Photo by Gwen Sour From left, candidates Chad Emrick and Tony Morrison watch live election results at the Wood County Courthouse in Parkersburg on Tuesday. According to unofficial election results, Emrick will become mayor of Vienna and Morrison will take a seat on the Vienna City Council.

VIENNA – According to unofficial results from the 2024 general election, Chad Emrick won his first term as mayor of Vienna, while the Vienna City Council seats were filled by incumbent Jim Leach and several new members.

From results available at the time of this publication, from the Wood County Clerk’s office, Emrick garnered 2,017 votes while his opponents, incumbent Mayor Randy Rapp garnered 1,760 votes and City Councilwoman Kim Williams garnered 1,286 votes.

“This campaign has been so tremendous and now that we’re here, putting it all together, I can’t describe it.” Emrick said Tuesday night. “A lot had to happen to get to this point and I think our community was ready for change.”

Emrick was quick to discuss his plans for the future of Vienna in hopes of serving as much of the community as possible.

“(I want to) take care of every resident, regardless of where they live, what their income is… I see all residents equally and I think Vienna, as a whole, has come to believe that.”

Emrick said he plans to work with the new council members as they navigate their new positions. Emrick hopes there is a way to ensure there is no division in Vienna’s governing system. He also gave a statement to the other candidates involved in the mayoral race.

“We went through a lot during these last few months in the campaign,” -said Emrick-. “All that is behind us, I hope to unite, work together and build a great future for Vienna.”

Rapp, who has been mayor of Vienna for three terms, shared his feelings about the election and his plans following Emrick’s succession as mayor.

“I’ve spent 20 years in the city and it’s been a privilege to work with some of the city employees…they are the greatest asset this city has and I’m going to miss the people I worked with.” Rapp said. “Vienna is a great city… when you look around and see the things we have and the conditions we live in, it’s fantastic. I have enjoyed it very much… but life goes on. I have three grandchildren, I will enjoy working with them and watching them grow.”

There will be a minimum of four new members on the council. Unofficial election results include incumbent Jim Leach, as well as Harry Deitzler, Tami Rhodes, Tony Morrison and Henry Sasyn.

At the courthouse, when the unofficial results came in, Deitzler shared his excitement about serving the city of Vienna.

“I’m happy to help” Deitzler said. “Whether they elected me or not, I was still going to do the best I could… the important thing is to get the things that make people happy to be there, to make Vienna the place where people want to spend time ”.

Rhodes also shared his excitement about the results.

“I feel very grateful and honored that the citizens of Vienna have placed their trust and faith in me.” Rhodes said. “My goal in serving on the council is to listen to the people and represent them… to do what the people need.”

For the position of recorder, unofficial results put Rod Smith with 2,420 votes to Alice Goodwin’s 2,036 votes. Smith shared sentiments that mirrored the enthusiasm of the other candidates.

“It is humbling that the citizens of Vienna have decided to appoint me as their registrar,” Smith said, “I know I have a lot of work to do and make sure I meet citizens’ expectations… I’m very excited about the new council coming up and to keep Vienna moving forward.”

You can contact Gwen Sour at [email protected]