CHARLES TOWN – With all Jefferson County precincts reporting, Republican candidate Jane Tabb will advance to November’s general election after defeating Reese Clabaugh in Tuesday’s primary for the Jefferson County Commission’s Middleway seat.

Tabb received 1,401 votes, 57.7 percent, compared to Clabaugh’s 1,027 votes, or 42.3 percent, according to unofficial totals released by the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.

Tabb, a longtime Jefferson County resident, served on the Jefferson County Commissione from 2001 to 2006 before losing her re-election bid by less than 5 percent of the vote.

“I would like to see the county headed in a different direction. We really have to work on this economic recovery, not only nationwide but at the local level, and to do all we can to get investment in our county and build up the tax base and hopefully make it so there’s no need for tax increases for our citizens,” Tabb said Tuesday night following announcements of the vote totals.

Tabb added that during the general election, she wants to stress the fact that she’s a Republican candidate, since people who voted straight-ticket Democratic during the previous general election later told her they thought she was a Democratic candidate because her brother-in-law, Bob Tabb, was running for a separate office as a Democratic candidate.

Clabaugh, a local businessman who has lived in Jefferson County for more than four decades, had never run for political office before this year’s primary election.

Tabb will now face Democratic incumbent Jefferson County Commissioner Frances Morgan in November’s general election. Morgan is serving her first term on the commission as a representative of the Middleway District. Morgan received 2,336 votes in an uncontested primary.

The general election is scheduled for Nov. 6. Additional information on Tuesday’s primary election is available online at www.jeffersoncountyclerkwv.com.