BUCKHANNON — In a Mountaineer Journal exclusive exit poll, we found Councilwoman Pam Cuppari-Bucklew, Jack Reger, and Shelia Sines currently lead the field of candidates in the Buckhannon City Council race.
Cuppari and Reger maintained a secure lead, with Cuppari-Bucklew receiving 22 percent and Reger obtaining 20.7 percent.
Sines and Councilman CJ Rylands faced off for the third seat availability, with Sines gaining 15.9 percent and Rylands receiving 13.4 percent.
Scott Preston placed at 9.8 percent, Shauna Jones gained 7.3 percent, Steve Oldaker obtained 3.7 percent, and Freddy Suder also received 3.7 percent. Matthew Kerner placed last at 1.2 percent.
The exit poll was conducted between 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
It is also important to notice, the City of Buckhannon had a significant number of absentee ballots, with 26.07 percent of ballots returned out of the 32.48 percent requested. This exit poll focuses entirely on Election Day voters, omitting other ballot submission factors. With the substantial number of absentee voters, certain candidates’ leads and placements could shift dramatically. Approximately 41.64 percent of registered Democrats requested absentee ballots, in contrast to 31.84 percent of Republicans. If a majority of left-leaning voters submitted their ballots prior to Matthew Kerner’s recent arrest, this could potentially result in Kerner’s final total to increase, while negatively impacting the ballot totals for CJ Rylands and Scott Preston.