Baber on Legalizing Marijuana, Representing the Underrepresented

Among the candidates for the Second District congressional seat is Bob Henry Baber. He’s the candidate from the Mountain Party.

Bob Henry Baber is an employee at Glenville State University, working with them to raise funds, but he’s not new to the political arena. The one time Mayor of Richwood threw his hat in the ring during the 2010 special election for governor and made a run for U.S. Senate in 2012, both times with the backing of West Virginia’s Mountain Party. He received 20,000 votes in his run for the United States Senate in 2012.

And he’s hoping he can spice up another race this year. Baber says his platform is simple: to represent the state and its people. That includes representing the state’s resources which he says are constantly being taken from West Virginians with no plan for the future. In particular, he’s concerned about mountain top removal and hydraulic fracturing.

Aside from environmental issues, Baber has taken a strong stance on social issues as well, like legalizing marijuana in West Virginia. Although it’s a state issue not relevant yet to the federal office he hopes to fill, Baber says it’s a chance for West Virginia to be out in front of a legal change he thinks is inevitable.

Baber knows his chances for winning are slim, but calls it a victory in itself to be on the ballot. He measures a successful race in being able to help shape the political agenda for the state.

Baber says his run is truly a grass roots effort to speak for the people in the state he feels go underrepresented.

But the test of his candidacy will be how many of those folks head to the polls to speak for him.