<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Thompson</p>           CHARLESTON -- Whenever the election to become West Virginia's next governor takes place,  House Speaker Rick Thompson's name will be on the ballot.<br /><br />\"I'm going to run,\" Thompson, D-Wayne, said Wednesday. \"Whenever there is an election, I will be on the ballot.\"<br /><br />And Thompson thinks that election should be sooner rather than later.<br /><br />Gov. Joe Manchin was elected Tuesday to serve the remaining two years of late Sen. Robert C. Byrd's term in the U.S. Senate.<br /><br />Currently, state law says that if a governor leaves office in the first three years of a term, the state must hold an election to fill the vacancy. But questions remain about when that election must be held.<br /><br />Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, currently would become interim governor. He also has said he believes the election to replace a governor wouldn't have to take place until the regularly scheduled 2012 vote.<br /><br />Thompson disagrees.<br /><br />\"We need to go in and establish a special election for governor,\" he said. \"If we fail to act, the court is likely to order an election, based on my interpretation of the statutes.<br />\t<br />\"And personally, I think it would be much better to get an election set up so the people can select a governor. We're not going to have a governor until we elect one.\"<br /><br />Comparing this situation to the summer when U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd died, Thompson said he thinks the move to have an election for governor is even more compelling.<br /><br />\"This is for basically half of the governor's term,\" Thompson said. \"Plus, it's totally inconsistent to not have an election for governor after we had one for the Senate seat.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510599446-thompson-says-he-ll-be-on-gubernatorial-ballot>