The Daily Populous Friday May 17th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by AudibleNod

A candidate for West Virginia secretary of state said he has been hospitalized for copperhead snake bites sustained while removing election campaign signs.

Doug Skaff said he was bitten in the left leg and the right foot on Wednesday near US Route 119 in Danville, news outlets reported.

Skaff told the West Virginia radio network MetroNews that passersby called for medical assistance. The South Charleston resident said he expected to be in a hospital in Charleston for a few days.

Skaff ran in the secretary of state’s race as a Republican on Tuesday. In unofficial returns, Skaff finished second to Kris Warner.

Skaff resigned his house of delegates seat from Kanawha county last September after stepping down as the chamber’s Democratic leader in August. He announced in October that he was switching to the GOP and running for secretary of state.

Skaff served in the house from 2009 to 2014 and was elected to the chamber again in 2018. He is president of HD Media, which owns the Charleston Gazette-Mail and several other state newspapers.

Utterlybored on May 16th, 2024 at 22:15 UTC »

He was removing his own campaign signs we assume?

cutiecat565 on May 16th, 2024 at 20:36 UTC »

Ouch. At least he was being responsible and actually removing the signs. Where I live people just leave them all over the place.

Kangar on May 16th, 2024 at 20:12 UTC »

Don't tread on me, Doug!