Wood County man shares elector experience

PARKERSBURG -- A Wood County man was one of the state's five electors to the Electoral College who carried out his duties earlier this week in Charleston in delivering the state's five electoral votes for President Donald Trump.

Lewis Rexroad, 77, said it has been a life-long dream to be an elector and to participate in the Electoral College. He is a retired driver and delivery man for UPS and worked for the company for 33 years, primarily in Tyler and Pleasants counties, joining UPS after his discharge from the Air Force in 1966.

He put his name into consideration at the Summer Meeting of the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee and was voted in as a elector for the 2020 presidential election.

"I mentioned that I would be interested in being one, not really thinking I would have any chance," he said. "I have always been interested in politics ever since I was a kid in school."

He followed presidential elections, the races for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and many statewide races.

Rexroad is a life-long Republican and has been interested and involved in politics since his days as a student in Marion County. Rexroad was raised in Mannington where he said all the Republicans in the county would fit in a phone booth.

He admired former West Virginia Gov. Arch Moore, a Republican.

Rexroad is an at-large member of the state Republican Executive Committee, serving for years, and serves on the Wood County Republican Executive Committee. He also has served as a ballot commissioner and has worked the polls in Wood County for 20 years.

He has traveled the state, going to many Republican events, including many Lincoln Day Dinners.

Rexroad is known statewide by a distinctive red sports coat he wears to many events. People sometimes don't recognize him without that coat.

He also is in the West Virginia Voters Hall of Fame, meaning he hasn't missed voting in an election for 50 years.

He had been elected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, but had to send in his vote for that by proxy. At one point, he was also supposed to be part of a tour of the White House for convention delegates who weren't able to go in person due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, the time the tour was scheduled was when the president tested positive for COVID and the tour was canceled.

He was eventually elected by the state Republican Executive Committee to be an elector.

The number of electors is based on a state's representation in the legislature. West Virginia has three congressional districts and two senators making for five electors.

Rexroad said he has managed to stay healthy and was able to go to Charleston on Monday to cast his electoral vote with the four other electors committed to Trump

"The way they are talking this may be the last time West Virginia has five electors," he said.

For years state officials have been saying the state has been losing population and has been in danger of losing a seat in the House of Representatives because of the declining population numbers which is expected to be reflected in the 2020 Census.

Rexroad said he went to the Capitol and into a room close to Gov. Jim Justice's office near the Secretary of State.

"We went in there and met," Rexroad said.

All five of the electors were committed to Trump as the winner in the State of West Virginia under state law.

They had to sign five copies of the Certificate of the Vote, which are held for state records, one is sent to the president of the U.S. Senate to be part of the tallying process and others that had various importance. They each had an individual ballot they filled out.

Secretary of State Mac Warner made a few comments about the Electoral College's history and how it has changed over the years. Justice also made a few comments, via video screen from his office.

There were processes regarding getting their signatures on the right documents and getting the state seal in the proper place.

"We all got a copy to bring home with us," Rexroad said of a document showing they participated in the state's electoral vote. "That is something I definitely want to hang on to."

Rexroad represented the 1st Congressional District along with Elizabeth Bloch in the 2nd District, Justice in the 3rd District and at-large electors Paul Hartling and Gary Dungan.

When it is all said and done, he was thankful for the opportunity to serve as an elector.

"It is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life," Rexroad said. "Being interested in politics this is number-one on my bucket list of things that could happen in my life."

Still, with all of the challenges West Virginia faced with the pandemic, he thought the state did a good job in carrying out the elections this past year.

He is proud of his ties to the Republican Party at both the state and local levels.

Even though Trump won the state, he ended up losing nationally to Democrat Joe Biden.

Rexroad still has a lot of concerns about how the election was conducted across the country and questions about how votes were counted in a number of swing states.

"I really do think President Trump was the winner," Rexroad said. "It was bittersweet knowing that this was a vote that may not have helped get the job done.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com