Photo by Gwen Sour From left, candidates Chad Emrick and Tony Morrison watch the live results of the election at the Wood County Courthouse in Parkersburg on Tuesday. According to the unofficial election results, Emrick is slated to become the Vienna mayor and Morrison will take a seat on Vienna City Council.

VIENNA – According to the unofficial results of the 2024 General Election, Chad Emrick won his first term as mayor of Vienna, while Vienna City Council seats filled with incumbent Jim Leach and various new members.

From the results available at press time, from the Wood County Clerk’s office, Emrick held 2,017 votes while his opponents, incumbent Mayor Randy Rapp held 1,760 votes and City Councilwoman Kim Williams held 1,286 votes.

“This campaign has been so tremendous and now we’re here, bringing it all together, I can’t describe it,” said Emrick Tuesday evening. “So many things had to happen to bring me to this point and I believe that our community was ready for change.”

Emrick was quick to discuss his plans for Vienna’s future with hopes to serve as much of the community as possible.

“(I want to) take care of every resident, regardless of where they live, what their income is … I see all residents equally and I believe Vienna, as a whole, came to believe that.”

Emrick said he plans to work with the new councilmembers as they all navigate their new positions. Emrick hopes there will be a way to ensure there is no division in the governing system of Vienna. He also gave a statement to the other candidates involved in the mayoral race.

“We went through a lot over these past few months in campaigning,” said Emrick. “All of that is behind us now, I look forward to coming together, working together and building a great future for Vienna.”

Rapp, who has held three terms as the mayor for Vienna, shared his sentiments about the election and his plans following Emrick’s succession as mayor.

“I’ve spent 20 years with the city and it’s been a privilege to work with some of the city employees … they’re the greatest asset this city has and I’m going to miss the people I worked with,” said Rapp. “Vienna is a great town … when you look around and see the things that we have and the conditions we live in, it’s fantastic. I have enjoyed it thoroughly … but life goes on. I have three grandsons, I’m gonna enjoy working with them and watching them grow up.”

There will a minimum of four new members on council. Unofficial election results Include incumbent Jim Leach as well as Harry Deitzler, Tami Rhodes, Tony Morrison and Henry Sasyn.

At the courthouse as the unofficial results came in, Deitzler shared his excitement to serve the city of Vienna.

“I’m just happy to be able to help out,” Deitzler said. “Whether I would get elected or not, I was still gonna do my best … what’s important is to get the things that make people happy to be there, make Vienna the place that people want to spend time in.”

Rhodes also shared her excitement toward the results.

“I feel very grateful, I feel very humbled that the citizens of Vienna have put their trust and their faith in me,” said Rhodes. “My whole goal in serving on council is to listen to the people and represent them … to do what the people need.”

For the recorder position, unofficial results put Rod Smith at 2,420 votes versus Alice Goodwin’s 2,036 votes. Smith shared sentiments that mirrored the excitement of the other candidates.

“It’s very humbling that the citizens of Vienna decided to put me in as their recorder,” said Smith, “I know I have a lot of work to do and to make sure I meet the citizens’ expectations … I’m so excited for the new council that’s coming in and to keep Vienna moving forward.”

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com