History repeats in Fayette County, as another incumbent Republican faces sexual allegations ahead of election

By Matthew Young

In January of 2024, Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, faced a primary challenge from Austin Haynes, the disgraced former delegate whom Pritt had defeated for the seat in 2022, after allegations of sexual harassment and trading sex for favorable votes were levied against him. 

During the election of 2022, Haynes was the Republican incumbent, and Pritt was the Democratic challenger. 

When the rematch was confirmed in 2024, Pritt made his feelings known.

“Mr. Haynes has never answered for the accusations of sexual harassment, asking for sex for bill sponsorships, or the numerous other instances where individuals reported sexual harassment or inappropriate messages,” Pritt said through a Facebook post dated Jan. 29, 2024. “This amounts to actual serial behavior if true. Mr. Haynes needs to answer the question: ‘Did he do it?’ That is what I want to ask him: did he do these things?” 

“And if he did, he is wholly unqualified for this office,” Pritt added. 

On Wednesday, Pritt, the 36-year-old father of four, was arrested by federal marshals after allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. 

Of the more than 3,600 votes cast in the 2022 election for Fayette County’s representative in the West Virginia House of Delegates, Pritt defeated Haynes by less than 150. Within months of the election, Pritt re-reinvented himself as a Republican, and in 2024, defeated his Democratic challenger by some 2,500 votes to secure his re-election. In early 2025, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, named Pritt – a man who had been elected as a Democrat barely two years prior, assistant majority leader of the House Republican Caucus.

Outside of the State Legislature, Pritt is a veteran of the United States Air Force, and worked as a history teacher for Oak Hill Middle School before transitioning to Oak Hill High School. During his time in the Legislature, he has advocated for a mix of social and conservative public education policies, and served on the House Education Committee. 

At the time of his arrest Wednesday in Oak Hill, Pritt was charged with the relatively innocuous-sounding crime of “Enticement of a Minor,” and taken before United States Magistrate Judge Dwane Tinsley. And as enticement of a minor – innocuous-sound or not – is a felony and was charged by the federal government, Pritt was remanded to the Carter County Detention Center in Kentucky to await his preliminary hearing on Monday. 

Despite what the charge sounds like, the things that Pritt is accused of doing to a child – a student in his charge – are anything but innocuous. According to the federal criminal complaint, Pritt is reported to have begun the relationship, more than a year ago, by grooming her through the online video game, Roblox. Things would eventually escalate into sexually graphic messages and pictures sent via Snap Chat. The physical relationship would ultimately materialize in Pritt’s classroom at Oak Hill High School, where he would have her perform sexual acts for him. All according to the federal criminal complaint charging Pritt with Enticement of a Minor. 

On Thursday, West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt announced that Pritt’s teaching certificate had been suspended effective immediately, and both West Virginia’s Democratic and Republican State Party Chairman called for Pritt’s immediate resignation from the House of Delegates. But for now, Elliott Pritt – despite his current arrangement as a resident of the Carter County Federal Detention Center – is still a serving district representative in the West Virginia House of Delegates, and remains his party’s nominee for re-election. 

What that means for Democratic candidate Mathew Anderson, Pritt’s opponent in the November General Election, is anyone’s guess. However, to allow Pritt to answer that question in his own words, if he did it, he is wholly unqualified for office.