The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley State Senator Bill Hamilton announced at a candidate forum Tuesday night at the Elks Lodge that he will not run for re-election in 2026. The event was hosted by the Randolph County Republican Executive Committee.

ELKINS — State Senator Bill Hamilton made a surprise announcement during a candidate forum hosted by the Randolph County Republican Executive Committee Tuesday night at the Elks Lodge.

Candidates appearing on the May 14 ballot in Randolph County were welcome to attend and speak at the event, which was open to the public. A host of candidates running in the primary spoke, but it wasn’t until the end when Hamilton, who represents District 11 in the West Virginia State Senate, made his way to the podium.

“I’m in my off year. Some of you that really know may say I’m off all the time, but I’m in my off year and I don’t run until 2026,” Hamilton said. “I’ve made the decision that I will not run for re-election at that time.”

Hamilton, who has held the 11th Senatorial District seat since 2018, said he plans on doing some work around his farm after his term is over.

“I have some farm work to do because my wife has bought me a tractor,” Hamilton said. “I sold everything last spring and she’s been mad ever since. She told me that someone has to do the brush hog and I told her we could hire somebody. That didn’t suit her, but I had the last words — ‘yes, dear.'”

Hamilton spoke briefly and provided some voting tips for all those attending the event.

“Everybody here is a voter. Whether you are running for office or not, you still vote,” he said. “I have just one suggestion to you all. Do your due diligence and check people out who are running for whatever office they are interested in. You can’t go based on what you hear or read about on Tiktok or Facebook… Don’t go based on rumors, just go and check people’s record out.”  

 Hamilton said a good example of how people are influenced easily and believe what they hear happened during a meeting he attended this week. 

“I was at a meeting Thursday and a lady came up to me and asked me if I knew they were transferring all the animals out of the Wilderness Center in French Creek,” he said. “She told me they were closing it down. I asked her where she heard that and she said from people…

“I reassured her that it wasn’t closing down, but the governor is about to make an announcement, probably around the 15th of April, that it’s going to remain open,” he said. “But they had to make some adjustments to the way the Wildlife Center is run.”

Hamilton, who previously represented the community as a delegate, starting in 2003, closed by giving his opinion on a popular topic of discussion during the event – term limits.

“As far as term limits, we already have term limits and it’s called voting,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 10 terms, so I know it works.”