Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin and Republican Bill Maloney won their respective primaries Saturday in the race to become West Virginia’s next governor.
Tomblin and Maloney will face off in the general election campaign for the right to finish now-Sen. Joe Manchin’s term.
{mosads}Manchin (D) left the governor’s office when he won the seat left open by the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D).
Tomblin, the state Senate president, has been serving as the acting governor since Manchin’s departure. He won 40 percent of the vote in Saturday’s Democratic primary.
Maloney, a businessman, won 45 percent of the vote in the Republican primary.
The special election will be held on Oct. 4. The winner will have to run for re-election in 2012.