Libertarian candidate, Davy Jones, is running for the 2ndCongressional District seat against Rebublican Alex Mooney, Democrat Nick Casey, and Independent Ed Rabel. Jones lives in Martinsburg and is a political newcomer. He found his way into politics after doing IT work for the West Virginia Libertarian Party.
“I believe that government has gotten way too intrusive into everybody’s life, and gotten way too bloated, and the debt that they seem to be heaping on our children that have to pay it, is just outlandish,” said Jones, “So I’ve decided that I needed to do something about that, and that’s why I decided to run.”
Jones is running on a third party ticket, which could be difficult, but he thinks he’s got a great chance.
“I think people are tired of just what’s going on, and I don’t think parties matter to them at this point,” noted Jones, “I think they’re really looking for a candidate of character, rather than a candidate of this party or that party, and I bring that to this race.”
Where Does Davy Jones Stand in His Political Agenda?
He says he will listen to West Virginians’ concerns and make decisions accordingly.
He’s pro-coal, pro-energy, and pro-constitution.
He has a “live and let live” philosophy.
He supports gay marriage.
He comes from the middle-class.
Credit Davy Jones / www.vote4davyjones.org
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www.vote4davyjones.org
“I think that the big problem in politics today is that we’re electing people to represent us that can’t relate, that are wealthy, that come from an elitist group of people, and they can’t represent the average American, because they can’t understand how we live. I come from the middle class. I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. You know, deciding whether, oh, am I going to pay my electric bill this paycheck or buy food. So I think that I make a very good representative for the people of West Virginia.”
Davy Jones is banking on his pro-gun, pro-energy, and pro-constitution platform to override the difficulties of running as a third party candidate. He hopes the voters will give him a chance in Washington when they go to the polls in November.
Charleston-area native Ed Rabel spent more than three decades as a television news reporter, working for CBS and NBC. During his time at the networks, Rabel reported from around the world–stopping in locations like Cuba, Laos and Cambodia.
But in life after journalism and as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, Rabel seems to embody fictional television news anchor Howard Beale, portrayed by Peter Finch in the 1976 film Network.
Although Rabel never delivered a speech on-air like the one in Network, his political aspirations and the sentiments that led him to run for office seem to parallel the fictional anchor’s passion.
With a general distaste for the way things are, it’s no stretch to say Rabel is “mad” about the situation in West Virginia.
Over the course of his years away from his home state, Rabel says he observed a struggling economy that’s left “the state’s best and brightest” with few options for work and has resulted in a “brain drain.” Rabel says this exodus of young people was his main motivation for running for Congress.
Yet it was January’s Elk River chemical spill by Freedom Industries that particularly upset him and furthered his interest in a bid for the 2nd Congressional District.
“It offended me to see that this had happened, that 300,000 people had been poisoned—their water had been poisoned,” said Rabel, “and I wanted to do something about it.”
“I wanted to change those events where West Virginians are put upon, are beaten down so much that they don’t know which way is up. I want to try to help them have a voice so that, in the future, these industries won’t get away with poisoning the water and the air.”
There was also, of course, Rabel’s scathing criticism of local TV news (that would assuredly be approved by Beale) in an editorial he penned for The Charleston Gazette in March 2013, which states:
Instead of focusing on original reporting, the local stations are focused on cosmetics. Not a country for old men and women, the local television "news" landscape is populated by bubble-heads and glib, young, sometimes pretty know-nothings. The truth is, they wouldn't know a news story if it slapped them in the face. When was the last time you saw an investigative piece about, let's see, the Massey Mine disaster? Or, how about, God forbid, an exclusive story that penetrated the precincts where politicians hide their secrets from the public?
Rabel’s distaste for local TV news outlets was highlighted again when he accused WCHS-TV (for whom he worked early on in his career) of ignoring his campaign.
Journalism, the Political Process, and Running as an Independent
Rabel’s bid for the Second Congressional District seat is his first foray into politics. He’s opted to pass on a chance at a lower office in hopes of going straight to what he calls one of the country’s most influential “power centers.” Rabel says his experience reporting on American politics gives him an edge in understanding elections and the political process. “I also got an understanding—honestly, to be quite brutal and frank about it—about how politicians are reluctant to tell the truth,” he said. “I was able on some occasions to penetrate the precincts of power where they kept their dirty little secrets and I exposed those things.”
While Rabel says he always tried to be as objective and fair in his own reporting, his experiences covering American politics revealed a “gridlock” in Washington and, thus, proved the need for a third party.
Can An Independent Win the 2nd Congressional District?
Rabel points to an October 2013 Gallup poll showing that two-thirds of Americans see a need for a third party—with less than a third saying they feel Republicans and Democrats do an adequate job representing the American public. He also mentions the 2,269 signatures he collected to make his way onto the ballot as an independent.
Credit Gallup
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“I get the sense—I get the feeling—that people do want a choice now, that they really are becoming fed up. I don’t know whether we are at a tipping point yet,” Rabel said, “but, I did get the feeling being out there gathering those signatures and talking with voters that they really did want a choice.”
Now, he just needs to galvanize voters who will make their way to the polls come Election Day.
The race in the 2nd Congressional District has gotten more and more ugly over the past few weeks as candidates dig in for the final push before Election Day. Democratic candidate Nick Casey talks about his view of the partisan politics in Washington and how he thinks he can make a change, as well as discusses the major issues facing the district.
Dr. Scott Crichlow of West Virginia University discusses how a non-decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, in less than a week, caused West Virginia to go from a state defining marriage as between a man and a woman to one that is issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.
In a reporter roundtable, we recap the U.S. Senate debate between Shelley Moore Capito and Natalie Tennant and look forward to a debate in the 3rd Congressional District pitting Congressman Nick Rahall against state Sen. Evan Jenkins.
Democrat Nick Casey and Republican Alex Mooney say the global warming debate is better left to scientists.
During Thursday’s West Virginia Business & Industry Council forum at the Charleston Civic Center, they added that other countries should step up in reducing carbon emissions.
It marked the first forum featuring both party candidates in this fall’s 2nd Congressional District election.
Global warming and opposition to carbon emission limits for coal-fired power plants were two of several areas of agreement. Both candidates also want to defund parts of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Casey is the former West Virginia Democratic Party chairman. In Maryland, Mooney served as state Republican Party chairman and as a state senator.
Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito is vacating the seat to run for U.S. Senate.
Independent Ed Rabel will be on the November ballot in a 2nd Congressional District race featuring Democrat Nick Casey and Republican Alex Mooney.
Rabel was an award-winning CBS and NBC News correspondent. Rabel says in a news release he collected the 2,269 validated signatures required by law. The Mountain Party has endorsed him.
Rabel was born and raised in Kanawha County.
Casey is the former West Virginia Democratic Party chairman. In Maryland, Mooney served as state Republican Party chairman and as a state senator.
Libertarian Davy Jones, a Martinsburg resident, will also be on the ballot.
Candidates are vying for a district stretching from the state’s western border on the Ohio River to the Eastern Panhandle.
Republican Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito is vacating the seat to run for U.S. Senate.
