Mike Azinger

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Mike Azinger
Member of the West Virginia Senate
from the 3rd district
Assumed office
December 1, 2016
Serving with Donna Boley
Preceded byBob Ashley
Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates
from the 10th district
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2016
Preceded by
Succeeded byVernon Criss
Personal details
Born (1965-04-12) April 12, 1965 (age 59)
Parkersburg, West Virginia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Vienna, West Virginia, U.S.

Michael Thomas Azinger is an American politician. He is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate,[1][2] representing the 3rd district since January 11, 2017. Prior to this, Azinger represented the 10th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2015 to 2017, succeeding his father, Tom Azinger. Prior to service in the West Virginia legislature, he was a resident of Ohio, where he ran twice for the Sixth Congressional District. In 1998, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination, coming in third behind Lt. Governor Nancy Hollister and former Congressman Frank Cremeans. In 2000, he won the Republican nomination, but failed in his bid to unseat Rep. Ted Strickland, taking only 40% of the vote.[3]

2021 storming of the United States Capitol[edit]

Azinger was present at the armed insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Azinger was attending the Stop the Steal rallies, where he claims he saw no evidence of violence. “The people that are responsible for that were Antifa, and there’s evidence of that,” he said, referring to videos that have made that claim. “Trump people don’t destroy property. "That’s not what we do. "They've been burning cities for months now."[4] Continuing he said, “I don’t think Trump people broke into the Capitol.” Both claims have been widely disputed and proven wrong.[5] Over 800 people have been convicted of various crimes.[6] Azinger himself did not enter or walk to the Capitol.

Election results[edit]

West Virginia Senate District 3 (Position A) election, 2022[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Azinger (incumbent) 20,812 65.71%
Democratic Jim Leach 10,861 34.29%
Total votes 31,673 100.0%
West Virginia Senate District 3 (Position A) election, 2018[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Azinger (incumbent) 19,964 57.40%
Democratic Jim Leach 14,818 42.60%
Total votes 34,782 100.0%

In 2015, Republican Senator David Nohe resigned just one year into his four-year term due to family commitments.[9] Delegate Bob Ashley was appointed to fill the seat until the next regularly scheduled election.[9] Rather than run for the unexpired term, Ashley chose to challenge Senator Donna Boley for a full term in the Senate.[9] As a result, area businessman Sam Winans and Delegate Azinger ran for the remaining two years on the term.[9] Azinger beat Winans 61-39% to advance to the November general election against Democratic nominee Gregory Smith, former CEO of Mountain State Blue Cross-Blue Shield.[9] Azinger beat Smith 55-45% to win the unexpired term.[10]

West Virginia Senate District 3 (Position A) special election, 2016[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Azinger 23,034 54.64%
Democratic Gregory K. Smith 19,125 45.36%
Total votes 42,159 100.0%
West Virginia Senate District 3 (Position A) Republican primary, 2016
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Azinger 9,065 60.72%
Republican Sam Winans 5,865 39.28%
Total votes 14,930 100.0%
West Virginia House District 10 election, 2014[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike Azinger 8,375 23.48%
Republican Frank Deem 7,479 20.96%
Republican John R. Kelly 6,932 19.43%
Democratic Dan Poling 5,927 16.61%
Democratic Don Stansberry 3,886 10.89%
Democratic Paul E. Miller 3,077 8.62%
Total votes 35,676 100.0%

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Mike Azinger". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  2. ^ "Mike Azinger's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  3. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Mike Azinger". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Azinger blames Antifa for invasion of U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters". Retrieved Jan 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Reuters Staff (January 9, 2021). "Fact check: Men who stormed Capitol identified by Reuters are not undercover Antifa as posts claim". reuters.com. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Staff (April 15, 2022). "The Capitol siege: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history". npr.org.
  7. ^ "Statewide Results: General Election - November 8, 2022". West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  8. ^ "Statewide Results: General Election - November 6, 2018". West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Three candidates vying for unexpired W.Va. Senate seat". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. April 24, 2016.
  10. ^ "Statewide Results General Election - November 8, 2016". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  11. ^ "Statewide Results: General Election - November 8, 2016". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  12. ^ "Statewide Results: General Election - November 4, 2014". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.


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