The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Denise Campbell was the highest vote-getter in the Randolph County Board of Education race Tuesday night.

ELKINS – Three new Randolph County Board of Education members were elected Tuesday night, according to initial voting results.

Denise Campbell, Peggy Young Ross and Randy Long were the three top vote-getters in the BOE race, out of 11 candidates on the ballot.

Campbell and Ross will both represent the Cheat District, while Long will represent the Tygart District.

Campbell, who garnered the most votes – a total of 2,493, or 23.09% of those cast – thanked the residents of Randolph County for their support of her campaign and candidacy.

When asked what she planned to accomplish as a member of the BOE, Campbell said she wanted to fight for “keeping our communities together,” the safety of students and getting officials in Charleston to understand that life in rural counties is “totally different.”

“Bus rides are longer. The distance between schools is more far apart,” Campbell told The Inter-Mountain at the Randolph County Courthouse Tuesday night. “It’s not just a mile down the road, and it impacts us so much and they’ve got to focus on funding for rural counties and rural schools. We have to.

“I want to be sure that we are very wise with how we spend the money in the Board of Education and that we represent all children, all communities… If we want Randolph County to grow, we’ve got to have strong schools.”

Ross tallied 1,564 votes, or 14.48%, while Long totaled 1,086, or 10.06%

Other candidates’ vote totals included Anita Thompson with 1,060, or 9.8%; Angela Daniels Lewis, with 1,051, or 9.7%; Tyler Louk with 766, or 7.1%; Phillips Kolsun, with 758, or 7.02%; Jerod Caligiuri with 703, or 6.5%; Robin Davis, with 574, or 5.3%; Robert Fox, with 567, at 5.25%; and Jeri Luby, with 176, at 1.6%.

Campbell, Ross and Long will fill the positions of the three current BOE members who chose not to seek re-election — Dr. Phil Chua (Cheat District), Dr. Sherri Collett (Tygart District) and Janie Newlon (Cheat District).