican Party during a meeting Saturday in Charleston.
Holstein will serve a four-year term after being elected to a one-year term at the helm of the state GOP in a vote last summer to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former party chief Matt Herridge, who resigned after being appointed state Commerce Secretary.
Also elected to the state GOP leadership team on Saturday were:
- Tony Hodge, co-chairman; Hodge was the state GOP’s former secretary and is a former chairman of the Putnam County Republican Executive Committee.
- Kelli Sobonya, secretary; Sobonya, of Huntington, also serves on the Cabell County Commission.
- Michele Davis, reelected treasurer; Davis is from Beaver in Raleigh County.
“I am humbled and so grateful for the confidence of our State Executive Committee,” Holstein said in a news release following Saturday’s vote. “I look forward to continuing my service as chairman and leading our party towards victory.”
Holstein, now 24, was 19 when elected to his first term in the House of Delegates.
W.Va. GOP disavows Pritt
In another development on Saturday, the state Republican Executive Committee voted unanimously to formally disavow former state Delegate David Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, following his arrest on July 22 on a charge of “enticement of a minor” involving a female student. Pritt was a teacher at Oak Hill High School at the time the charge was filed.
Hodge presented a letter of disavowal and addressed the executive committee prior to the vote.
“This is a matter that none of us wished to face but that all of us have a duty to address,” Hodge told the committee. “This body has never in its history voted to disavow a candidate. That fact alone tells you how rare and how necessary this moment is.”
“The West Virginia Republican Party made the right and moral decision to put aside partisan politics and side with basic human dignity,” Holstein said after the vote.
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