Former local lawmaker and West Virginia secretary of state candidate Doug Skaff is hospitalized after he was bitten by two copperhead snakes. Skaff was bitten three times while removing campaign signs near U.S. 119 in Danville, and he’s recovering at CAMC General. Skaff unofficially finished second to Kris Warner in the Republican race for secretary of state on Tuesday. Skaff also serves as president of HD Media, which owns and operates the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Herald-Dispatch and several other weekly newspapers throughout West Virginia.
Copperhead snakes are one of two venomous species found in West Virginia alongside the timber rattlesnake. Data shows a little more than 200 people are bitten by venomous snakes each year in West Virginia.