In a special primary election Saturday, voters in West Virginia selected two of three candidates to vie for governor in the general election later this year.
Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat and the president of the Senate, won his party’s nomination with 40% of the vote. He was among six candidates seeking the nomination.
From a field of eight Republican contenders, businessman Bill Maloney from Morgantown captured 45% of the votes and the nomination.
The Mountain Party had already selected Bob Henry Baber as its nominee.
The winner of the general election on Oct. 4 will finish the term of former Gov. Joe Manchin.
Manchin resigned to take the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who died in June 2010. He then won a full, six-year senate term in a special election in November.
Tomblin has been acting governor since Manchin left office.
