Tag: West Virginia Republican Party

May 7, 1972: Activist Lenna Lowe Yost Dies at 94

  Activist Lenna Lowe Yost died on May 7, 1972, at age 94. The Marion County native and West Virginia Wesleyan College graduate had become involved in women’s issues as a young adult. For 10 years, she was president of the state chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU, as it’s known, principally opposed the consumption of alcohol but also supported social reforms for women.

During the 1910s, Yost became a leader in the West Virginia suffrage movement. She headed the state’s Equal Suffrage Association and lobbied both the West Virginia Legislature and Congress to adopt the 19th Amendment, which, in 1920, gave women the right to vote nationally.

Yost was the first woman to hold a variety of positions in the West Virginia Republican Party, and she directed the women’s division of the national Republican Party from 1930 to ’34. She represented the United States at two international congresses against alcoholism and lobbied to have the Federal Prison for Women built at Alderson. She also was the first woman to serve on the State Board of Education and on the West Virginia Wesleyan board of trustees. 

With Takeover, W.Va. GOP Saw Fizzle-Outs and Compromises

In their first shot at leading the Legislature since the 1930s, Republicans considered ideas that Democrats hadn’t given much play.

They suggested allowing charter schools, repealing Common Core educational standards, drug testing welfare recipients and introducing a right-to-work law.

Those proposals and others met resistance and fell flat. Other bills, including a prevailing wage rollback, hit a happy medium so some Democrats could stomach them.

Republican House Speaker Tim Armstead said there were different ideas how to approach the bills that died or were scaled back.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler said the GOP rightfully received blowback for what they proposed.

Republicans passed reforms peeling back parts of state law, including a variety of legal protections.

Breakfast As Politics: W.Va. Dems Raise Money for Food Bank After Canceled Conservative Fundraiser

One may not expect that eating breakfast could be considered political activism. Yet, on Wednesday morning at Tudor’s Biscuit World on the west side of Charleston, the Democratic Party asked residents of the area to come out in support of a struggling West Virginia food bank.

The event, raising money for the Mountaineer Food Bank, came just one day after another fundraiser was canceled by the conservative non-profit  Go West Virginia Inc.  The Associated Press obtained an invitation to the Go West Virginia event, which called for a $100,000 donation for a Tuesday morning breakfast at the Charleston Courtyard Marriott. The invitation said donors would not publicly be disclosed.

According to the Associated Press, Go West Virginia is responsible for advertisements bashing Democrats this past election cycle and is currently running ads celebrating the new Republican-led state legislature.  

On Monday, just a day before the scheduled Go West Virginia fundraiser, Delegate Mike Pushkin of Kanawha County called on those involved in the $100,000 a plate breakfast to help save the Mountaineer Food Bank.

As the Charleston Gazette reported this past weekend, Mountaineer Food Bank said financial troubles have put the organization in “crisis management.” Last week, they told 17 workers it would be their last with pay.

The organization, located in Gassaway about 65 miles northeast of Charleston, provides about 7.2 million meals to 450 food pantries and charities across 48 counties. Approximately 260,000 West Virginians are served each month.

“Anyone who can afford to pay $100,000 to attend a political breakfast can come up with a like amount to save Mountaineer Food Bank,” Pushkin said in Monday’s news release.

The West Virginia Democratic Party announced a Wednesday fundraiser at Tudor’s Biscuit World to benefit the food bank and, ultimately, Tuesday’s Go West Virginia fundraiser was canceled.

State GOP Executive Director Matt Dailer said his party has no involvement with Go West Virginia and did not comment on the Democrats’ fundraiser for Mountaineer Food Bank. Attempts to reach representatives from Go West Virginia Wednesday morning were unsuccessful.

Democrats say they raised over $4,000 at Wednesday’s event, with more donations coming in online and through other sources. Tudor’s Biscuit World provided a free buffet breakfast and a box was on hand for money to be donated directly to Mountaineer Food Bank.

GOP Resurrects Charter School Bill

 West Virginia Republican senators have resurrected a charter school bill, sparking outcry from Democrats who say the bill should be dead.

The move on the Senate floor Tuesday prompted Democrats, in protest, to request that bills be read out loud in their entirety.

On Monday, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler led a charge to postpone indefinitely the charter school bill. The motion passed with three Republicans absent in the committee.

On Tuesday, Republicans moved to pull the bill out of the committee for floor consideration. The motion passed 18-16 along party lines. The bill could get a vote by Thursday.

Kessler said Republicans disregarded Senate rules. Republican Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael disagreed.

Republicans have control of both legislative chambers for the first time in more than eight decades.

After Election Takeover, Republican Leaders Outline Priorities

This election cycle was a historic one for West Virginians, electing a Republican majority in both the state House and Senate and sending all but one Republican to Congress to represent the state. Those state and federal leaders in met in Charleston Monday to discuss their path forward.

Senator-elect Shelley Moore Capito fronted the group of lawmakers during a press conference at the Capitol after a morning meeting amongst party leaders. Capito says the state’s Congressional delegation plans to work closely with in-waiting House Speaker Tim Armstead and Senate President Bill Cole in the upcoming year to move their issues forward.

“I think what we saw in the 2014 election was dramatic change both at the federal level and even more dramatic here at the state level and that’s because of the assault on our energy industries,” said Capito. “We want to talk about an energy policy that includes everything, certainly at the state level that’s important to maximize our natural gas resource.”

Speaker Armstead agreed that supporting the energy industry to create jobs is a priority at the state level but, says federal lawmakers can also help strengthen the state in other areas.

“Job creation is largely a factor of our infrastructure, our tax structure, our education system and our legal and regulatory climate so I think you’re going to see a lot of initiative in those areas,” said Armstead.

Congressman David McKinley says both Congressional and state leaders would like to meet quarterly in Charleston to keep an open dialogue about initiatives at both the state and federal level.

W.Va. Committees Spent $1.4 Million Each on State Races

Two West Virginia political committees spent about $1.4 million each to help their preferred parties win state legislative posts this election.

According to a campaign finance disclosure filed Thursday, Grow WV Inc. spent more than $1.4 million to help Republicans. Most of the group’s money went toward mailings and TV advertisements.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce donated $500,000 of the $1.5 million raised by the committee. The Republican State Leadership Committee contributed $220,000. A company with a similar name, Go West Virginia, Inc., gave $355,000. Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick contributed $100,000.

Honest West Virginians, a union-funded group, spent almost $1.4 million to help Democrats. 

Next month, Republicans will take control of both legislative chambers for the first time in about eight decades.

Exit mobile version