CHARLESTON, W.Va (AP) — West Virginia Republican voters ousted the state Senate president during Tuesday’s primary elections, as well as an incumbent doctor who drew fire for breaking with his party over school vaccination policy.

In the state’s eastern panhandle, U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret veteran Tom Willis defeated Republican Senate President Craig Blair, who has helmed the chamber since 2021. And State Health and Human Resources Chair Sen. Mike Maroney was defeated by Chris Rose, a former coal miner and power utility company electrician.

Maroney’s loss came after he publicly advocated against a bill pushed by the Republican caucus that would have allowed some students who don’t attend traditional public institutions or participate in group extracurriculars like sports to be exempt from vaccinations typically required for children starting day care or school.

West Virginia is only one of a handful of states in the U.S. that offers only medical exemptions to vaccine requirements. Maroney, a radiologist from Marshall County, called the bill “an embarrassment” on the Senate floor and said he believed lawmakers were harming the state.

Messages left for Willis, Blair, Maroney and Rose weren’t immediately returned Wednesday.

All 100 seats in the state House of Delegates were up for a vote, and 17 out of 34 state Senate seats. Fourteen Republican incumbents were up for reelection, with nine facing challengers. Four incumbents lost to challengers, including Blair, Maroney, Sen. Robert Karnes and Sen. Chandler Swope.

At least four Republican incumbents lost their House of Delegates primaries: Diana Winzenreid, David Adkins, Heather Tully and Don Forsht.

In one of the most contested races of the night, Republican incumbent Sen. Patricia Rucker narrowly defeated Del. Paul Espinosa. Espinosa was recruited to run for the state Senate after Rucker said she planned to challenge Blair for the Senate presidency. Facing pressure from Blair and other Senate leaders, she later dropped out of the Senate president race, but she was removed as Senate education committee chair.

Rucker endorsed Willis in his matchup against Blair.

Unaffiliated voters have been allowed to participate in Republican primaries in West Virginia since 1986, but this year marked the last time they could do that. The state GOP voted in January to close its primary to registered Republicans only starting in 2026. According to the secretary of state’s website, 24.7% of West Virginia registered voters have no party affiliation.

That last chance to vote in the GOP primary for unaffiliated voters could be one reason for an apparent jump in voter participation this year. According to unofficial totals, more than 224,000 West Virginia adults voted in the GOP presidential race. That compares with 198,000 in the 2020 GOP presidential primary and 157,000 in 2016.

In Maroney’s race, Rose had the backing of West Virginians for Health Freedom, a group that advocates against vaccine mandates.

During the debate about this year’s vaccine bill, which was ultimately vetoed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice, Maroney said: “I took an oath to do no harm. There’s zero chance I can vote for this bill.”

West Virginia law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis-b, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough, unless they receive a medical exemption. West Virginia does not require COVID-19 vaccinations.

Alicia West Fancher, a mother who lives in a neighboring district to Maroney’s, is a member of West Virginians for Health Freedom and pushed for Rose’s election, said decisions about vaccines should be made by families, not legislators.

“To me, they’re playing God over the health of my children,” she said. “They don’t get to decide what’s right for my children. I get to decide with God’s help. It’s really sick to me to see all these politicians making health care choices over my family.”

Blair served three terms in the Senate, including the last three years as president. Before that, Blair spent seven years in the House of Delegates.

Willis has served more than two decades with the National Guard and is a real estate attorney. The Hedgesville resident is co-owner of the Glen Ferris Inn overlooking the picturesque Kanawha Falls in Fayette County. In 2018, Willis finished fourth among six candidates in a U.S. Senate GOP primary.

ALBEMARLE COUNTY — Virginia State Police and Albemarle County Police responded Wednesday morning to a rest area on Interstate 64 for an emergency call concerning gunshots being fired, according to state police.

The incident took place at an eastbound rest area near mile marker 105 in Albemarle County.

As of 8:30 a.m., authorities had cleared the facility and found no evidence of a shooting having taken place, police said.

The rest area will be re-opening shortly, police said Wednesday morning.

Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).

This week’s primaries are ovah, so we’re calling it a night! Here are the most important races where ABC News has reported a projection:

– Maryland’s Senate matchup is set. In the GOP primary, former Gov. Larry Hogan easily dispatched his primary opposition, giving Republicans their best possible nominee for what will still be a very tough general election in deep-blue Maryland. In the Democratic primary, meanwhile, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks edged out Rep. David Trone in an expensive, hard-fought race. She now has the chance to become just the third Black woman elected to the Senate in U.S. history.

– In Maryland’s 3rd District, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth won the very crowded Democratic primary, defeating Harry Dunn, the former Capitol Hill police officer who helped defend the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Given the district’s blue lean, Elfreth should win in November, adding more women to the House, where women are still just 29 percent of its members.

– Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the Republican primary for West Virginia governor in a close race over former state Del. Moore Capito. He’s heavily favored to win in November in this red state and will likely be a hardline conservative governor, as he’s associated with the tea party wing of the party.

– In the GOP primary for West Virginia senator, Gov. Jim Justice easily defeated Rep. Alex Mooney, carrying all but four counties in exurban Washington, D.C. Justice will be heavily favored to win the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who announced his retirement last year.

– In the Republican primary for West Virginia’s 1st District, incumbent Rep. Carol Miller fended off a far-right challenge from former state Sen. Derrick Evans, who’d previously served three months in jail after being found guilty in a case related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She’ll be favored to comfortably hold on to her seat in November.

– In the Republican primary for West Virginia’s 2nd District, state Treasurer Riley Moore romped to victory over several other GOP candidates vying to succeed Mooney (who ran for Senate). Moore is the nephew of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and the grandson of former Gov. Arch Moore; he’ll be a shoo-in this fall for the deeply Republican seat.

– In Maryland’s 6th District, which was vacated by Trone for his ill-fated Senate bid, Democrats went with a familiar name in their primary: April McClain Delaney, a former Biden administration official whose husband, John Delaney, held this seat for six years before Trone. On the Republican side, voters once again expressed their support for Neil Parrott, a local lawmaker who was the GOP nominee in 2020 and 2022. Delaney will be favored in the general election, but this is a seat that could get competitive under the right circumstances for Republicans.

– In Maryland’s 2nd District, Democratic voters nominated Baltimore County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski Jr. to face off against Republican political commentator and frequent political candidate Kimberly Klacik. Biden won general election voters in this district 59 to 39 percent in 2020, so it’s highly likely Johnny O will be the next representative of this northern-Baltimore seat.

– In Nebraska’s 2nd District, Rep. Don Bacon easily turned back a primary challenge from right-wing Republican Dan Frei. That’s bad news for Democrats, who would’ve had a much easier time beating Frei than Bacon in November in this swing seat.

—G. Elliott Morris, Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections