Berkeley Springs businessman Sean Forney will be on the Republican primary ballot on May 8 against Morgan County Commissioner Bob Ford.
Bob Ford
And former County Commissioner Stacy Dugan is leaning toward running as a Democrat.
Dugan has until Friday at 4:30 to register to run in the primary.
No other Democrats have entered the race.
In 2008, Dugan won her first race for Morgan County Commissioner, defeating then Republican Commissioner Glen Stotler by 4,039 votes to 3,139.
Dugan was defeated in her 2014 re-election bid by Republican County Commissioner Joel Tuttle by 3,010 to 2,038.
Forney is president of Forney Investments and owns Berkeley Springs Self Storage.
Forney is also President of a local insurance agency – InsureAll LLC – run out of the Nationwide Insurance offices in Berkeley Springs.
Forney serves on the Morgan County Economic Development Authority, the Town of Bath Development Authority, and sits on the board of directors of the Morgan County Little League.
Stacy Dugan
It’s Forney’s first run for political office.
“I want to help businesses locate here,” Forney said. “I’m blessed in the sense that I’ve dealt with businesses from all aspects – industrial, retail, manufacturer. What can we do attract businesses to come to Morgan County?”
Bob Ford was the only elected Republican official in Morgan County to publicly support and campaign for President Donald Trump during the 2016 elections.
In 2014, Forney ran a business called Cacapon River Outfitters that was a canoe, kayak, and tube rental operation located along the Cacapon River in Great Cacapon, West Virginia.
Sean Forney
“I saw an opportunity to share my passion of the river with the thousands of tourists who come to the area every year,” Forney said on his LinkedIn page. “We built the company in less than two months from start to operating. We had a very successful first year and grew during that time. I was responsible for sales, marketing, and operations of the business. After much debate we decided we would not open during the summer of 2015 due to our busy schedules. We sold the company’s assets to another local company that was planning on getting into the outfitter business.”
Forney is a former president and active member of the Berkeley Springs Rotary Club.