
 
 Richard Ojeda. (Facebook) 
 
 Richard Ojeda was doing what any state Senate candidate would be doing just days before his primary election: Attending a cookout. 
 
 It was there that the West Virginia Democrat was brutally beaten Sunday by a man wearing brass knuckles, according to authorities. 
 
 Jonathan Porter, 41, was arrested Sunday and charged with malicious assault in the Logan County attack, West Virginia State Police spokesman M. T. Baylous told The Washington Post. Jail records do not list attorney information for Porter. 
 
 Senior Trooper J.E. Garren told the Associated Press that Porter attacked Ojeda after asking the candidate to put a bumper sticker on Porter's truck. Garren said that police still don't know the motivation. 
 
 But Ojeda said he thinks the attack was political in nature. "This was premeditated, and there was a reason the guy did this," Ojeda said on his personal Facebook page. 
 
 [The West Virginia primary] 
 
 Ojeda suffered multiple fractures to his head and face and was transported to a hospital in Charleston, according to a message posted on Ojeda's campaign page. 
 
 "Though this attack seems to be politically motivated, Richard is as tough as woodpecker lips, as he often says and he will pull through this," it reads. 
 
 Ojeda wanted to return home in time for Tuesday's primary election and planned to delay surgery until later this week. 
 
 An update on his campaign page Monday night noted: 
 
 "He is resting this evening, but will have to spend another night in the hospital. Continue to keep him in your prayers. He wanted to be pounding the pavement and reminding everyone to go out and vote. Let's hope that he is feeling better and will be able to do just that tomorrow." 
 
 But early Tuesday morning, Ojeda posted an update on his own Facebook page, writing: 
 
 "All....still in the hospital. They just informed me that they are taking me to surgery to fix my face (if that's possible). I thank everyone for your support. Today is Election Day! Vote! Remember that people have gave their lives so you can have that voice." 
 
 Ojeda, who has known Porter since childhood, told NBC News that the last thing he remembered was being asked for a bumper sticker. "When I woke up, my head was on a tree stump covered in blood," he said. "Everyone was looking at me." 
 
 From NBC News: 
 
 Citing what he described as the intense poverty, corruption and nepotism that plagues the region — and his campaign for transparency and good government — Ojeda said: "The moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one." 
 
 Ojeda wrote on Facebook: "If you thought this would shut me up you are mistaken. I am now even more determined to continue on my path." 
 
 Garren said others attending the cookout tried to stop Porter, who rammed their vehicles and escaped. 
 
 [Campaign 2016 is on a dangerous descent] 
 
 Ojeda's primary opponent, incumbent state Sen. Ark Kirkendoll (D), said in a statement that he wished Ojeda "a speedy recovery," the State Journal reported. "I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence," Kirkendoll said. "It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities." 
 
 Ojeda, a military veteran, wrote that he has "dealt with the Taliban and Al Qaeda." 
 
 "I have been threatened before," he wrote on Facebook, "but I never really knew it would come to this." 
 
 This post has been updated. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Tim Stelloh 
 
 West Virginia state Senate candidate Richard Ojeda was brutally beaten during a cookout Sunday — just two days before his primary — and nearly run over with a pickup truck, Ojeda told NBC News. 
 
 Jonathan Stuart Porter, 41, was in custody Sunday. State Trooper Zachary Holden told NBC News he was being held on suspicion of malicious assault, malicious attempted assault and felony destruction of property. 
 
 In an interview from his hospital room in Charleston, Ojeda, 45, a Democrat and military veteran whose primary contest is Tuesday, said he had been at a barbecue in the mountains about 60 miles southwest of Charleston when Porter asked for a bumper sticker. 
 
 Ojeda, who said he has known Porter since they were kids, placed one on the rear bumper of Porter's truck. Then Porter asked for a second one on the vehicle's front grill. 
 
 Richard Ojeda Richard Ojeda 
 
 "That's all I remember," Ojeda said. "When I woke up, my head was on a tree stump covered in blood. Everyone was looking at me." 
 
 Ojeda suffered eight bone fractures and three lacerations to his face, as well as exterior swelling to his head, he said. 
 
 Ojeda's primary opponent, state Sen. Art Kirkendoll, said in a statement that he was praying for Ojeda and wished him a full recovery. 
 
 "I was informed that my opponent was physically assaulted and injured at a political function today," Kirkendoll said. "I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence. It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities." 
 
 Ojeda said witnesses told him that he was kicked and struck with brass knuckles, although Holden said he found no evidence of the weapon and Porter denied using them. 
 
 Afterward, when the assailant got in his truck, a neighbor who witnessed the beating jumped in between the vehicle and Ojeda. 
 
 "He feared Porter was going to hit him," Holden said. 
 
 Jonathan Porter. West Virginia Southwestern Regional Jail 
 
 The attacker spun out in the gravel, and when a second neighbor tried to block his exit with an ATV, the driver rammed the quad several times, Holden said, adding that the man eventually ran over it — along with a second ATV whose driver also tried to block him. 
 
 Porter called police and peacefully turned himself in after hiding out in the mountains for six hours, Holden said. 
 
 Aside from a brief comment about the brass knuckles, Holden said, Porter refused to talk to authorities. A motive for the assault remained unclear, he said. 
 
 To Ojeda, however, it was clearly premeditated — and it was all about politics. 
 
 Citing what he described as the intense poverty, corruption and nepotism that plagues the region — and his campaign for transparency and good government — Ojeda said: "The moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one." 
 
 "I'm challenging the powers that be," he added. ||||| UPDATE (5:35 p.m. 5/9/16) 
 
 Richard Ojeda told 13 News he's been receiving threatening phone calls for weeks while campaigning for the District 7 State Senate Seat. 
 
 "I've been told quite a few times, buddy you're going to wind up dead floating in the Guyandotte River. I had a person call my house one time tell me he's going to cut my head off. I've had somebody come to my house and rip the wires out of our telephone cable boxes," Ojeda explained. 
 
 Retired veteran Richard Ojeda, said he's had a rough road running for state senate. So he was happy to attend a candidate meet-and-greet Sunday at the Kendall Dingess residence. That is until Jonathan Porter showed up. 
 
 "I mean he showed no signs of anger when he was there, everything was fine. It was uncalled for," Dingess said. 
 
 Porter was asking Ojeda for a bumper sticker when he attacked, leaving Ojeda with a fractured face and concussion. 
 
 "So I get another bumper sticker, I walk to the front, he tells me where he wants it, I kneel down and as I'm kneeling down putting the bumper sticker on, that's the last thing I remember other than pretty much coming to where my head's on a tree stump and I'm spitting blood," Ojeda added. 
 
 While State Police do not have any indication that another person was involved in planning the attack, Ojeda believes this is just another example of dirty Logan politics. 
 
 "I don't understand why he would do anything like this, other than the fact that I really believe this is politically motivated," Ojeda told 13 News. 
 
 But Ojeda says the attack won't stop him from running. 
 
 "I've spent years dealing with the Taliban and Al Qaeda I'm not scared of these people," Ojeda said. 
 
 Ojeda will be released CAMC General Monday to campaign and be with his family ahead of tomorrow's primary election. He will be back at CAMC later this week for facial surgery. 
 
 Ojeda faces-off against Art Kirkendoll in tomorrow's primary election. 
 
 
 
 Logan County's Clerk says they believe the attack was an isolated incident and they do not plan on having extra security at polling locations. 
 
 UPDATE (10:37 a.m. 5/9/16) 
 
 West Virginia State Deputies told 13 News Jonathan Porter is facing three felony charges including- malicious assault, attempt to commit a malicious assault and felony destruction of property. Porter is being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail. Deputies will continue their investigation today including interviewing witnesses. They have no evidence, of yet, that any other person may be involved in committing the crime. 
 
 UPDATE (6:25 a.m. 5/9/16) 
 
 West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda is still in the trauma unit at CAMC General Hospital in Charleston this morning. He is still in need of surgery, which is expected to take place later this week. 
 
 His goal is to be out on Tuesday still helping to rally votes. 
 
 UPDATE (8:10 p.m. 5/8/16) 
 
 West Virginia Senator Ark Kirkendoll, D-Logan, released a statement about the assault of his opponent, Richard Ojeda: 
 
 "I was informed that my opponent was physically assaulted and injured at a political function today. I do not now, nor have I ever, condoned violence. It has no place in our political campaigns or in our communities. My and my family's thoughts and prayers are with my opponent and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.'' 
 
 Kirkendoll and Ojeda face off in the primary election Tuesday, May 10, 2016. 
 
 UPDATE (7:31 p.m. 5/8/16) 
 
 A suspect is in custody in connection with an attack on West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda. 
 
 Jonathan Porter of the Whitman's Creek area of Logan County turned himself in to an off-duty officer at about 6 p.m. Sunday, May 8, 2016. 
 
 A trooper with the West Virginia State Police in Logan County told 13 News that Porter faces three felonies and will be arraigned in Logan County some time Sunday night. 
 
 The trooper also said Porter also rammed two ATVs as he was trying to flee from the incident, including one ATV with a driver. 
 
 Ojeda sustained multiple facial fractures and a severe concussion, but is in stable condition, according to the trooper. 
 
 ORIGINAL 
 
 West Virginia Senate candidate Richard Ojeda is in the hospital Sunday, May 8, 2016, after sustaining injuries from an attack, Ojeda’s wife, Kelly, told 13 News. 
 
 Richard Ojeda, a Democratic candidate for District 7 of the West Virginia Senate, was taken to CAMC General Hospital in Charleston. 
 
 According to Kelly Ojeda, Richard Ojeda was attending a cookout Sunday in Logan when a man asked Richard Ojeda for a campaign bumper sticker. 
 
 Witnesses said when Ojeda bent down to apply the sticker to the man’s vehicle, the man struck Ojeda with brass knuckles eight to nine times, knocking him out. When the man tried to run over Ojeda with his vehicle, several bystanders stepped in to stop the assault. 
 
 Richard Ojeda is running against incumbent Sen. Art Kirkendoll, D-Logan. 
 
 Logan County dispatchers said the West Virginia State Police is investigating the incident.
– Politics can be rough stuff, but for one West Virginia Senate candidate it got downright violent. Authorities say retired Army officer Richard Ojeda, a Democrat running in Tuesday's primary, was brutally beaten by a man wearing brass knuckles at a political cookout on Sunday, the AP reports. Per the Washington Post, Jonathan Porter, 41, was arrested and charged with malicious assault for the attack, which left Ojeda—who's known Porter since they were kids—with multiple head and face fractures and a concussion. And while officials aren't sure what the motive was, Ojeda thinks he knows. "This was premeditated and there was a reason the guy did this," he wrote Sunday on his campaign's Facebook page. Ojeda, who has been campaigning against the region's corruption and poverty, adds, per NBC News, that "the moment you start asking questions, you become public enemy number one." Per the State Journal, Ojeda says Porter approached him at the cookout, asked for a bumper sticker, then attacked. "As I'm kneeling down putting the bumper sticker on [Porter's truck], that's the last thing I remember, other than … coming to where my head's on a tree stump and I'm spitting blood," Ojeda says. Witnesses say after the beating, Porter hopped in his truck and tried to run Ojeda over before bystanders stopped him; Porter then fled, surrendering a few hours later. Ojeda, 45, tells the State Journal he'd received menacing phone calls recently, including one that said, "You're going to wind up dead floating in the Guyandotte River." But the man described in a Facebook post as "tough as woodpecker lips" says he's dealt with al-Qaeda and the Taliban and writes he's "now even more dedicated to the cause. This doesn't scare me." Porter has also been charged with malicious attempted assault and felony destruction of property. (Voting in West Virginia? No selfies in the booth.)