By Steven Allen Adams | steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
CHARLESTON — The first poll of the 2011 West Virginia governor’s race was released today, showing the Democratic frontrunner with a 14-point lead over his Republican opponent.
The poll, conducted by the Mellman Group and paid for by the Democratic Governor’s Association, shows Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, the acting governor [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
The campaign of Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, the acting governor and Democratic nominee in the Oct 4. special election for governor of West Virginia, criticized his Republican opponent, businessman Bill Maloney, for spending his “millions” in TV commercials across the state.
In an email, Joe Shafer, campaign manager for the Tomblin campaign, [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
With less than two months left in the 2011 special election for governor of West Virginia, one campaign is receiving a boost while another is putting its name out there.
Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, the acting governor and Democratic nominee for governo, received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association – something [...]

Republican candidate for W.Va. governor Bill Maloney talks to a supporter after speaking to the Kanawha County Republican Executive Committee. (Photo/Steven Allen Adams).
By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
Bill Maloney, the Republican nominee in the Oct.4 special election for governor of West Virginia, made his first public appearance since beating former Secretary of State Betty Ireland May 14.
Maloney [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
Happy Monday. I hope you all have recovered from the primary and election night Saturday. I chose to spend my Sunday shooting random firearms and relaxing in a hot tub. But today is a new day, with lawmakers meeting in Charleston for the Legislature’s interim meetings.
I’m covering these meetings as I write [...]

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, a candidate for governor in the 2011 primary, congratulated Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, the acting governor and Democratic nominee in the Oct. 4 primary. (Photo/Steven Allen Adams)
By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
While high school students were having their proms Saturday night, both Democrat Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, the acting governor, [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
We have less than 24 hours until the polls open at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow for West Virginia’s primary for governor. It’s been a wild and musical ride. I’ll explain what I mean by musical in a moment. Either way, the field of six Democrats and eight Republicans have made for some interesting [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
The 11-day early voting period for West Virginia primary for governor, which ended yesterday, saw a 8.36 increase in turnout over last year’s general election primary according to Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.
Tennant briefed the media on the updated numbers at a Thursday morning press conference at the State Capitol Complex in [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
Hey friends, just a friendly reminder that early voting for the 2011 gubernatorial primary ends today at 5 p.m. You have just around five hours to get to your local courthouse and cast a vote for either one of six Democrats or one of eight Republicans.
As of today 35,331 people have cast [...]

By Steven Allen Adams
steven@westvirginiawatchdog.org
Candidates make a lot of speeches and say a lot of things, but what do they really care about? One way to narrow down what the candidates care about is by using word clouds. Word cloud programs, such as Wordle, take a series of text and pull out the most used words. [...]