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Gaining a Fair Hearing for Area

State Sens. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, have enjoyed meteoric rises to the top layer of legislative power in West Virginia. Both are relatively new to state politics.

Yet Ferns has served in the state Senate’s second most-powerful job, as majority leader. And this week, Weld was name majority whip — the third-highest post in the Senate.

Good for them. Their hard work, political courage, and dedication to serving their Northern Panhandle constituents and the state as a whole has paid off — and not just for them.

Weld and Ferns had influence before they gained leadership positions. Now, however, they sit with Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, in decision-making positions. Though he has the final say in much that goes on in the Senate, Carmichael is wise enough to rely on top lieutenants for counsel.

And, as top senators, the three are part of the inner circle in working with Gov. Jim Justice and members of the House of Delegates.

As with others from our area who have held top posts in the Legislature, they will be able to use their influence for the benefit of the Northern Panhandle, but only within limits. Legislators have been known to rebel when they sense their leaders are showing too much favoritism toward their home districts.

In other words, don’t expect too much from Ferns and Weld.

Look at it this way: For many years, state government was controlled by politicians from the southern counties. And yes, it was not unusual for them to favor their neighbors, sometimes in ways that discriminated against our section of the state. They abused their power.

Weld and Ferns are a new breed of state politician, more attuned to their responsibilities to every one of West Virginia’s 55 counties.

So while we in the Northern Panhandle may not benefit as much as we would like from having two senators in leadership positions, we do have a right to expect our interests will get a hearing too often denied in Charleston. That, after all, is what we sought for many years — and all we ever wanted.

Congratulations to Weld and Ferns for jobs done so well they and we have been rewarded.

NEWSLETTER

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