There were quite a few surprises in the last few days before the registration deadline.

In the higher level offices, we had Jeff Kessler, the former state senator announce his intentions of seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in an attempt to unseat current U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

Kessler joins a field of four other Democrats heading toward the May primary election, while Capito faces challenges from five other Republicans.

There are now three Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for U.S. House of Representatives in West Virginia’s Second Congressional District (which represents the northern part of the state).

Ace Parsi of Morgantown is now included with Stephanie Spears Tomana of Idamay, and Steven Wendelin of Lost City to see who will face Republican incumbent Riley Moore in the fall.

On the state side, Shawn Fluharty stepped forward to be the lone Democrat candidate for West Virginia’s First State Senatorial District – representing Hancock, Brooke, Ohio and a portion of Marshall County.

I had heard talk he was considering tossing his hat in the ring a few days prior to his announcement, but it was still a surprise when the news broke. I don’t really know Shawn Fluharty, but what I’ve seen of him over the years, I would have expected him to get out there much sooner.

In the West Virginia House of Delegates, we had a surprise candidate enter the fray for District 1 as Quincy Wilson stepped up to face incumbent Pat McGeehan. As Wilson is filed as a Democrat and McGeehan as a Republican, they will both move forward to the general election, but it will be interesting to see their vote numbers in May just the same.

In District 2, Mark Zatezalo will face a challenge in the primary from local businessman Tony Viola for the Republican nomination. Tony had announced his plans to run last fall, but didn’t finalize his candidacy until a couple of days before the deadline.

The winner of that race will face Democrat Dan Day in November.

The biggest surprise, to me anyway, was the slate of candidates for the Hancock County Board of Education.

There’s a lot taking place with the school district, right now, after it was taken over by the West Virginia Board of Education last month in connection to the ongoing financial issues.

There’s still a lot to unpack with that situation, and it will be coming out in the months (possibly years) ahead.

The election is an interesting case study, though, in that there has been such a massive reaction (even if most of it happened within the five days prior to the registration deadline) with candidates knowing that, for all intents and purposes, they will have absolutely no authority for much of, if not all of, their time in office.

I don’t recall ever seeing 11 candidates step forward for a school board election, even in the good years. Those 11, which includes three current board members, are seeking three seats included on this year’s ballot. The other two seats will be up in two years.

School board elections in West Virginia are unique as it is. There are five seats, elected through staggered terms, but there can at most be two representatives of each district at any one time. So, it’s not always the highest vote that gets in.

Of the 11 set to be on the ballot, four candidates are from Grant District, four are from Clay, and three are from Butler District.

Meanwhile, Randy Swartzmiller (Grant District) and Chris Gillette (Butler District) will still be on the board for the next two years.

So, you may end up with one winner from each district this year, or there is the possibility of two from Clay and one from Butler, or two from Clay and one from Grant.

The bottom line: There are going to be some interesting matchups for voters to consider this year.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)