What was today’s top story in Wheeling, West Virginia? I think most readers who follow local and state politics would quickly answer “the defeat of all four proposed amendments to the West Virginia Constitution.” Why? For starters, the amendments were the handiwork of the West Virginia GOP which pitched hard for their adoption:

Your conservative WVGOP supports all four conservative amendments on the ballot. We ask that you support them with us to make West Virginia great! pic.twitter.com/mMdCRGWiv9

— WVGOP (@WVGOP) November 7, 2022

All four of the amendments were editorially supported by the Republican/Trump Party’s primary media outlet – Ogden Newspapers. See this editorial:

Passing Amendment 2 Right Idea for W.Va.

And this editorial:

Support Amendments to W.Va. Constitution

But the amendment rejections were not the papers’ top story. (Note – they were covered by Ogden’s state political reporter, Steven Allen Adams, on the front page and on page 5.) The biggest story (if story, picture and headline size are the criteria) on today’s front page was:

Wakim-Chapman Earns Decisive Victory in W.Va. District 1 Senate Race

Okay, it was an election result. Still, with lots of election news to choose from, the Intelligencer devotes one-third of the front page to a first-time candidate, Republican Laura Wakim-Chapman who defeated Democrat Randy Swatzmiller. Today’s most important story? No, Ogden has just added a new Republican “favorite” for special attention.