Candidate killed in storm in West Virginia
An American flag flies from the front yard of a house in a flood damaged area October 30, 2012 in the Breezy Point area of Queens in New York that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.
John Rose, 60, was supposed to run for the House of Delegates on Tuesday, in a bid to represent Barbour County in West Virginia. But his campaign came to a tragic end when a tree fell on him during an intense snowstorm, the Los Angeles Times reported. The storm, which occurred as Sandy swept over the area, has killed at least five people in West Virginia and dumped 3 feet of snow on the mountain state.
There is not enough time to take Rose's name off the ballot. State officials are worried about how the storm will affect the election "Are we going to have precincts that have power, and can people get to those precincts?'' West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant told the LA Times.
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A son of Rose said that he was killed by a falling tree limb as he checked on his deer farm. Officials are encouraging people to become write-in candidates now, the Associated Press reported.
In a press release, Tennant said her thoughts and prayers are with Rose and his family.
If Rose ends up winning the election, the state's GOP committee can submit three names to the Governor, and he will make the appointment.
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