Marshall County Event Hosts Democratic Candidates
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MOUNDSVILLE - The polls may show them trailing in most races, but Democrats seeking office in West Virginia, and specifically the Northern Panhandle, do feel excited and invigorated in the days leading up to the Nov. 5 general election.
Marshall County Democrats hosted a picnic Sunday afternoon at the Riverfront Shelter in Moundsville that attracted most statewide Democratic candidates, as well as some running for county offices.
Gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams said he is witnessing first hand the change in voter attitude from two months ago when President Joe Biden was the candidate to now with Vice President Kamala Harris leading the ticket.
"What I'm hearing and what I'm experiencing is a level of enthusiasm for our message that I never expected," he said. "We're in a position now to really make a nice run for things."
Williams noted when he started his campaign a year ago, he did so because he believed West Virginia deserved more prosperity and could compete "with anybody in the world."
He wasn't certain, however, his campaign would receive a welcoming response from voters.
"We have an opportunity here. There are folks asking, 'How does this election look? Do we have a path here?'" he told the crowd in Moundsville Sunday. "Everywhere I go, there is an enthusiastic response to what we're wanting to do.
"What we need to do is quit apologizing for being West Virginians. When people ask us where we're from, I want us to have a bit of a swagger. We need to square our shoulders and stand tall."
Williams noted he is 6-feet, 4-inches tall, and he "doesn't have a problem standing tall."
In the race for governor he faces Republican Patrick Morrisey, the current state attorney general.
Steve Wendelin, a resident of Hardy County, is the Democratic nominee to represent West Virginia's 2nd District in the U.S. House. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Wendelin called himself a "fiscal conservative" who had an idea of how America could tighten its federal budget - which hasn't been balanced since 2001.
"We can't run our homes like that, and we can't run our country like that either," he said. "I spent 39 years in the Navy. In the Department of Defense - if we just eliminate the waste, we'll be able to fund everything else.
"There's ways to do this, but we can't do it unless we start being grown ups, and stop shouting at each other and being obstructionists and start working together."
Wendelin is in a race with Republican Riley Moore on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Mary Ann Claytor pointed out she is the only candidate seeking to be state auditor who holds an accounting degree. She is in a political race with Republican Mark Hunt.
"I worked there for 22 years (in the auditor's office)," and I'm the only one who has all the experience," Claytor explained.
The state auditor helps hold state government accountable to the taxpayers, and "you need somebody experienced to do that," she continued.
Attorney General candidate Teresa Toriseva of Wheeling was said to be ill on Sunday.
Former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott also was not in attendance. He was represented by campaign manager Betsey Sweeney, who explained he was at "a sprinkle" - a light baby shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of his second child.
Cody Cumpston, Democratic nominee for the District 6 seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, said he decided to run for office after "starting to feel helpless here in West Virginia."
After leaving the military 17 years ago, he convinced his wife Erica to move with him back to Marshall County, telling her she would love it in West Virginia.
"But the politics got a little wild here for a while, so I decided to get a little more involved. That's when I started to feel helpless," Cumpston said. "Then I saw the people behind the scenes and I thought it's not at all hopeless in West Virginia.
"Then I come here and see this (an enthusiastic crowd), and hopeless isn't even going to be in my vocabulary anymore."
Cumpston faces Delegate Jeff Stephens, R-Marshall, in the general election.
Organizers had expected about 100 to attend, but more than that number came in and out of the event Sunday afternoon. Devon Tennant is the Democratic candidate seeking the District 7 seat in the House of Delegates.
"This is so inspiring," he said of the attendance. "When you run for office in a state that's dominated by the opposite party, it can be very discouraging.
"I'm just out here trying to make a difference for organized labor, teachers, nurses and everyday folks who do their part to keep our state going. Those are the people who have been constantly neglected by the legislature for the past 10 years."
Tennant is challenging Delegate Charles Sheedy, R-Marshall, in the upcoming election.
Marshall County Commissioner Mike Ferro told the crowd it is his 16th year in politics, and over that time "I have never changed my values."
"I've always been a Democrat. I will always remain a Democrat. I would never change my party just for the sake of a vote," Ferro said.
"There are those people who say they left the Democratic Party 'because the Democratic Party left me.' No you didn't. You left the Democratic Party."
The incumbent Ferro faces a challenge from Republican Dave McLaughlin.
Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro is running unopposed for re-election, but he still was asked to speak Sunday at the picnic. He noticed the youth that was present.
"It's great to see people - and young people especially - step up and run for office," he said. "I was that person back in 2016, when I stepped up and decided to run against a two-term Republican incumbent in the House of Delegates (David Evans).
"I worked (hard) going door to door with people like Mike Ferro, and we beat the man," Canestraro added.