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Azinger challenged by Fehrenbacher in West Virginia Senate primary

This composite image shows state Sen. Mike Azinger, left, and Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, who are facing off in the Republican primary for the Senate District 3 nomination.

PARKERSBURG – The two Republican candidates vying for the West Virginia Senate District 3 seat say they are focused on economic development and cutting taxes.

Incumbent Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, is being challenged by Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood.

Azinger, 61, is a local businessman, running his family companies Azinger Self-Storage and the Azinger Group. He served in the House of Delegates from 2014 to 2016, when he was elected to the state Senate after then-Sen. David Nohe, R-Wood, stepped down. Azinger finished out that term then he was elected to two full four-year terms in 2018 and 2022.

Azinger came to the Capitol in 2014 during the first session Republicans held the majority in the House after 83 years with the Democrats in control. Azinger’s father, Tom, had served in the House for 20 years.

“We went right at it and passed some great legislation, like Right to Work, major tort reform; we cut taxes and regulations, made West Virginia one of the strongest gun states and pro-life states,” he said. “Now, I am following the lead of our conservative governor (Patrick Morrisey) and pushing to make West Virginia a no-income-tax state.”

There are nine other states in the country which have no income tax, Azinger said, adding they are seeing success in attracting businesses and investment.

“No-income-tax states attract job creators, wealthy people who create jobs, industry and business,” he said. “They also attract population.

“With the governor’s leadership in the last session, we cut the income tax by 5%. We need to finish that and be doggedly determined to get to a complete elimination of the state income tax.”

Azinger said he also wants to work with the state Department of Commerce and focus on some local areas for economic development. He said an official at Commerce will be coming to the area to tour some spots that could be developed.

He also wants to see the state do away with the health care certificate of need system. Azinger points to the Memorial Health System’s complex in Belpre, just across the Ohio River.

“Those are in Belpre and not Parkersburg because of the certificate of need,” Azinger said.

He also wants to work to lower energy prices by using West Virginia’s available natural resources, like coal and natural gas which he feels can create more jobs by attracting businesses to the state.

In 2025, West Virginia ranked 46th in a ranking of state economic competitiveness by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Azinger said. With the changes the state has made in cutting taxes and regulations as well as other factors, West Virginia is poised to jump to 16th.

Those changes are also helping to bring people into the state and grow the population.

Azinger highlighted his conservative credentials, saying he continually supports pro-life issues, Second Amendment rights, less regulation on business development and more. He said he supports having “In God We Trust” displayed in schools and supports E-Verify to ensure people employers hire are not in the country illegally.

“I am the conservative candidate in this race,” he said.

Fehrenbacher, 68, is the retired plant manager for DuPont/Chemours at Washington Works. He spent nine years as the plant manager there and is in his second term in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Since Republicans took control over the Legislature in 2014, they have made a number of substantial improvements to many aspects of the state, he said, adding he is proud to have been a part of that momentum since being elected four years ago.

“However, I also believe that we have taken our eyes off of economic development and job creation, especially in the Senate,” Fehrenbacher said.

During the last legislative session, the House of Delegate developed an agenda called “Jobs First, Opportunity Everywhere” based on feedback after the 2025 legislative session from Republican delegates, he said.

“That feedback was that we needed more focus and attention on job creation,” Fehrenbacher said. “That will be my focus should I be elected into the state Senate.”

The House passed some bills during the last session that did not make it through the Senate. One would have created a non-governmental organization, called Team West Virginia, which was similar to the JobsOhio organization, to go out and market the state and work to attract new employers and help existing employers grow.

“We got that through the House, but the Senate did not advance that,” Fehrenbacher said.

A couple of other bills would have provided training for the aerospace/aviation industry and another would have provided money for hangars at airports.

Officials at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport have been talking with aviation companies to see if any would be interested in coming to the facility, but hangar space and infrastructure needs have been issues.

Fehrenbacher said he attended some aviation industry trade shows and feels there is a significant opportunity for the state for business development.

“The companies would like to sign a long-term lease for a hangar, and if you have a trained workforce, I feel they would come to West Virginia and create a facility that can do everything from maintaining the planes, painting the planes, refurbishing them and installing (electronic, entertainment and internet systems),” he said. “Those things get done in those facilities that I believe our regional airport can do.”

The airport in Clarksburg has around 2,000 jobs and significant tax revenue from those businesses, he said.

But neither of those bills got through the Senate.

“It was a missed opportunity for both the state and the Mid-Ohio Valley,” Fehrenbacher said.

If elected, he said he will continue to work on fiscal responsibility, tax reduction and West Virginia rights and values with a high priority on economic development and job creation.

“West Virginia needs to focus on economic development and job creation, and that is not really the current focus of the state Senate,” Fehrenbacher said. “I pledge to prioritize my efforts to make that happen and to help the families of West Virginia prosper and thrive.”

Democrat Caci Petrehn is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for the District 3 seat, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website, and would face the winner of the GOP primary in November.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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