PARKERSBURG — Losses by a number of established Republican incumbents in Tuesday’s primary might be a signal from voters that some of the hard right positions some have taken may not be sitting well with many voters, said the chairman of the political science department at West Virginia University.

Around 10 incumbent Republican lawmakers lost to their Republican challengers.

Tuesday’s primary saw Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, lose to school teacher Amy Nichole Grady 6,402 (39 percent) to 5,726 (35 percent), according to unofficial results reported by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. Other incumbents who lost included Sen. Sue Cline, R-Wyoming; Sen. John Pitsenbarger, R-Nicholas; Del. Charles “Chuck” Little, R-Wirt; Del. Martin “Rick” Atkinson, III, R-Roane; Del. Scott Cadle, R-13th; Del. Eric Porterfield, R- Mercer; Del. Kevan Bartlett, R-Kanawha; and House Speaker Pro Tempore Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan. They were all defeated by Republican challengers.

John Kilwein, chairman of the political science department at West Virginia University, said Carmichael and Cline losing stood out to him because both incumbents were defeated by teachers.

Kilwein talked about how Carmichael did not seem supportive of educators and the teacher strikes over the past couple of years and seemed to go against the teachers’ unions.

“There may be a little bit of payback there,” he said. “Maybe in a couple ways the Republican Party got a message back that this focus of being opposed to the unions and opposed to the teachers and support for the charter schools was not good. Maybe you can only go so far.”

Voters seemed more concerned about education and the kind of education system their children are more likely to face in public schools, Kilwein said.

Other voters, like the ones who voted out Eric Porterfield, R-Mercer, might have been tired of the remarks he was putting forth about a variety of people and groups, he speculated.

“There is a limit to what people will take,” Kilwein said. “You have to wonder how long people would keep taking some of the things he said and stay in office.

“He pushed it to the limits. Even as strongly of a Republican district as he was in, he obviously went too far for people.”

However, Kilwein said he didn’t want to read too much in what the voters did Tuesday as Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, still has strong support in Tuesday’s primary.

He thinks it might be an indication that many voters want to return to a more moderate stance.

“People here are conservative and they are supporting (U.S. President Donald) Trump, but they also support good public schools,” Kilwein said. “Charter schools don’t make a lot of sense in a rural state like West Virginia.

“To keep pushing that and opposition to the teachers’ unions, maybe it is a wake-up call. Who knows?”

The fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Salango did so well shows that U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin still has a lot of pull in the state, he said.

“It will be an interesting gubernatorial race,” Kilwein said.

Carmichael lost his primary to Republican challenger Amy Nichole Grady. He has been Senate President for four years, he been in the Senate eight years and in the House of Delegates for more than 10 years.

Carmichael said it was a very unusual election as the date had been moved back and the state was dealing with a high number of absentee ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was an incredibly unusual election,” he said. “The regular timing had been delayed almost 30 days, all of the absentee ballots and I think a lot of teachers were energized and engaged in my election process, because they sort of needed a villain. I became the villain in this.”

Carmichael said that during his time as Senate President, teachers, school service personnel and public employees got more raises than anytime in state history.

“They had no increases to their PEIA premiums,” he said. “It was all done in a 60-day legislative session without tax increases. It is a good record.”

Carmichael said he accepts the decision of the voters and the election process.

“I embrace the decision of the voters and respect their decision,” he said. “I am proud of my accomplishments over the past several years as president. I think we have done more to move the state forward than any time in the history of our state. I can sleep soundly at night knowing we did all we could at the moment in time we had.”

Carmichael also congratulated Grady on her victory.

“It was a wonderful campaign and she is a terrific lady,” he said. “I wish her the best.”

Carmichael said people have asked him if he will consider running again at some point in the future.

“That is something I don’t even want to think about right now,” he said. “I don’t have any aspirations to run again for the legislature. It is time for new people to step up and see what they can do in their opportunities in these new roles.”

He said he has heard from people asking him to consider a higher office, based on what he did in the Senate.

“I haven’t even given any thought to a future race,” Carmichael said. “I think I want to sit back and reflect a little bit on the many accomplishments we have had and just figure out what the next step is in my life.”

Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, said Carmichael ended up alienating a lot of educators over the last three years with his position on charter schools, his version of education reform, education savings accounts and not being willing to move forward many recommendations from the Educational Task Force recommendations.

“It just shows that once pushed far enough, educators will stand up and say ‘enough is enough,”‘ Lee said. “That is what they have done.”

The race is now between Republican Amy Nichole Grady, a teacher, and Democrat Bruce Ashworth, a union laborer.

Lee said they will look at both candidates and where they stand on the issues and will make a recommendation in the coming months on who they will endorse.

“A number of lawmakers had close races Tuesday and the teachers did remember,” Lee said. “The work is not over as the general election is just as important.”

Incumbent Charles “Chuck” Little, R-9th, lost his primary to Republican D. Shannon Kimes with Little receiving 842 votes to Kimes’ 1,205, according to the unofficial tallies from Tuesday night.

Kimes will face Democrat Jim Marion in November.

Little said he isn’t sure what happened.

“I don’t know if I have an answer for that,” he said. “I really don’t. I was surprised.”

Right now, Little said he does not have any plans to run for office again in the future.

There are still six months left on this term and Little said there will be special sessions to deal with the projected budget shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state also received $1.2 billion in federal funds and Little said there are questions about who has the authority to spend those funds and how they will be distributed.

“That is a big issue,” he said.

Little said he tried to work for the benefit of the people in his district, especially the people of Wirt County.

“I really tried to help the school district and the county commission over there,” he said.

However, he kept facing challenges of high costs as legislation was reviewed in the Finance Committee.

“If your legislation doesn’t cost anything, you can get anything passed,” Little said. “If there is money involved they will fight you tooth and nail not to let it happen. It is a process.”

Regardless of who gets elected, Little said Wirt County still needs a lot of attention, especially the schools. Little said he tried to get new playground equipment for the Primary Center.

He said the playground is where children learn how to interact with other youth and goes a long way in helping to build their character.

“Kids playing together, that is where you learn to get along with everybody and how to deal with people,” Little said. “They need this equipment to do that. I tried to do something on that and wasn’t able to get it done.”

Candidates never know how they are going to do until the election, Little said.

“You give it your best shot and move on,” he said.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com