Published: November 05, 2008 01:33 am      

Reed keeps commission seat

Pat Reed, a Realtor and insurance agent in Beckley, had no trouble Tuesday in keeping her seat on the Raleigh County Commission, easily beating back a challenge by Republican rival Charles “Chuck” Carpenter.

Carpenter, an ROTC instructor at Woodrow Wilson High School, focused his bid for an upset on addressing the infrastructure needs such as water and sewer service of county residents living in isolated pockets and on improving law enforcement coverage in outlying areas where responses to calls have at times been slow.

In two debates within a week of each other, Reed pointed to a number of positive strides since she first won her seat six years ago.

Among accomplishments she counted were the Burning Rock all-terrain vehicle trail, improvements in extending water and sewer service, the day reporting center for non-violent offenders to lower costs at the Southern Regional Jail and a move toward building a multimillion-dollar judicial annex in uptown Beckley.

Carpenter ran three times unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates but wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on a political career after his latest setback.

“That’s probably not a good time to ask me that question,” Carpenter said after final but unofficial results showed Reed had captured 14,131 votes to his 12,265, for a percentage divide of 53.5 to 46.4.

“I never say never. Who can tell what the future might bring. I’ll have to take a close look at that and see if I want to continue running for office. I don’t think I’m through with politics. I’ll still be involved with the local Republican Party and do all those kind of things. As to whether I’m going to run again, ask me in a year and half from now.”

Carpenter figured he was the victim of heavy straight ticket voting by Democrats in an election that inspired a higher than normal turnout with the emphasis on the presidential race.

Repeated attempts to reach Reed were unsuccessful late Tuesday night.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com