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Four Candidates Seek Two Seats in West Virginia 1st Delegate District

Four candidates are vying in the Nov. 6 general election for two seats representing Hancock County and northern Brooke County in the state House of Delegates 1st District.

Two are Republican incumbents: Pat McGeehan, of Chester, and Mark Zatezalo, of Weirton. The others are Democrat challengers: Diana Magnone, of Weirton, and Randy Swartzmiller, of Chester.

Magnone holds a master’s degree in business administration from Wheeling Jesuit University and is owner of the Corporate Cleaning Group of Weirton. She oversees more than 50 employees working in more than 100 medical facilities from Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Cleveland.

She worked for 25 years with Bayer, USAirways and FedEx, helping them “to implement new processes and re-engineer broken processes.”

She said if elected she will apply her experience with problem-solving to improving the efficiency of state government while working with people of various backgrounds and viewpoints.

“I treat all people with respect, even if I disagree with them,” she said. “People will not “reach across the aisle” to anyone who does not genuinely treat them with basic human dignity.”

Magnone said she’d push for the elimination of state income tax for those on Social Security, investments in the public school system, improvements to W.Va. 2 and secondary roads, partnerships for economic development and more teeth in state ethics laws prohibiting public officials from benefiting from government contracts and more transparency for corporations receiving tax breaks.

McGeehan was elected to the House of Delegates in 2014 and served there previously from 2008 to 2010.

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, he is a youth counselor and executive manager of Academy Programs, an alternative school specializing in treating children with addiction. He has written three books on economics, history and philosophy.

McGeehan said if re-elected, he will push for government agencies to purchase dinnerware from Homer-Laughlin China of Chester, which he said is the last American producer of pottery; the elimination of state income tax on Social Security; seek the replacement of federal Common Core standards for schools with “a traditional, classical education;” support policies beneficial to small businesses; and oppose legislation violating private property rights, such as forced pooling.

He said he’d also push for more decision-making for road improvements to be made at the county level to allow faster response to damages caused by weather and other poor road conditions.

Swartzmiller has been employed for 14 years at Ergon-WV Inc., where he oversees regulatory security programs and property management. He worked in the steel industry for more than 20 years prior to that. He was in the House of Delegates from 2001-14, serving as chairman of the homeland security committee, assistant majority whip and speaker pro tempore.

Swartzmiller said during that time he voted to reduce taxes by more than $450 million and helped to build a $900 million rainy day fund and reduce the state’s debt.

He said if elected, he’d push for the elimination of the state income tax on Social Security; meet with district highway officials to discuss local roads, which “are in the worst shape I’ve ever seen;” and work to designate revenue for better wages and benefits for the state’s public employees.

Swartzmiller said he’d work to restore funding for road improvements in Brooke and Hancock counties and establish a revenue stream for local water and sewer projects.

Zatezalo holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from West Virginia University and the University of Missouri, respectively, and has worked as a hydrogeologist for 37 years, including various consulting firms and big 3 solid waste companies.

In his fourth year in the House of Delegates, he said if re-elected, he would push for the development of a proposed Appalachian natural gas storage hub in West Virginia. He said the hub would support the establishment of more ethane cracker plants and other manufacturing facilities.

Zatezalo said he would move for a shift from the federal common core standards for public schools to curricula and skills that can best prepare students for a surge in jobs those facilities would create.

He said he has supported stricter penalties against drug dealers and more access to drug addiction treatment and would continue to seek law enforcement’s input in addressing the drug problem.

Zatezalo said because improvements to area roads are crucial to development, he supported the road bond issue and will remain in communication with state highway officials about needed repairs and improvements.

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