Randy Yohe, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Democratic Party Chair Explains Political Campaign Strategies

While Republican candidates dominate the media leading up to next week’s primary election, there are also Democrats up and down the ballot running for state offices. Their campaign strategy, however, takes a different path.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, spoke with Government Reporter Randy Yohe on the efforts to rebuild the party and restore Democrats to state offices.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

Yohe: What has been the Democrats’ overall philosophy for running candidates in the primary election?

Pushkin: During the candidate recruitment process, obviously, we’re looking for community leaders, people who run on a record, and people who are qualified to do the job that they’re seeking. We’re recruiting people who are true public servants, rather than just people seeking political gain.

Yohe: In the state constitutional or Board of Public Works offices, there are single Democratic candidates, except for attorney general. There’s no candidate for state treasurer in the primary. So what’s the game plan for these particular posts?

Pushkin: It’s very difficult right now for Democrats in West Virginia. We feel that the people deserve choices. And we were able to field candidates in all but one of the Board of Public Works races. The thing is candidates on our side are far more qualified to do the job.

Yohe: What kind of work on the ground has gone into finding and running the candidates for all the open state Senate and House of Delegates offices?

Pushkin: It started with helping to rebuild the county Democratic Executive Committees, getting people on the ground in different parts of the state, and that’s a work in progress. We’ve got a whole lot of work ahead of us to rebuild this party, and to start winning back seats up and down the ballot. It is what we feel would result in a better government for the people of West Virginia. What they have now is a supermajority that’s the least transparent government we’ve ever seen and the least accountable government we’ve seen in a long time. It doesn’t really seem to respond to the will of the people.

Yohe: Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango was the 2020 Democratic candidate for governor running against Jim Justice. In 2024, it’s Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. However, Salango did consider running again. Can you talk about the agreement between the two men and the party and how that came about?

Pushkin: I can’t comment on private conversations between Commissioner Salango and Mayor Williams, but I do feel we have a great candidate for governor [in] Mayor Steve Williams. He’s the only three term mayor of Huntington and he was elected to three terms because he’s done a great job. People forget when he took over as mayor, Huntington was in pretty bad shape. He has really turned that city around and he’s got a great story to tell.

Recently, Mayor Williams has called on our current governor, Gov. [Jim] Justice, and the Republican legislature to allow the people to vote on a constitutional amendment to restore reproductive freedom in West Virginia. In state after state when the people get to choose, they have chosen to restore this right that has been on the books for over 50 years. I think it’s important to let the people decide and put freedom on the ballot this year. So we stand with Mayor Williams calling for this measure to be put on the ballot.

Yohe: How robust will Williams’ campaigning be leading up to the general election in November?

Pushkin: He’s going to run a great campaign. He has the benefit of not having a primary. On the Republican side, they’ve had a bitterly fought primary. And we have been inundated with commercials that really do not address the issues at all. While they’re fighting over who can run the most shocking ads and bickering over social issues that really don’t have a whole lot to do with the day to day lives of West Virginians, Mayor Williams is actually talking about real issues. He’s going to continue to discuss real issues that affect the day to day lives of West Virginians up until November.

Yohe: There’s the theory that intense primary campaign mudslinging by the Republican gubernatorial candidates might drive voters over to the Democratic candidate come general election time. Your thoughts on that theory?

Pushkin: We watch these ads from the Republicans running for governor. Is there any real difference between any of the top four candidates? I mean, their commercials are really just interchangeable. It’s all about the same things. And all of that is really meaningless when it comes down to the day to day lives in West Virginia. Mayor Williams is talking about real issues, he’s running a real campaign based on real issues that affect the lives of West Virginians. What he’s talking about is actually meaningful, instead of this ridiculous cultural war stuff that we see on the other side. I don’t really see any difference between the major Republican candidates, but we’re providing a real difference and a real choice for voters and Mayor Williams this fall.

Yohe: Anything else you want to tell me about this subject I didn’t ask?

Pushkin: We know what we’re up against here in West Virginia. It’s been rough for Democrats in the last couple of cycles, but we’re going to continue to keep fighting. We feel that people deserve choices. I trust that people are going to make the right choices in many of these races. We’re going to keep working and continue to talk about real issues, while the Republicans try to out-Trump each other.

Rural Appalachia Community Coalition Building Creates Positive Change

A book from an academic researcher covering rural Appalachia shows how marginalized rural communities can create change by forming grassroots coalitions.

In her soon to be published book, “Hauled Away, How Rural Appalachians Leverage Place in the Face of Extraction,” WVU assistant professor of English Erin Brock Carlson balances the history of extractive industries like coal with combating a rural town’s cultural, economic and intellectual extraction.

“The mission of all of this is really that rural communities, especially in Appalachia, are painted in very one dimensional, oftentimes stereotypical life,” Carlson said. “I’m really committed to honoring the expertise of people that live in rural places, because they oftentimes aren’t viewed as experts of their own experience. This project is all about casting those people as experts in demonstrating that rural communities are capable of solving their own problems.”

In her book, Carlson showcases hometown problem solvers. For example, in a former coal hub, organizers involved the cash poor and houseless in economic development. In a town that suspected a local arms manufacturer had polluted its air and water, an environmental activist engaged residents of a Black neighborhood close to the manufacturing facility, as well as elderly white residents who valued the manufacturer’s importance to the local economy.

And in a rural area with little access to broadband, an organizer tried to build an internet network owned by the community, with support from youth.

“The project really shows how going into a space thinking you have one project and really listening to community members to see what are the most pressing needs, and then adapting based on that, is a way to sort of address these other issues, but in a way that meets community needs directly,” she said.

Carlson said successful coalitions must bring those most marginalized, the poor, elderly, young, disabled, people of color, migrant workers and more into the public conversation.

“They are the ones that are most directly impacted or most deeply impacted by these problems,” she said. “When they’re not represented, their needs aren’t heard.”

Carlson said the expertise community members possess is often overlooked in favor of technical insights from lawyers or engineers.

The “Hauled Away” manuscript is expected to be completed in 2025.

‘Operation Smoke And Mirrors’: Largest Methamphetamine Seizure In State History

Illegal drugs seized in the operation include more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and nearly $1 million in cash.

A major illegal drug bust announced Monday includes more than two dozen defendants from West Virginia, Virginia and Georgia who have pleaded guilty to wholesale distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.

Dubbed “Operation Smoke and Mirrors,’ Southern District U.S. Attorney Will Thompson said dismantling the illegal drug network took unprecedented teamwork by local, state and federal law enforcement.

“That’s the story of this case,” Thompson said. “We’ve gotten past where people used to battle over what’s my turf, not your turf, people are really working together now. We’ve had the FBI and DEA agents working hand in hand, which when they do and then when they pool their resources, we can get incredible results such as this.”

Illegal drugs seized in the operation include more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and nearly $1 million in cash.

Thompson said it has become a law enforcement cliche that drug seizures much less than this would “make a dent” in local supply and demand. He said he wouldn’t be presumptuous, but this bust will “have an impact.”

“You just look at the sheer numbers, the amount that has been taken off the streets,” Thomson said. “We’ve probably saved families, we probably saved people from overdoses. It’s not like you’re taking off a street level drug dealer, he’s replaced the next day. It’s taking some time for these people to get replaced, and we’re working some other operations trying to get the replacements as well. And I think we’re going to be pretty successful on that.”

The announcement comes after the May 2 sentencing of Jasper Wemh, 39, of Charleston, to 16 years and eight months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Wemh is responsible for more than 85 pounds of methamphetamine distributed in 2022. Wemh routinely completed transactions involving multiple pounds at a time, and sold more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine during a single night on Dec. 4, 2022. Wemh stored quantities of methamphetamine, crack and cocaine at a Greenbrier Street residence in Charleston.

Thompson said Wehm was one of a handful of kingpins in a loosely knit network of drug wholesalers.

“There are some significant players,” he said. “This wasn’t one individual, this was a network that worked together. We’re not completely done with all the charges. There are several people who’ve not been to trial yet, but we’ve gotten some significant sentences out of the people who have been found guilty thus far.”

Thompson said “Operation Smoke and Mirrors” is far from finished, and the “final installment will be quite a story.”

Click here for a listing of law enforcement agencies involved and those sent to prison, their charges and sentences.

Attorney General Candidates Discuss Priority Issues

As the chief legal officer for West Virginia’s citizens, state office holders, agencies and boards, the attorney general’s (AG) responsibilities cover the legal gamut. So, where do the candidates stand?

As the chief legal officer for West Virginia’s citizens, state office holders, agencies and boards, the attorney general’s (AG) responsibilities cover the legal gamut.

The four candidates in the upcoming primary races for AG have diverse views on how those responsibilities should be handled – and prioritized.

In balancing legal precedents when it comes to fossil fuels and the advancement of renewable energy, Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva, a Democratic attorney general candidate, does not take sides. She said following the law is the AG’s job.

“The way you do that is advocacy, following the law and advocating for changes in the law where appropriate,” Toriseva said. “Using the court system where appropriate to make sure that West Virginia’s interests are protected. That, in a transition that’s going to happen naturally or forced by the federal government, whatever the case may be, that West Virginians are heard and protected.”

Republican AG candidate, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, does take sides in state legal energy precedents. He said natural resource energy development is key to America’s power independent future.

“Renewable energy advancements are part of the private marketplace, and if people want to invest in those kinds of resources, that’s fine,” McCuskey said. “But, at the end of the day, the United States cannot run without coal and natural gas. I believe that the future for this country and specifically in West Virginia, will be way better served if we are making electricity as quickly and as vociferously as possible, with the natural resources that we find under our feet.”

AG candidate Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and former U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, strongly advocates legal support for fossil fuels over a renewable energy grid he said is still young and overly protected by federal overreach.

“I’m not against renewables, but the science doesn’t match up with the expectations of renewable energy,” Stuart said. “We’re hitting natural gas, we’re hitting coal, we’re hitting the power plant industry awfully hard. We’re taking offline traditional energy sources, while preferring green energy sources, and it can’t keep up. If we continue on the current track, the trajectory we’re on, we’re going to have rolling blackouts, even in places like West Virginia, in which the ground beneath our feet is loaded with natural resources. We need to be smart about this. I certainly expect in the future renewables will play a bigger role in the energy production of this country and in places like West Virginia, but we’re not there yet.”

Renewables have become a bigger part of the nation’s energy mix, surpassing coal. They produce no carbon emissions and are the lowest cost form of electricity. Storage batteries, including the ones that will be built by Form Energy in Weirton, help make renewables more reliable by storing the power they generate for when it’s needed. Natural gas, though, remains the dominant fuel for U.S. electricity.

In combating the illegal drug epidemic. Democratic AG candidate Richie Robb, a Vietnam veteran and former eight-term South Charleston mayor, said state attorneys general must partner with the federal Department of Defense to change a war on drugs to a war on drug terrorism.

“The military monitors arms shipments around the world, certainly that expertise can be employed to monitor illegal drug shipments as well,” Robb said. “In cooperating with other countries, instead of waiting to apprehend drugs, after they’re already in the United States, or even trying to apprehend those same drugs on the border, my proposal would be to stop the drugs at the source much the same way we do with terrorism.”

Toriseva puts second amendment rights and reproductive rights together. She said it’s not the job of the AG’s office, or the government, to tell people how to live.

“I have the same position on a woman’s right to choose as I do on the Second Amendment and my right to carry a firearm, and that is I’ll decide,” Toriseva said. “I do not need the government in my doctor’s office, I do not need the government in my gun safe.”

McCuskey said no one has faced more onerous federal regulation than West Virginia farmers. As AG, he vowed to continue fighting for farmers’ rights.

“Agriculture is going to be an enormous driver of West Virginia’s economy going forward,” McCuskey said. “It’s not just from a food production standpoint, but also from a tourism standpoint, allowing our farmers to showcase what they do in a way that drives new visitors to West Virginia, but also ensures that that not just West Virginia, but the entire East Coast has food security, and that the food that we eat is known to be safe and secure.”

Robb said consumer fraud is rampant on many levels, highlighting the rise of artificial intelligence. He wants to create an AG fraud tip-line.

“With the current Consumer Protection Office, the present attorney general, in his publicizing that service, it’s been woefully inadequate,” Robb said. “It needs to be publicized. The reason for a tip line is many people, particularly insiders, are afraid to openly report wrongdoing. An anonymous tip line will enable them to do that.”

Stuart said his AG’s office will be proactive in creating veteran’s courts and expanding veteran’s outreach.

“Many times they don’t even know the resources that are available to them,” Stuart said. “Substance abuse, homelessness, all the problems that plague society, plague our veterans at even a higher clip than the standard demographic breakdown of our communities. They deserve our support. Veterans’ courts are intended to do this. We want them to get the services that they need for mental health, physical health. We need to do all we can to make sure veterans get every break they can to try to re-acclimate into society.”

Broadband Funding Theft Case Sparks Fraud Alert

As the state embarks on a massive, federally-funded broadband project, a Morgantown internet service provider is facing federal broadband fund theft charges.

The criminal case alleges that Timothy Chad Henson, owner of Monongalia County internet service provider Clearfiber, Inc., defrauded the federal government for more than a quarter million dollars.

William Ihlenfeld, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, said according to court documents, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Connect Program offered grants to eligible applicants providing broadband services to rural areas. On behalf of Clearfiber, Henson applied for, and was awarded, $1.96 million to offer high-speed internet services in Monongalia and Marion counties.

Henson is charged with submitting false invoices to receive more than $340,000 in reimbursement, then transferring $322,900 into another bank account for his personal use.

“The way it works is they don’t simply give you all of the money,” Ihlenfeld said. “The grant is awarded, and then you submit invoices, and then the USDA reimburses you for those invoices that you’ve submitted. What Mr. Henson is alleged to have submitted fabricated invoices, at least 30 of them, for a variety of cable and fiber and broadband companies that operate in and around West Virginia.”

Ihnelfeld said Henson extended his fraudulent schemes outside the state as well.

“He created a document that appeared to be an invoice from a company in North Carolina,” he said. “Hensen submitted it to the USDA and then he was reimbursed for what was indicated on that invoice. The reality of it was that he didn’t actually obtain fiber optic cable from that company. He didn’t obtain services from another company down the road. Instead he fabricated the invoices. He received reimbursement from the grant and then he kept the money for himself.”

Ihlenfeld said the schemes also included ordering thousands of dollars of fiber optic cable from one company.

“Then he turned around and very quickly sold it to another company,” Ihlenfled said. “He didn’t pay the first company for the cable, so they were left holding the bag. They didn’t receive the $209,000 they should have. Hensen turned around and sold it to someone else and pocketed the money that he gained from the sale.”

Ihelnfeld said it’s not just cable companies and taxpayers victimized here, but rural customers who never got intended internet service.

“We’re back to square one with some of these homeowners who don’t have access to broadband,” Ihlenfeld said. “This has been a problem for a long time in our state and there’s a lot of money that is coming in from the federal government to try to help and address this.”

He’s referring to the $1.2 billion federally funded “last mile” broadband project, involving numerous internet service providers. Last mile programs mean helping providers install cable to hook up rural customers, going the “last mile” from established service to their homes.

Del. Daniel Linvlle, R-Cabell, and chair of the House Committee on Technology and Infrastructure, said project fraud safeguards include multiple steps to insure that invoiced work has occurred.

“As we’re actually giving out any of these grants, that money is not transferred until services are actually performed,” Linville said. “So, we’re able to say, look, as you build these things, send us the invoices, and then we will make sure that, that has actually occurred, and then send out the grant dollars for only those portions which have actually happened. We actually have spot checks that are going on as we do these grants to make 100 percent sure that we’re actually getting what it is that we’ve paid for.”

Ihlenfeld hopes the Clearfiber case creates a red flag of fraud due diligence. But, with millions of dollars coming in, and remembering the massive fraud with COVID-19 federal funds, he said he fears the worst.

“With the enormous amounts of money that are going to be thrown at broadband in West Virginia and across the country, we will see more cases, like we have here with Timothy Hansen,” Ihlenfeld said. “I think we can take steps, and the holders of the money can take steps, to make it much more difficult for fraud to occur by engaging in very thorough due diligence and not trusting any invoice and verifying every invoice, and then following up and making sure that the work is actually being done, as it’s been promised.”

Ihlenfeld said there is a tentative plea agreement reached in the case including restitution and prison time.

“He has to face the United States District Court judge who is going to be asked by the government, by me, to impose a lengthy jail sentence,” Ihlenfeld said.

Henson is scheduled for an initial appearance on May 29 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

Candidates In Attorney General Primary Explain Their ‘Missions’

The four primary candidates running for AG, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

The attorney general’s (AG) job according to state code is to enforce West Virginia’s laws as they relate to – listed in order – consumer protection, unfair trade practices, civil rights and other important areas.

The four primary candidates running for AG, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and former U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, said the attorney general’s mission goes into two separate buckets, the first being advancing freedoms by pushing back against federal overreach.

“The freedom to drill, frack and mine. I call it the beautiful bounce for energy beneath our feet,” Stuart said. “The freedom to push back against federal overreach that tries to shut down our jobs, that fights against our values. We’ve really gotten to a point of great federal intervention in every aspect of our lives, whether it’s education, whether it’s the transgender radical movements that we see today, whether it’s the second amendment, it’s the attorney general, the only person who can take on the federal government to push back when they try to cram their values down our throats.”

Democratic AG candidate Richie Robb, a Vietnam veteran and former eight-term South Charleston mayor, said consumer protection leads his mission list. Robb plans to focus on utility bills and combating fraud.

“First of all, stepping in to assist the Public Service Commission and their consumer advocacy group in combating utility rate increases as well as utility services,” Robb said. “We have the fourth highest utility rates in the country, and the highest number of power outages. On fraud, it seems to be more prevalent now, and more dangerous, that’s the word I use particularly with respect to the internet and artificial intelligence.”

Like Stuart, Republican candidate, and State Auditor J.B. McCuskey said the attorney general’s mission is two pronged. The first prong; to defend the laws and values of West Virginia against people who want to change them to their own preference.

“What we see is that people from D.C. and New York and California don’t want family centered, traditional value states that depend on natural resources for their economy to be successful,” McCuskey said. “You have unelected bureaucrats throughout the federal government, overstepping their legal and constitutional bounds, in order to fulfill political ideologies.”

Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva is the other Democratic attorney general candidate. She said the key to the AG’s mission is to prosecute civil lawsuits where citizens and taxpayers are harmed.

“There are laws, and I trust laws, that only the attorney general can prove damages in a certain way that allows you to actually collect damages for taxpayers,” Toriseva said. “We have bad actors in every single industry, and those actors need to be regulated by some law enforcement agency, and that’s the attorney general. The way the attorney general helps with those simple but pervasive fraud is through education information. One of the things that I want are more satellite offices around the state.”

Stuart said consumer protection is found in bucket two of his AG’s mission. He began that second bucket answer with attacking the drug problem.

“Consumers need protection from the drug dealers that are violating our families, killing our kids and destroying our communities,” Stuart said. “I spent years on the front lines of the opiate crisis. When it comes to traditional consumer protection, whether it’s Medicaid fraud, whether it’s landlord-tenant relationships, whether it’s getting ripped off by a utility company, I intend to be incredibly aggressive.“

Robb said he would not be in lockstep with the current AG’s practice of joining in multi-state lawsuits against the federal government.

“I’m not saying I would not do that. But I would look at it with a great deal of circumspection,” Robb said. “I think if it’s something that I believe will benefit the people of West Virginia, as opposed to a political agenda, I wouldn’t cast it aside with respect to the opioid settlements. But in many senses it’s closing the barn door after the horse has already got out. It’s trying to recoup losses and damages that have already been expended. I want to stop them before they happen.”

McCuskey said his second mission for AG is working as the state’s lawyer, representing citizens and all state government bureaucracies.

“Whoever the next governor is, is going to be relying on me as the attorney general to help them reorganize our bureaucracy in a way that is taxpayer centered,” McCuskey said. “In a way that emphasizes efficiency and effectiveness over added spending. And what I mean by that is, we don’t have a spending problem in West Virginia, we have a process problem. It’s high time that we start requiring our agencies to reform their process, as opposed to always blaming a lack of funding for their lack of results.”

Toriseva said a key to her mission as AG is transparency and trust, something she said the current office holder lacks.

“I don’t believe that the current AG has the trust of the voters,” Toriseva said. “I do not think that it is the AG’s job to be a partisan hack. My work has largely been representing public employees for the last decade, I mean, taxpayers, paid employees, first responders and whatnot. And that means that a lot of my work isn’t in the public eye and easy to read about.”

Voters can consider these differing candidate opinions on the mission of the attorney general’s office before casting their ballots on May 14.