LEWISBURG (WVDN) – The Republican candidate for House District 46 will not appear The West Virginia Daily News’s political debate.
The Daily News received word on Tuesday evening, Oct. 25, that Honaker would not be attending the Thursday, Oct. 27 debate at Carnegie Hall.
Honaker, an incumbent candidate, was invited to debate his Democratic opponent, Paul Detch, at the event.
Honaker’s camp told The West Virginia Daily News that he could not come to the debate because he needed to coach the Eastern Greenbrier Middle School football team at their last game of the season on Thursday night. Honaker is the head football coach at the school.
Honaker was appointed to the 42nd district of the House of Delegates in 2021 after Barry Bruce resigned from the position citing health concerns.
He is now running for office in District 46, because redistricting in Greenbrier County has divided the county along Rt. 219, with citizens east of Rt. 219 voting in House District 46 and those west of 219 voting in House District 47.
The West Virginia Daily News has arranged for Todd Longanacre, the Republican candidate for House District 47, to debate Detch instead.
Longanacre is an incumbent Republican candidate, who is running against Heather Hill.
Hill declined to participate in the debate. The West Virginia Daily News reported on Oct. 26 that it had received word that Hill had ceased campaigning for the position, even though her name remains on the ballot.
As of the time of this writing, state District 10 senatorial candidates Sen. Stephen Baldwin (D), Vince Deeds (R ), and Aaron Ransom are set to debate as well.
The debate begins at 6 p.m. at Carnegie Hall. Longanacre and Detch face off first, and then the District 10 senatorial candidates debate next. The public is welcome to attend the debate, which will also be livestreamed on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/wvdailynews
