West Virginia candidate suffers snake bites removing campaign signs

An unsuccessful candidate for West Virginia secretary of state was hospitalized Wednesday after being bitten by a copperhead snake while removing campaign signs.

Doug Skaff, who placed second in the GOP primary for secretary of state in Tuesday’s election, said he was bitten in the leg twice by a copperhead while removing signs near Danville, W.Va., The Associated Press reported.

He told local outlet MetroNews that he expects to remain in the hospital for a few days.

“I just felt like something sharp and then I grabbed my sign and it knocked me back. It may take couple days till they get all this venom out to relieve the pressure on my muscle. Left leg from knees down completely swollen, can’t touch it,” Skaff said.

“It hurts more than I’ve had anything hurt me in my life,” he added.

Skaff is a former Democrat who left the party last October, two months after resigning from his post as the top Democrat in the state’s House of Delegates.

He is the president of HD Media, which owns the Charleston Gazette-Mail and several other state newspapers.

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