Humble ousts Cook in 50th District race
Cook wasn’t ready to admit defeat late Tuesday night.
Waynesburg Council President Ben Humble defeated incumbent state Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Township, in Tuesday’s Republican primary in the 50th House District.
State Rep. Bud Cook is shown Tuesday night at Al Buchtan’s campaign party at Nineteen North in Washington, Pa. Photo by Jeff Helsel / MVI
According to unofficial election results from Washington and Greene counties, Humble led with 3,318 votes, giving him a comfortable margin over Cook’s 2,718 with 100% of the ballots counted.
In the Nov. 3 general election, Humble will face Lois Bower- Bjornson of Scenery Hill, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Humble said he’s thankful to the voters who showed up for him on Tuesday.
“I want to be accessible, accountable, transparent and I want to be there for somebody in need,” Humble said.
“This was always a calling, and I never did it for a job; I did it for a purpose, and I want everybody to be a part of that, and let’s do things as a team and continue on.
“I want to thank the community, I want to thank them for their support, their overwhelming support. This has always been faith-driven, and I’m ready to work hard for our community.”
Humble emphasized that he didn’t do it alone and that he was thankful for his team that helped him along the way.
“It took a huge effort from my team that worked long hours and late nights and never stopped, numerous phone calls, numerous texts and really strategized together,” he said. “And I know they took time away from their families to help me and took time from their friends.
“And it was community- based from day one, and I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful to our communities that came together, and even the people who didn’t vote for me. I want to come together now, and be a team, and build these bridges.”
Cook, who was first elected in November 2016, was seeking his sixth term in office. He wasn’t willing to admit defeat late Tuesday night, stating in a text message, “We are going to dig into the numbers not ready to concede tonight!”
The 50th Legislative District consists of all of Greene County and the following communities in Washington County: the townships of East Bethlehem, North Bethlehem, West Bethlehem and West Pike Run, and the boroughs of Allenport, Beallsville, Bentleyville, California, Centerville, Charleroi, Coal Center, Cokeburg, Deemston, Dunlevy, Elco, Ellsworth, Long Branch, Marianna, North Charleroi, Roscoe, Speers, Stockdale, Twilight and West Brownsville.
State representatives in the General Assembly serve twoyear terms. The base salary as of 2026 is $113,591.
