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Ahead of the May 12 primary election, voters in West Virginia’s 8th senatorial district began receiving a mailer from an out-of-state political action committee that targets one of the three Republican candidates — and raises race as an issue.
The mailer shows a photo of Republican candidate Dr. Steven Eshenaur wearing a black medical mask with the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ across the front. Eshenaur said he’s never worn such a mask, nor has he ever been involved with the national movement.
The mailer claims Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is essential to Eshenaur – but as head of the Kanawha Charleston Health Department he said he simply follows the state’s mandated DEI policy, set by Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
“I run a public health department. We treat the public,” Eshenaur said. “It doesn’t matter if you have money or don’t have money. I’m an ER doctor. We treat everyone with dignity and respect.”
The mailer claims he supports needle exchange programs, even though Eshenaur said the health department’s program ended before he ever took the job there and he’s never tried to reinstate it.
It lists ‘Black Lives Matter’ again – something Eshenaur said felt deeply personal.
“It was quite the talk at church on Sunday, knowing that my wife and I have adopted four children, two of which are African American,” he said.
It leaves him frustrated by the level of dishonesty and wondering why so much money is being pumped into a West Virginia campaign by an out- of- state group.
“Mountaineer Conservative Action. They have an address in West Virginia, but they fall under a Delaware corporation. Who are they and what do they want?” he asked.
Marshall University Associate professor of political science Marybeth Beller said those behind the ad use racism because it works.
“It suggests to me that the organization that has designed this flyer has determined that racism is a big catalyst for getting votes for or against someone in the state, and that racism is still very prominent in West Virginia,” Beller said. “We’ve known for a very long time that racism works in West Virginia. It’s alive and well.”
West Virginia is a conservative, Republican state, Beller said, with key issues that make it nationally relevant – including healthcare, education and energy. It’s also a poor state, she said – which makes it easy to target minority populations.
“To the extent that out-of-state money can influence who is in the legislature, they can also affect the vote that goes into national level races,” Beller said.
“It’s really, really easy to target the ‘other’ as a way to make us feel better about bad economic conditions or poor social conditions, rather than looking at changing public policy. If we can shift that blame to blaming a minority, whether it’s a racial minority, religious minority, blaming that ‘other’ works politically to make people feel better about themselves, and scapegoating is a cheap political tool,” Beller said.
There are three Republican senate candidates for the 8th district. Early voting is ongoing through May 9, and the primary election is May 12.