Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt: W.Va. Kept Food Supply Strong in Pandemic
Joselyn King Trending
WHEELING - Local Republicans celebrated "one month and one day" until the Nov. 8 general election Friday night at the first-ever Northern Panhandle Young Republicans dinner.
West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt served as keynote speaker for the event, which took place at River City restaurant in downtown Wheeling.
He told the crowd that, during the pandemic, West Virginia did a whole lot better assuring its food supply than did most other states.
"We didn't euthanize any chickens," Leonhardt said. "I did have a little bit of a fight with the DHHR (the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources), who wanted to shut down our poultry plant. That would have been devastating for the counties over toward the Eastern Panhandle if they would have lost that industry."
During the pandemic, meat processing was up 200% in West Virginia.
"We're still up about 50% as things have gone back to normal," he added.
A host of Republican candidates for office on Nov. 8 introduced themselves to the audience.
Among those speaking were House of Delegates candidates Delegate Mark Zatezalo, District 2; Jimmy Willis, District 3: Delegate Erikka Storch, District 4; Delegate Charles Reynolds, District 6; and Charles Sheedy, District 7.
Laura Wakim-Chapman, candidate for the West Virginia Senate District 1 seat spoke, as did State Sen. Charles Clements in District 2.
The dinner came about following the work of recent Wheeling Park High School graduate Michael Borsuk, now a freshman at Marshall University.
"As we go into the general election, I think a lot of people are eager to see how this goes," he said before the dinner. "They want to hear directly from the candidates, and ask questions to see where the candidates stand who are vying for their vote."
Borsuk started the Young Republicans club believing young people want to have a voice in the election, and might even want to run for election themselves.
The club's goal is to assist young people wanting to participate in the political process.
His idea was bolstered as three Republican candidates whose names will appear on Northern Panhandle ballots Nov. 8 are under the age of 40 - including Wakim-Chapman, Willis, and House District 5 candidate Brooke McArdle.