(Photo Illustration – MetroCreative)

PARKERSBURG — As Election Day approaches, representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties in Wood County shared their views on their respective approaches to nonpartisan races and campaign organizing.

Democratic Chairman Jeff Fox said the party is not actively campaigning for its candidates in nonpartisan races such as the Board of Education. Instead, he said, the party maintains a list of Democratic candidates but leaves campaigning to individual candidates.

“The only person who can win a campaign is the candidate himself.” Fox said.

He emphasized the importance of door-to-door campaigning through billboards and events and said the party provides training sessions to educate candidates on campaign finance reporting and signage laws. He said the party advises candidates to seek permission from private property owners before placing their campaign signs rather than placing them on public land.

“Although there is a philosophy that you should put your signage anywhere and everywhere because someone might walk by and see it, I am not a big supporter of a cookie-cutter approach to signage.” Fox said. “I think you keep the signs close to your district and that, combined with going door to door, shows how the candidate won.”

Republican Executive Committee Chairman Scot Heckert said each county committee has the flexibility to decide how to handle nonpartisan races.

He said the committee voted to allow nonpartisan candidates to place campaign materials on the Republican ticket if they support state and national Republican tickets. He said this is a change from the previous policy, which excluded non-partisan candidates.

Both party chairmen said they followed state and city regulations regarding campaign signs and how they should be distributed. That includes regulations such as placing signs within 100 feet of any polling place, obtaining permission to place signs and not placing them on state rights-of-way or easements, Heckert said. He also said the city has an ordinance that bans campaign ads 30 days before an election, except on private property.

Fox said there are training sessions for new Democratic candidates. He said they educate candidates on campaign finance reporting requirements, such as submitting reports to the appropriate government offices, such as the city clerk, county clerk or Secretary of State’s office. He stated that the training also included guidance on campaign signs and emphasized the importance of obtaining permission from property owners before placing the signs.

“We keep everyone informed about this, and then as a general rule, I would like to tell candidates that yes, signs are important, but sign permitting is also important.” Fox said.

Wood County has traditionally had smooth elections and voters “I have confidence in our process in Wood County.” He said the reports he received from people who voted earlier this year showed they had a problem. “pleasant experience” with the process. Spreading out voting through early voting over several weeks helps prevent overcrowding at the polls on Election Day, he said.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at [email protected].