On the Republican side, Betty Ireland is likely to win that primary. On the Democratic side, Thompson, Purdue, Tomblin and Tennant will pretty much evenly divide up the vote. Right now the edge in that primary goes to whichever candidate can win the media battle.
The key right now on the Democratic side is to figure out what issue will surface as the “driver” for the May vote. If the “driver” is the economy then the scales tip towards Tomblin because of his knowledge of the budget and his status as acting Governor. Labor has a tough row to the hoe in this primary since Purdue, Tennant and Thompson are all worthy of allegiance from the unions. For this reason a large turnout by Democrats probably favors Purdue.
