VIENNA — A city councilman from Vienna and former prosecutor in Wood County who was encouraged to run for the House of Delegates has decided against it.

While he could serve on council and in the House of Delegates, Harry Deitzler said he could not do justice to either while holding both.

“My primary current obligation is to the Vienna residents who entrusted me to hold the seat on our city council,” Deitzler, a Republican, said in a Facebook post on Saturday. “I am totally committed to meet that obligation.”

Saturday was the deadline to file for state office in West Virginia, although the secretary of state continues to process candidacy papers postmarked by the deadline and mailed.

Deitzler said Tuesday he was raised Republican and his mother sent him to Camp Caesar, the GOP youth camp, when Arch Moore first ran for governor.

“Nevertheless, my parents always taught me that the person is more important than the party,” Deitzler said.

Deitzler became an assistant prosecutor in Wood County after he graduated from law school in 1976 at West Virginia University. Deciding to register as a Democrat depended on an election for Wood County prosecutor.

“The race was between Blaine Myers, Republican, and Joe McFarland, Democrat. I could not afford to lose my job over politics, so when McFarland won, I registered Democrat. If Myers would have won, I would have registered Republican,” Deitzler said. “In those days, Republicans were not generally elected locally or statewide in West Virginia, although Wood County did have the only Republican member of the state Senate.”

Several elections ago it became clear his vote would not count locally, statewide or nationally as a Democrat in West Virginia, “so I registered non-affiliated,” Deitzler said.

“Then the Republican Party enacted the rule that non-affiliated voters could not vote in Republican primaries, so I registered Republican,” he said. “Regardless of registration, I still hold the beliefs of my parents more than six decades ago that the person is more important than the party.”

The Democratic Party in West Virginia, optimistic over the recent elections in other parts of the country, has made a push to fill the ballot with candidates. Democrats will be on the primary election ballot in all House races in Wood County and in the Senate 3rd District, the latest candidate posting by the secretary of state being Democrat Jim Marion of Mineral Wells for the 14th House District.

Deitzler is in the 11th Delegate District. Candidates in the 11th District so far listed by the secretary of state are Democrat Daniel Miller of Vienna and Republicans Jeff Sandy of Vienna and Andrew Borkowski, president of Parkersburg City Council.

“Although I would love to see parity between the parties both locally and nationally, I have not seen an indication that Democrats are making a comeback in West Virginia or Wood County,” Deitzler said.