West Virginia Gubernatorial Race Story Archives - Page 2 of 2

Charlotte Pritt: The Mountain Party’s Maverick

Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate Charlotte Pritt is no stranger to the political scene. She spent 8 years as a state legislator in the ’80s into the ’90s. Then she ran for governor and almost won in ’96. She made history once, and she’s hoping to do it again.

Historically, an Inside Outsider

A former educator and the daughter of a coal miner, Pritt first ran for governor in the democratic primary against Gaston Caperton in 1992; then she made history in 1996 as the first woman to be nominated by a major party to run for governor of West Virginia. She ran then as a Democrat, and almost beat the Republican Cecil Underwood. Pritt became the chairwoman of the Mountain Party in 2012 — a party she says she was instrumental in forming. Now that party has recruited her to run for the office again.

“My years working in the Legislature were for working people, small businesses, the unions, the environment and women,” Pritt said. “I feel as if these experiences have really given me the opportunity to be the very best person to lead the state in this critical time.”

“She has had a reputation dating back to her days in the legislature as being a maverick,” said William Hal Gorby, an assistant professor of history at West Virginia University. He explained that Democrats in West Virginia have been divided ideologically for a long time and Pritt represents the left-leaning, progressive wing of the party — as well as many independent voters.

“Whenever Jim Justice won the nomination,” Gorby recently recalled, “when I heard her name — it’s not a surprise.” Gorby said she ran against Caperton in ’92 and effectively sent a message that the Democratic Party in the state was getting away from the party’s base.

“When the party turned its back on the progressives,” Pritt said, “the New Deal Democrats of FDR — when it turns its back on us — the party left us. So I went to the Mountain Party.”

Now, just as she did in ’92, Pritt is challenging the conservative-leaning Democrats in the state as well as the far-right Republicans. She champions many of the same causes that Bernie Sanders has — and is hoping the voters who came out for him in the primary will rally behind her. Many progressive voters are getting behind her — including former congressional candidate Sue Thorn.

“I am a member of the Democratic Party, and I am very happy to come out and say — I am a Democrat for Pritt,” Thorn said. “Charlotte just understands the struggles that West Virginians are going through. And frankly, I’m tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. That hasn’t gotten us anywhere in West Virginia.”

Thorn ran for federal congressional office in West Virginia’s first district in 2012. She lost in the general election, gaining 38 percent of the vote. She’s campaigned for Pritt this election cycle and, despite Pritt’s lower polling numbers, she believes the Mountain Party’s candidate stands a good chance.

“She’s somebody who’s honest,” Thorn said. “She’s always come right out and talked about what’s important to her. And people trust that.”

Democratic Party leaders say a vote for Pritt is a vote for the Republican candidate, Sen. Bill Cole. But supporters like Thorn disagree.

“What Charlotte’s hearing is a lot of Republicans saying they’re going to come out and vote for her. So I don’t think it’s a given that she’s just taking votes away from Democrats. She’s appealing to a wide range of people,” Thorn said.

A Maverick Platform

The Mountain Party’s platform seeks to increase public participation in government, promote social justice, and to protect the environment. Pritt’s approach to economic development falls far outside the natural resource-extraction mainstream.

“No plan that is based on extractive industries that damage the environment or your health is really an economic plan,” Pritt said. “My economic development plan has three criteria: It has to be a sustainable economy that we can do over and over again — like hemp. It has to be equitable. And I want to make certain it’s ecologically sound.”

Pritt also wants to see Marijuana decriminalized and all those imprisoned for nonviolent cannabis crimes pardoned. She’d like to see prevailing wage reinstated, she’s pro-choice, and she supports the right to bear arms. Pritt said that despite her liberal-leaning stance, she’d be an effective governor — even if the Republican Party maintains control of the Legislature.

“I have a very good working relationship with people of all parties. Democrats, Republicans, Independents — they know they can work with Charlotte Pritt. I don’t give up. I have a persistence in work ethic that I think is unmatchable.”

Pritt said a vote for her is a vote against a conservative status quo that has led the state into dangerous economic times over the course of the past 15 years.

Moran Says Improving West Virginia Is Everyone's Responsibility

At the Red Shamrock farm in the red and gold hills of Preston County, David Moran gives more of a western vibe than a political one. He wears a cowboy hat and stable boots, and he loves showing off his alpacas and sheep. Moran is a farmer and engineer. But this year, he’s also hoping to be the governor of West Virginia.

As the candidate representing the Libertarian Party of West Virginia, Moran believes that individuals have the right to live as they wish, and that the role of government in their lives should be as small as possible. It’s a young party in West Virginia – This is Moran’s second time running for governor as a libertarian. When he ran for the first time, in 2012, his main goal was to win at least 1 percent of the vote to qualify the Libertarian Party of West Virginia as a major party. He ultimately won 1.34 percent. This year, Moran says he’s running to address the problems the state faces.

“We are in many ways limiting ourselves with what we can do. We are West Virginians, one of the poorest states in the United States. We’re either 49 or 50 depending on whether Mississippi beats us,” he said. “It’s not because we live in the mountains, it’s not because we’re a resource-rich state, it’s not because we’re lazy or anything like that. It’s because we’ve allowed ourselves to forget that we are responsible for making our way and for improving a lot of this state.”

That message of personal responsibility is reflected in Moran’s position on education and drug abuse. He’s against Common Core educational standards, and when it comes to opioid addiction, he says he would decriminalize certain drugs while assisting those who are addicted to harder drugs.

“It’s something we brought upon ourselves because we allowed ourselves to become addicted. We allowed it because we’ve been demoralized,” he said. “We can’t wage wars on drugs, we can’t just say, don’t do it. We have to ask, ‘Why?'”

The latest statewide MetroNews poll shows Moran at 5 percent, which for third party candidates is a big milestone because it factors into which parties are invited to debates. Moran says that while Democratic candidate Jim Justice and Republican candidate Bill Cole have big leads, he is competing for the voters who are considering third-party candidates.

“You see that Jim Justice is polling at about 45 percent, and Bill cole is polling at 35 percent. That’s 80 percent, right? That leaves 20 percent uncommitted or willing to consider,” he said. “I do see that as a big success. Yes.”

Moran has 20,000 extra miles on his car while driving around the state to campaign. He says he doesn’t have any connections in government or with corporations, so he just talks to the people. But at the end of a long day on the campaign trail, farm work is the perfect way for him to relax.

“It’s a good combination. If you’re going to be in public and doing public service, then this is a very, very nice way to complement that,” he said. “If you just sit with these animals for a while, and sit out here and read a book in a field and let them wander arund you, it would take years off your life. It is wonderful.”

Moran estimates that he’s already spoken to about 65,000 West Virginians, but he isn’t stopping there. Early voting is underway and Moran is making some last campaign stops in the next few days leading up to Election Day. That peaceful moment on the farm will have to wait just a little longer until the votes are tallied next Tuesday.

Cole Campaigns on Reducing Size of Government

In his gubernatorial campaign, Senate President Bill Cole has emphasized shrinking the size of state government and cutting down on regulation in West Virginia. Cole has drawn support from like-minded national Republican figures, such as Wisconsin’s controversial governor, Scott Walker.

It’s that kind of support that has generated some of Cole’s strongest opposition among voters in the Mountain State.

Boos greeted Cole and Walker as they arrived for a campaign rally in Charleston last week.

“We’re here to protest the fact that Bill Cole is bringing a guy named Scott Walker to town,” said Josh Sword, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO union. “And Scott Walker is the governor of Wisconsin whose claim to fame is lowering wages, taking away benefits and making work places less safe in Wisconsin. And I guess Bill Cole thinks that’s going to help his candidacy.”

Walker joined Cole on a tour of West Virginia – making stops in Bluefield, Charleston and Morgantown.

Cole voiced his admiration for what Walker has done in Wisconsin during their joint campaign stop in Morgantown. He said Walker came into office with more than 9 percent unemployment and a $3.6 billion deficit.

“And in the six years he’s been in office, unemployment is down to 4.1, I think he said, and they have a $300 million surplus — budget surplus — this year,” Cole said.

Walker ran into a lot of union opposition when he passed some of the same legislation in Wisconsin that Cole shepherded through West Virginia’s Legislature this past session.

Right to Work

One of those bills made West Virginia the 26^th right-to-work state.

The law makes it illegal to fire a worker for refusing to join a union or pay union dues or fees, but it’s being challenged in a state court, with union leaders leading the charge against it.

“Right- to-work is not an anti-union vote,” Cole said. “Now the union bosses are going to say that it is because the union bosses are all of a sudden going to have to get up and deliver for their membership.”

Cole said unions will now have to prove that those dues will help workers. Opponents of the law say those fees help unions negotiate fair wages for all workers.

The backlash against right-to-work and other GOP-backed legislation Cole advanced during this past session has spurred opposition candidates to run in West Virginia, even Republicans. West Virginia’s race for governor has also attracted money from national political action committees that want to make sure those laws stay in place.

Back at the protest in Charleston, Ginny Moles with the Alliance for Retired Americans, said she doesn’t agree with Cole’s leadership during his time in the Legislature.

“You don’t cut jobs. You don’t pass right-to-work when only 8 percent of the workforce is union and tell us that’s anything but union-busting,” she said. “If you want to build the state, you don’t do those two things. You create jobs.”

Campaign signs at Bill Cole’s stop at Jameson’s Bar & Grill in Morgantown.

Job creation is featured prominently in Cole’s campaign. He often cites wanting to change West Virginia’s low workforce participation rate as one of his primary goals. So has his Democratic gubernatorial opponent, billionaire Jim Justice.

U.S. Presidential Race

Another thing they both agree on is who they’d like to see as the next U.S. president.

“We in this room all better pray it’s a Donald Trump Whitehouse,” Cole said to a group of energy industry executives at a meeting in Wheeling last week.

He told the group Hillary Clinton is bent on regulating the coal and gas industries to death and that’s something West Virginia can’t afford. At that meeting, Cole also referenced leaked footage of Trump making vulgar remarks about sexually assaulting women, defending his party’s candidate.

“I’m sure we’ve all said and done things that we’d love to take back or take off the table or wouldn’t be so proud of in a different setting than when they were said,” he said.

Auto Dealerships

Justice campaign ads have taken shots at Cole over several lawsuits stemming from his auto dealership in Ashland, Kentucky. They include allegations of sexual harassment — not at the hands of Cole himself, but other employees.

Cole describes them as nuisance lawsuits that most businesses deal with on a regular basis.

“They’ve all been discharged. Not a one of them went anywhere,” he said.

Cole making a living as an auto dealer has generated criticism of another kind, though.

Under his watch as Senate president, West Virginia lawmakers passed S.B. 453, in 2015. The bill banned direct sales of Tesla electric vehicles, which critics say cuts competition for Cole’s dealerships.

The law also set a minimum reimbursement rate for warranty work done on cars. Democrats say this is especially hypocritical considering Cole pushed through the repeal of West Virginia’s prevailing wage this year. Prevailing wage laws set the minimum amount contractors can be paid on state construction jobs.

Cole said repealing the prevailing wage and other legislation he has championed as Senate president will move the state forward.

Back at the rally at a bar on High Street in Morgantown, Cole also referenced the fact Justice says he’ll continue to coach high school basketball if he’s governor, potentially splitting his attention during the Legislative session.

“So if we have full-time problems, they require full-time solutions and I’m going to tell you, we need a full-time governor,” he said. “That governor is Bill Cole.”

The latest MetroNews West Virginia poll shows Justice leading Cole by 11 points. That’s down slightly from the previous month’s 14 points. The margin of error still puts Justice’s lead in double digits.