West Virginia State Delegate Randy Swartzmiller will not seek the nomination for senator for the state's 1st District, he announced on Wednesday.

Swartzmiller, a Democrat from Hancock County, was re-elected on Tuesday to a seventh term to the House of Delegates.

In a news release, Swartzmiller said he was humbled when he was approached by Steve Kourpas, chairman of the Hancock County Democratic Executive Committee, to consider being the nominee from Hancock County for an open Senate seat.

The seat is open because state Sen. Orphy Klempa, a Democrat from Ohio County, was elected to the Ohio County Commission. Klempa will now have to resign from his Senate seat but still has two years left on his term. That opens up a nomination process by the Democratic parties of counties including Hancock and Ohio, which will nominate a candidate from each county. Then, the names will be sent to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who will select who will serve the remainder of Klempa's Senate term.

In the news release, Swartzmiller said that he is not ruling out a future Senate run, but when he does, he believes for him personally it should be through the election process.

"I believe in the people I represent and I believe they should be the ones to make the decision to send me to the Senate. I do understand, given the circumstances, that someone will need to be nominated (because) that's how the process works. I respect that process and I know they will find good candidates for the Governor to choose from," he said.

He further said that, "Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the hoopla of titles and the excitement of something new and lose focus of what's important."

Kourpas said in the news release that he approached Swartzmiller some time ago and asked him if he would be interested in the Senate nomination in the event Klempa won the Ohio County Commissioners seat. He said he's known Swartzmiller for a long time and that he has the experience for Senate.

"With that said, Randy has always been one not to put the cart before the horse, he likes to think things through, and then make decisions after he has all the information," Kourpas said.

Now that the elections are over, Swartzmiller said he made a firm decision to stay with his current position, though he was very appreciative of everyone who thought of him as a nominee for the open Senate seat.