There’s a murmur of dissatisfaction running along our hills and through our hollows in West Virginia, and you don’t have to lean in far to catch it. There’s also a hint of hope in the air. As the political parties conduct their local and national campaigns, voters are preparing to answer the call of their civic duty, and it’s hard to imagine there’s ever been a more important time for the citizens’ voices to be heard than now.
In light of the upcoming elections, West Virginia Executive (WVE) wanted to take a closer look at four office elections in particular that will have a major impact on the state. Not only will West Virginians be electing a new governor, but the seats for attorney general, state treasurer and commissioner of agriculture are up for grabs. West Virginia is standing at a crossroads, and with the current challenges facing the state’s budget and a dire need for new industry and a friendlier business environment for our entrepreneurs, those elected in 2016 to fill these seats will play a vital role in the Mountain State’s next chapter.
Because of the importance of this election, WVE sought out the candidates of these four races from all four political parties: Democratic, Libertarian, Mountain and Republican. We asked the candidates a series of questions pertaining to their background, the challenges they have identified, their goals if elected and what their first action as an elected official will be. It is our hope that these Q&As will contribute to our readers making well-informed decisions about the future of this great state.
Governor
Jim Justice – Democrat
David Moran – Libertarian
Charlotte Pritt – Mountain
Bill Cole – Republican
Attorney General
Doug Reynolds – Democrat
Karl Kolenich – Libertarian
Michael Sharley – Mountain Party
Patrick Morrisey – Republican (Incumbent)
State Treasurer
John Perdue – Democrat (Incumbent)
Michael Young – Libertarian
Ann Urling – Republican
Commissioner of Agriculture
Walt Helmick – Democrat (Incumbent)
Buddy Guthrie – Libertarian
Kent Leonhardt – Republican
Governor
Jim Justice – Democrat
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor.
I am a businessman, not a politician. I know how to create jobs, and I’ve put thousands of West Virginians to work. I know how to grow jobs because I’ve done it in tourism, in the coal business, in agriculture and in medicine. I can take this state where it has never been before. I rescued The Greenbrier from bankruptcy, and I can do the same for West Virginia.
When I first took over The Greenbrier, it was losing $1 million a week for the first 38 weeks. The experts said I was crazy and we were doomed to fail. I turned it around and created hundreds of new jobs by bringing the PGA Tour, the New Orleans Saints’ training camp and the NBA to West Virginia, along many other ventures people said could never happen. We can do it—we just need new leadership that can think big.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
The lack of revenue from the lack of jobs. Our people just want the opportunity to grab their lunch bucket and go to work. As governor, I will put people to work. The lack of jobs leads to hopelessness. The hopelessness leads to drug abuse and drives young people to look for jobs out of state. We need to break that cycle.
What is West Virginia’s biggest asset, and how will you utilize that asset to address our challenges, such as education, unemployment, infrastructure and drug abuse?
We are blessed with many assets: our people, our faith-based and low-crime communities, our four beautiful seasons and our natural resources. We need to play to our strengths.
I will be a marketer-in-chief and market our state to bring in new businesses. We’ve got to show the rest of the world how great we are. Anyone will take my call. We need to attract jobs to West Virginia and put our people to work, just like I’ve done across West Virginia.
Our teachers are talented, and they truly care about our kids. If we get politics out of the classroom, our children will be better off. We cannot cut our way to better schools—we need to grow the pie by creating new jobs. I want West Virginia to be an education mecca with the best teachers and the best facilities.
West Virginia must invest in our infrastructure. We need to create jobs and grow revenue. This way, we can fix our crumbling roads and bridges.
When it comes to drug abuse, a multi-prong approach is required. First, we need to go after the drug runners and choke off the supply of drugs coming into our state. Second, we must have more treatment centers and provide addicts a way out. Lastly, we need to put people back to work and end the cycle of hopelessness that leads to drug abuse.
With the changes in industry, downturn in employment and health problems of West Virginians, what will be your administration’s top priority, and how will you address it?
We need to focus on jobs. West Virginia is facing a full-blown crisis. If we don’t get people working, then we won’t be able fix anything.
I see many ways to grow jobs in West Virginia. Here are three:
Coal: We cannot throw up the white flag and give up on coal. We need to be creative and help the coal industry make a comeback. That includes exploring alternative uses for coal and identifying new markets for our high-grade West Virginia coal. Also, we need to explore the chemical and mineral advantages of Central Appalachian coal. Even in these difficult times for the coal industry, I’ve put more West Virginia miners back to work and will do the same as governor.
Tourism: When it comes to tourism, we are only scratching the surface. We are blessed to have four beautiful seasons and two-thirds of the U.S. population less than a 12-hour drive away. There are so many opportunities to create new tourism jobs, but we are missing the boat. I see no reason why we can’t be a world-class travel destination. We need a smarter marketing strategy, and we need to think big. We need to create more clustering opportunities to get tourists to spend more time and money while they are here. I was told that getting the PGA Tour to come to The Greenbrier was impossible, but I did it. “Why not West Virginia?” is my philosophy.
Agriculture: West Virginia can do so much more in the agriculture industry. I want our state to be known for a specialty crop— think California raisins or Georgia peaches. I will work to create new job opportunities in agriculture. We can do it—we just need a governor who understands agriculture and can promote our state the right way. Think Almost Heaven products. I want West Virginia food products to feed the big East Coast markets and be shipped across the globe.
Tell us about your four-year plan.
We can’t wait four years or even two years. West Virginia needs immediate action. I want to make big progress in 10 months.
If elected, what will be your first act as governor?
The first thing I’ll do as governor is work with our universities and state agencies to identify potential industries and investment options, and then I’ll personally market those opportunities.
What are you most excited to work on as governor?
I am tired of West Virginia being 50th in everything. I won’t be satisfied until we are number one. I am excited to change this state and take us on a jobs rocket ride.
I am really excited to make education the centerpiece of everything we do. We think about education all wrong. I will make education an economic driver and ensure our kids have the tools to compete in the work force. Furthermore, investing in public education will help repair the image of our state and help us grow economically as well.
Which of your personal characteristics will most help you in serving as governor?
I know how to think big. I know how to think creatively and find success in areas that other people say are impossible. I am passionate and all in on everything I do.
I’ll be a marketer-in-chief that will recruit businesses and capital to West Virginia. I’ve been promoting our state through The Greenbrier and shining a spotlight on the greatness of our state. I want to do the same as governor so the outside world can know how great we truly are.
I know how to get things done. I can bring people together to finish a project. Currently, I’m building a $1 billion mountain complex with housing, skiing and a championship golf course to bring the U.S. Open to West Virginia. It’s history in the making and something that has never been done before: a golf course designed by some of the greatest golfers ever—Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus—working together right here in West Virginia.
Why did you choose to run for governor?
I am running because the people of our state are hurting. I could not sit back and accept West Virginia being 50th in everything coming and going. I want good for our people. I don’t want a single thing for me—I won’t even take a salary.
If we elect another politician like Bill Cole, nothing is going to change, and we will all die 50th. The problem in Charleston right now is that the politicians are all talk and no action. The political class is controlled by special interests. I can’t be bought. I just want to create jobs. We need someone who has, in the words of my dad, “done done it.” I want to use my experience of putting people to work to help West Virginia families.
What is your favorite West Virginia tradition?
I love to fish and hunt with my bird dog, Lilly. I hunted with my father, and now I go hunting with my kids. This past grouse season, I bagged 73 grouse, but the best part is spending time with family. We do most of our hunting in Raleigh, Randolph, Greenbrier and Monroe counties.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your campaign, your goals for West Virginia and your outlook for the state’s future?
We are just too good to be stuck at the bottom. I know we can fix this state if we all pull the rope together. The politicians love to talk, but I want to get things done. Turning this state around is not an impossible task as Bill Cole has tried to convince you to believe.
As your governor, I will create jobs. I have a proven record of growing jobs. I am a builder. I know how to get big projects done. When The Greenbrier was in bankruptcy, I turned it around. While other coal companies are closing their doors, I am reopening coal mines and putting miners back to work.
Bill Cole wants to be governor for Bill Cole. I am not doing this for me. I am doing it for the people of West Virginia. If you are happy with the way things are going, then vote for another politician and it will be politics as usual, but if you want to transform our state, then I hope you’ll join me in this campaign.
David Moran – Libertarian
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor.
I am a professional scientist, an experienced manager and administrator, an adjunct professor at West Virginia University and a successful sheep farmer in West Virginia. I am the president of the National Technology Transfer Center in Wheeling, WV, and the director of the U.S. Department of Defense David Taylor Institute. I hold a Ph.D. in hydrodynamics, educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and I am involved every day in the creation of new technological and industrial futures for West Virginia. I am the only candidate that can actually solve problems in our state rather than just spend money on slogans.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
We are the lowest or second lowest state in the union in every area—economics, education, industry, community development, social cohesion—of all of the 50 states in this nation. The only areas we hold a lead in are unemployment, drug addiction, poverty, health problems and taxation of our citizens. These are the areas I will attack directly for solution, using real and honest methods to build this wonderful state back to economic and social revival. We have one asset no other state has: our community spirit and history of community self-support and mutual reliance. We will build upon this character and upon technological understanding to make West Virginia the best and most productive state in the nation.
What is West Virginia’s biggest asset, and how will you utilize that asset to address our challenges, such as education, unemployment, infrastructure and drug abuse?
The solution to drug abuse lies entirely in the education and motivation of our citizens. Self-inflicted drug infractions have to be purged from our legal system. We need to replace our attractions to narcotics with real future-oriented capabilities building upon education and community mutual support. Our people need help in understanding their important role in the re-building of West Virginia. We must stop sending them to jail because they are depressed by the lack of employment and the loss of a vision of the future that they must build for themselves and their families. We are killing the spirit and the employment potential of our people by incarcerating them for their weaknesses in the face of our national failures. The solution must come back to the communities. We must rebuild our spirit and our infrastructure as we once did as pioneers in this land. The federal government will not help us. We must do this ourselves. The objective of the federalization of our nation is to make us slaves. Our quest must be to achieve revival through freedom and the inspiration of the spirit that has always been the source of our success in this nation.
With the changes in industry, downturn in employment and health problems of West Virginians, what will be your administration’s top priority, and how will you address it?
My top priority as governor of West Virginia will be education at every level. Education is not just a program for the young. It is the mission that every one of us must pursue throughout our lives. Technology is changing so fast that every one of us must continuously renew our education every year and every day of our lives so that we can always be at the forefront of leadership. We citizens of West Virginia must take the national lead in this quest, and we can in fact do it. We have the best universities in the world. They only need to direct their attention to the continuous training and development of all of our citizens at every level. Education, for all of us citizens, is not just the process of paying for a degree from one of our universities. It is rather the process of continuously making each and every one of us better every day and ready to face and surmount every challenge the world presents. We are Mountaineers. We have survived the basest elements in the environment. We can be the leaders of the future for the entire globe.
Tell us about your four-year plan.
I have published a three-point plan for the revitalization of West Virginia based upon industrial technological innovation, the spirit of West Virginians and the power of real education. These elements will guide my administration of West Virginia as we pull ourselves up from 150 years of governmental mismanagement and the extraction industrial base that benefited the rest of the country without allowing industrial development here in the mountains.
First, my administration will begin to bring the state budget into line with the current revenues of our state. We cannot run West Virginia as a federal welfare state. Our people must come to the realization that our state has to be financed with real money, not with deficit financing and deficits that we pass on to our children.
Second, I plan to restrict, reduce or rescind all taxation that limits or discourages human progress and individual productivity that the Republican and Democratic administrations have inflicted upon us.
If elected, what will be your first act as governor?
The entire state administration needs to be reviewed and made monetarily and administratively efficient. I will call for a complete review of every position in the state government from the top to the bottom to determine how to improve the operation of our state while simultaneously reducing this largest cost to our citizens. Every function and position will have to be justified.
This review will be extended directly into the governor’s office, and I personally declare that I will accept no salary as governor that is higher than the average wage of all West Virginians.
One of my legacies as governor will be the development of gubernatorial leadership that is dedicated to the progress of the state and the welfare of our citizens rather than to the traditional dictates of power politics.
What are you most excited to work on as governor?
West Virginia has more promise than any other state in the Union, yet we are at the bottom of every list in terms of income, education and health, and we have one of the highest rates of personal income tax. This challenge, to go from last place to first, is what excites me most about being governor of this state. Others have squandered this potential, but I intend to make it my life’s work with total dedication.
Which of your personal characteristics will most help you in serving as governor?
I am running for governor for the future of the people. I seek no other compensation or reward than to see this state improve in every venue. Personally, I bring two vital elements to this quest: logical reflection and common sense.
Why did you choose to run for governor?
My candidacy is built upon giving the people a viable choice in leadership. We have been repeatedly deceived and disappointed by the two major parties in this state. Our destiny lies in thinking for ourselves and electing leadership that stands for progress rather than politics as usual.
What is your favorite West Virginia tradition?
Volunteer spirit and Irish road bowling.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your campaign, your goals for West Virginia and your outlook for the state’s future?
I am the only candidate who has had the courage, conviction and energy to publish my ideas and plans in a book, “All Mountaineers Are Libertarians: They Just Didn’t Get the Memo.” It is available on Amazon.com or from the www.lpwv.org for a small contribution to the campaign. I encourage all West Virginians to read this book and then decide for themselves who they will elect as governor.
Charlotte Pritt – Mountain
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor.
My administrative/executive experiences in education, wellness and stress management, banking and strategic planning give me an advantage when problem solving with local communities on issues that are of crucial importance to West Virginians.
In addition to being a classroom teacher and working in grades kindergarten to graduate school, I have directed two federal grants—the National Writing Project and a very selective federal grant sponsored jointly from the United States Department of Education and the National Endowment of the Arts to help children not copycat violence in the media. I have served as director of communications at Kanawha County Schools and director of the West Virginia Writing Project at the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies.
As the president of Better Balance LLC, a wellness and educational consulting firm, I am well versed in self-responsibility models of wellness, specializing in brain enhancement and stress management. I have traveled abroad sharing these techniques in Cusco, Peru, sharing brain gym techniques with children in a local school. In the area of wellness, I presented in Calcutta, India, to the first all-green hospital in India to teach several stress management and brain enhancement techniques in a week-long seminar training both physicians and other staff members.
I served as an independent marketer and president of the Charleston office for SteelOaks/Acorn Investments.
As president of Pritt Associates, I served as a strategic planning consultant working with individuals, community nonprofit organizations and corporate clients assisting clients in planning strategies to work more effectively within their systems or others in diverse arenas—political, institutional, educational and corporate—in order to efficiently gather, disseminate and use information to meet their stated goals and objectives. A sample of clients includes AT&T, West Virginia State University and Common Ground, a nonprofit organization.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
The need to diversify our economy, to support West Virginia-owned businesses both large and small, to support West Virginia workers, to include West Virginians on the front lines in decision making, to address health care and addiction issues and to have access to communication and transportation infrastructures and free educational opportunities for all West Virginians. These are short-term and long-term goals that must be addressed to ensure success for West Virginia and her future.
What is West Virginia’s biggest asset, and how will you utilize that asset to address our challenges, such as education, unemployment, infrastructure and drug abuse?
First of all, West Virginia is wonderfully unique and diverse in its regional composition. A cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all is not sufficient for success in West Virginia. On the other hand, an individualized regional approach listening to the voices of those on the frontlines in each region will ensure a lasting success region by region.
With that being said, West Virginia’s biggest asset is the persistent beauty and spirit of the people and the mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountains in the world, and even though they have weathered many assaults, they are still standing. And even though West Virginians have weathered many economic and natural disasters, they are still willing to come together to support one another in times of crisis. This determination to stand up for our values and one another can be harnessed in each local community to identify, address and resolve the pressing problems of our diverse communities.
As governor of West Virginia, I will honor the knowledge of those on the frontlines who are eager to be a part of the problem solving and will roll up my sleeves to work alongside them to reach solutions that are unique to their area and situation. The issues confronting the southern coal communities are vastly different from the issues confronting the Eastern Panhandle metropolitan bedroom communities, but the common goal of wanting to preserve and create an environment that allows our children to remain in their home state is one we all share.
A diversified economy based on the identified needs of a specific community involving the voices of all parties impacted creates lasting results and empowers the people of local communities with the knowledge that they are not alone when facing major decisions and challenges.
Opening up areas of the state that are trapped by the lack of a communication or transportation infrastructure is of paramount importance toward resolving educational, unemployment and addiction issues. Allocation of state monies based on specific needs identified by local communities, which do vary greatly throughout the state, is key to making decisions concerning a responsible budget to develop each of West Virginia’s specific regions.
With the changes in industry, downturn in employment and health problems of West Virginians, what will be your administrations top priority, and how will you address it?
My top priority will be to infuse the economy by using West Virginia taxpayer dollars to support and finance West Virginia workers and businesses. Reinstating the prevailing wage and mandating West Virginia-owned businesses and work force be used on all projects using West Virginia taxpayer dollars will put West Virginia tax dollars back in the hands of West Virginia businesses and people to spend in their local communities.
Capitalizing on and returning to West Virginia’s rich agricultural history will diversify the economy with renewable and sustainable products. Better marketing and production of end products of West Virginia’s rich and diverse herbal products such as ginseng and bringing the state into alignment with national and regional trends such as the legalization of marijuana and the production of hemp products will infuse the economy and position West Virginia small businesses and farmers to create a renewed economy.
Using locally grown organic foods that are prepared by the staff at all West Virginia institutions such as senior centers, schools, hospitals, colleges and universities and correctional centers that are financed with West Virginia tax dollars rather than using pre-packed foods loaded with preservatives and chemicals from out-of-state vendors and contractors will create positive changes in West Virginia’s economy and the health of our citizens, whether they are senior citizens or the youth.
Tell us about your four-year plan.
The wise investor knows the key to success is flexibility through diversification not only in the stock portfolio but also in the workplace by keeping a watchful eye on current trends. Even those uninterested in investment and finance know the commonplace adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
To be successful, West Virginia must diversify its economy rather than focus on one or two industries, which many times are owned by international corporations using out-of-state workers. West Virginia must invest West Virginia taxpayer dollars into West Virginia-owned businesses and workers.
Reinstating the prevailing wage will be one of the fastest ways to infuse West Virginia contractors and workers with wages, which will support our locally owned West Virginia small businesses.
Focusing on local and regional challenges and potentials, bolstering our small businesses, protecting our water sources and the health of our citizens and ensuring educational and communication opportunities will be a top priority. Reviewing current rules and regulations and working with the communities involved toward complete compliance with phase-in plans that give affected businesses and tourism communities opportunities to reach goals that protect our health and West Virginia’s natural beauty while finding creative ways to keep West Virginia workers employed and our businesses thriving.
The lack of accurate and complete information has been a major hindrance in citizen and business decision making. Having greater transparency and accessibility to information in all areas of government and business will be a key component in my administration. I firmly believe that when West Virginians have accurate information, they will work jointly toward beneficial solutions. Getting accessible, appropriate-speed internet to all West Virginians is a major component to ensuring communication and informed connection within West Virginia communities. During my four years as governor, I hope to empower communities at the local level with a diverse, sustainable economy that is directed from the bottom up and built to survive.
If elected, what will be your first act as governor?
As a people-centered governor, working with the people on the front lines and the legislators from their areas, I will request that an interfaith council work with me personally on an ongoing basis to address some of the most pressing concerns of our state such as drug addiction, poverty, domestic violence, discrimination, high unemployment, hunger, lack of foster care and other challenges that are surfacing in their communities to identify the problems they encounter and assess what can be done in the communities and what tools, such as legislation and the use of government-owned facilities, are needed from government to help resolve these challenges. Since neither the private sector nor the government sector have been able to resolve these issues separately, obtaining information from the frontlines, including those individuals suffering from these challenges, will be crucial in finding lasting solutions
What are you most excited to work on as governor?
As governor of West Virginia, I am most excited about creating a fair and equitable playing field for all West Virginians and to encourage and remind West Virginians of our creativity, perseverance and true heritage of speaking up, standing up and marching forward for social justice, economic justice and environmental justice. I believe in the people of West Virginia and their ability to work with me to create what we know in our hearts is possible—a West Virginia that is Almost Heaven.
Which of your personal characteristics will most help you in serving as governor?
A Republican senator described me in these words: “Well, if Charlotte Pritt believes in it, she will fight for it until the bitter end!” My work ethic, persistence and deep desire to know the truth propels me to search for the truth on the frontlines—the people, small businesses, industry and those experiencing the challenge. Both my willingness to genuinely listen to many perspectives from all the stake holders so that I understand fully the facets of the problem and my personal faith give me the strength to tackle hard problems.
The adage “necessity is the mother of invention” applies to many of us who grew up in West Virginia and experienced poverty or hard times. As a result of those hard times, we became some of the most creative problem solvers on the planet. Throw us a lemon, and we’ll make lemonade. I love and believe in West Virginia and our people. Even when things look the darkest, in my heart I know what great potential we have to survive the current crisis. All that is needed is a steady hand at the helm, and West Virginia will not only survive, it will once again thrive!
Why did you choose to run for governor?
In addition to being a small business owner, an educator, a wellness and stress management coach, an independent marketer for an investment firm and a strategic planner for communities, small businesses, corporations and educational institutions, I served eight years in the West Virginia Legislature, two terms in the House and one term in the Senate. During that time, I served on committees important to West Virginia’s economy and future, and I had the opportunity to hear from a varied audience the challenges that still face us today. These committees included finance, judiciary, banking and insurance, health and human resources, small business, legislative rule making review, interstate cooperation and government organizations.
As a hands-on leader who believes in community input and bottom-up problem solving, I realized that my experiences in the West Virginia Legislature and my concentrated work in education, health, stress management, investment, strategic planning and community empowerment make me the most qualified person to work with the Legislature and the people of West Virginia to do strategic planning to solve the challenges confronting us at this time.
What is your favorite West Virginia tradition?
My favorite tradition is our loving nature expressed in words and deeds. West Virginians have a habit of calling perfect strangers, “sweetie,” “baby doll,” “honey,” “sweetheart” and other endearments as a way of saying thank you or of connecting with them as a human being. They also look perfect strangers in the eye and engage in conversation as if they have known them for many years.
Breaking bread, making music and finding solace with one another as a family or community are other ways that West Virginians reveal their true nature. Regardless of the event, happy or sad, celebrations or sickness and funerals, West Virginians bring you food so you won’t go hungry. They bring their music makers—dulcimers, banjos, fiddles, guitars and voice for singing and playing—to these same events, whether weddings or Irish wakes/funerals, to ease the soul. They also bring you hope and comfort with their words of faith: “God willing and the creeks don’t rise,” “I’ll be praying for you, honey,” “Remember me in your prayers,” “We’ll get the prayer circle and prayer warriors started on your behalf,” “Remember you are not alone” or “Man can intend evil, but God always intends your good.”
West Virginians, when given a chance, will consciously or unconsciously try to comfort all aspects of you—the physical body with food, the soul with music and the spirit with prayer. These acts of comfort and faith are unmistakable reminders to me that I am in those “West Virginia hills so majestic and so grand.”
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your campaign, your goals for West Virginia and your outlook for the state’s future?
I am a firm believer that West Virginians are a hardy group with amazing resilience based in the faith that as a family and community, we can meet the challenges together. We need each other now.
Regardless of what others might say, those of us on the frontlines of adversity know the reality that we face. More than ever, we need to address immediate concerns of common sense economics that work from the bottom up, and we need to ignite hope in a generation of our children who have given up on faith and turned to drugs. This is a time for all West Virginians, those who were born here and those who adopted us because of their love of the spirit of place and people in West Virginia, to ignore labels and anything that seeks to divide us and come together as we have done in natural disasters to face the economic and social challenges of poverty and drug addiction.
I pray that my campaign is a campaign that unites our communities with problem solving the issues and that this campaign empowers the people on the frontlines by knowing that as your governor, I will listen. I pledge to genuinely listen and work with you as a team so that together we may find the solutions that will heal our communities and our state.
Bill Cole – Republican
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor.
For 30, years I have built and grown small businesses that today employ more than 400 people. I understand what it takes to meet a budget and make a payroll. I also have real experience in the heavy burdens our state government has placed on our businesses over the years. I felt I could make a difference in our state’s business climate so four years ago I decided to become a part of the solution.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
We need to keep the jobs we have and create new ones. A growing economy and more West Virginians working will solve many of the problems we face. This is the reason I am supporting Donald Trump for president. He will put an end to President Obama’s war on coal and work with us to put our miners back to work. As governor, I will bring the business community together to build the pipelines and cracker plants necessary to get our natural gas out of the ground and to market. I will also make sure every community has access to quality, high-speed broadband so entrepreneurship can flourish and businesses can grow. As governor, I will work from the inside to get Charleston off the backs of businesses by rolling back outdated and heavy handed regulations.
What is West Virginia’s biggest asset, and how will you utilize that asset to address our challenges, such as education, unemployment, infrastructure and drug abuse?
West Virginia has abundant natural resources that have been and must continue to be used to produce energy and goods. We have natural beauty that must be leveraged to grow our tourism industry. Our most valuable asset is the undeniable work ethic of our people. I will challenge them to move forward with new education and training opportunities that will provide them and future generations the skills they need to get a job. That is what will provide employers a qualified and educated work force, drawing new business to West Virginia.
With the changes in industry, downturn in employment and health problems of West Virginians, what will be your administration’s top priority, and how will you address it?
My top priority will be creating good-paying jobs for West Virginia workers. I have worked hard as Senate president to level the playing field with legal reforms and the passage of the Workplace Freedom Bill that sends a loud and clear message that West Virginia is truly open for business.
Tell us about your four-year plan.
West Virginia’s state government spends 20 percent more per capita than the national average, yet we rank at the bottom of almost every statistic. Over the last 16 years, our state budget has increased by 56 percent, and in that time, we have added layer after layer of bureaucracy to our government and more and more red tape and burdensome regulations to our businesses. This, along with President Obama’s war on coal, has led to massive budget deficits and a majority of our adult-age population not working. In four years, I want to modernize state government, control the growth of it and put our people back to work. We have laid the foundation with meaningful legal reforms, a reduction of outdated regulations and the passing of the Workplace Freedom Bill. As the next governor, I will be prepared to do the heavy lifting to end the culture of corruption. As governor, I believe I will be the chief executive salesman for the state of West Virginia. It will be up to me to present the great story of West Virginia in the corporate board rooms across this country.
If elected, what will be your first act as governor?
Placing a moratorium on all unnecessary board and commission activity and appointments for six months until they can be restructured. Our state has 230 boards and commissions, while the average state has about 90. Often these appointments are handed out as political favors, and they cost us millions every year. They also add more unnecessary regulations that hamper our ability to grow and create good jobs.
What are you most excited to work on as governor?
Once we build a place that is truly open for business, I will go out and sell all West Virginia has to offer to the nation. We have everything going for us—abundant natural resources, great beauty and hardworking people. With the right leadership, we are poised to be the next great American comeback story.
Which of your personal characteristics will most help you in serving as governor?
I, too, am a West Virginian. I have the same enduring determination and leadership skills I see in my fellow citizens as I travel the state. Those traits have made me a successful businessman. Those traits have guided my actions as president of the Senate, and those same traits guide me as I work hard to bring people together to find the best solutions to the problems our state faces. I don’t have all the answers, but I know how to find them. And I know how to implement them.
Why did you choose to run for governor?
I ran for the state Senate four years ago because as a businessman I was frustrated with the heavy-handed approach of the Legislature and the culture of corruption that has held our state back. Once elected, I realized pretty quickly that if I wanted to make real change, I needed to change the leadership of the Legislature. I worked hard to help elect a pro-job, pro-growth majority to both the House and Senate in 2014. We have made great strides in creating an environment conducive to job creation with legal reforms, regulatory reforms and passing the Workplace Freedom Bill. But, to make meaningful change and end the “good ol’ boy” system that is holding us back and increasing the cost to our state government, I decided to run for governor to bring the meaningful changes we needed in order to modernize our government and make it work for West Virginians.
What is your favorite West Virginia tradition?
We take care of those in need. West Virginians are always at the ready to aid their family, their friends and their neighbors—even if those folks are half a state or several states away.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your campaign, your goals for West Virginia and your outlook for the state’s future?
I have outlined a plan to restore pride to our state and its workers, as well as strengthen our economy and communities that will focus on creating jobs, demanding excellence in education, rebuilding our infrastructure and combating our drug epidemic. More can be learned at my website, www.billcolewv.com. There is nothing wrong with West Virginia that the strength of our work ethic and pride of our people can’t fix. United, we can become “West Virginia Proud” and “West Virginia Strong.”
Attorney General
Doug Reynolds – Democrat
Tell us about your professional background and how it has prepared you for the role of attorney general.
First and foremost, I am a fourth-generation West Virginian, so I know the unique problems this state faces and what we need to do to address these problems to put the state on a path toward renewed prosperity. I have served in both the public and private sectors in West Virginia, and I believe this has given me extensive insight and experience that would serve me well as attorney general.
Regarding my professional career, I graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 2002 and returned to my hometown of Huntington to start a law practice. Additionally, I served as an assistant prosecutor in Cabell County for five years and assisted in the management of various businesses owned or operated by my family. In 2006, I was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates and served in that capacity for 10 years. During my tenure in the House of Delegates, I served on both the education and finance committees and served as the vice chair of the House Finance Committee for two years. In 2012, I was asked to take over as CEO of Energy Services of America, a company that provides construction and electrical services to the oil, natural gas and chemical industries. Today, Energy Services of America has more than 850 employees, providing good-paying jobs in West Virginia.
I believe my vast experience in both the public and private sectors affords me a background that no other candidate can bring to the attorney general’s office. My management experience and knowledge of the inner workings of state government will be a valuable asset if I am elected. My professional background provides the ideal combination of private sector, public sector and legal experience that will allow me to succeed as the next attorney general of West Virginia.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
In my opinion, the two most important skills an individual can bring to the attorney general’s office are management experience and legal expertise. I have spent the vast majority of my career operating my own law firm and serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney right here in West Virginia. This has given me a considerable amount of legal experience and an extraordinary understanding of the state’s laws. Additionally, as the CEO of Energy Services of America, I preside over a work force of more than 850 employees. This management experience has more than prepared me to head a Board of Public Works office within the state’s executive branch. Considering the totality of my professional background, I don’t think there is a better candidate who can bring an ideal combination of management experience and legal expertise to the attorney general’s office.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
The three biggest challenges our state faces are the state’s growing drug epidemic, overburdensome regulations initiated by the federal government and a business climate that is unfriendly to new industries and small businesses. These extraordinary challenges threaten our state’s future, which is why I chose to run for attorney general.
To address the growing drug epidemic, I believe we need a comprehensive plan that includes input from law enforcement, community leaders, public officials, medical professionals and other affected members of the community. As attorney general, I will spearhead this effort and ensure all viable options are at our disposal, including going after drug distributors who knowingly flood our communities with egregious amounts of prescription painkillers. We must effectively combat opioid and heroin addiction before it cripples the state’s economic productivity permanently.
Regarding federal overreach, the federal government’s overburdensome regulations have directly affected West Virginia’s economy, most notably with the coal mining industry. I will continue to take the fight to the federal government to ensure West Virginia’s economic interests are always protected against unnecessary federal regulations.
Finally, we need to create an environment in this state that is conducive to economic growth, especially for small businesses and new enterprises. I plan to provide legal assistance and advice to small business owners in West Virginia with a special focus on businesses that employ less than 10 employees. I will also rebuild the Consumer Protection Division, ensuring that West Virginia citizens have the protection they deserve against fraudulent companies or individuals. Supporting new industries, ensuring a confident consumer base and fostering economic growth are essential for the growth of West Virginia’s economy, and as attorney general, I will help make these plans a reality.
Why did you decide to run for attorney general?
A political career was not something I strived for growing up, and this is not where I expected my professional career to take me. However, my father has always been extremely active in the community, and it is something he instilled in me at an early age. Once I began my professional career and got more involved in the community, I saw the need to have good representation on behalf of the community at the state and federal levels, which led me to run for the West Virginia House of Delegates. During my time in the state Legislature, I have been extremely concerned about the growing number of problems and obstacles the state has encountered. As a fourth-generation West Virginian, I took for granted the ability to have my children grow up in the Mountain State and eventually raise their own families here, but that possibility has been threatened in recent years. This state is definitely at a crossroads, and I believe it’s time for a new generation of leaders to step up and serve so we can put the state on a path toward renewed prosperity. As West Virginia’s next attorney general, I believe I can help address many of the state’s problems and do my part to make this state great.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
Although West Virginia has a plethora of significant issues the next attorney general must address, fighting the drug epidemic would be my top priority. The growing drug crisis has crippled communities and devastated families throughout the state. Additionally, it has drastically affected our ability to attract employers and businesses to the Mountain State due to the fact we can no longer guarantee a well-trained and drug-free work force. A comprehensive approach is required to effectively combat this epidemic, which needs to include stricter punishment for drug distributors that knowingly flood West Virginia communities with excessive amounts of prescription pain killers.
Additionally, we need to ensure that we help those who are afflicted by this epidemic and get them the treatment and support they need to lead productive lives. It’s not going to be easy, but I believe we can reverse this trend once and for all.
Karl Kolenich – Libertarian
Tell us about your professional background and how it has prepared you for the role of attorney general.
I attended WVU College of Law and reside with my wife and daughter in Buckhannon, WV. My wife and I are partners at Klie Law Offices, where I have the privilege of representing people and businesses with their employment and injury matters across West Virginia. I have defended businesses and individuals as well as represented parties who have had to bring a lawsuit. Understanding the challenges and difficulties of both business and ordinary people is critical to the position of attorney general.
Working every day with ordinary West Virginians and businesses has helped me understand what day-to-day challenges people face. Each and every day West Virginians are concerned about their jobs and businesses, their children, the safety of their neighborhoods and whether their government is improving their lives. As attorney general, protecting all West Virginians from fraud and overreaching federal and state government will be the most important part of my job.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
Through the Consumer Protection Division, West Virginia’s attorney general’s office watches out for all West Virginians. It is important to understand the tricks and scams people are subject to and how these bad actors are able to deceive people. I work with people every day who are trying to understand complicated issues, mostly during difficult times in their lives. I understand how people are misled and taken advantage of. I want to work to educate and warn West Virginians on how to protect themselves and their property.
Consumer protection also means watching out for companies that are not abiding by the rules. All businesses have rules that must be followed, and when they are not followed, it hurts both consumers and legitimate businesses. Businesses need to know companies that do business in West Virginia have an attorney general that will protect them by making sure all companies operating in West Virginia are held to the same standards.
Finally, as an attorney, I work with laws and regulations that are overly complex and burdensome and lead to unintended consequences. As attorney general, I will work with the state Legislature and agencies to ensure the laws and regulations being passed make sense when applied to the real world and actually make West Virginia safer and more prosperous. That also applies to making sure federal laws and regulations that have serious consequences in West Virginia are constitutional. I will fight laws that harm the people of West Virginia
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
I believe the biggest challenge to West Virginia is bringing not only jobs but good-paying careers to the state. Issues with the state budget, drugs and crime are symptoms of a bigger issue. West Virginians need good-paying careers they can be proud of. The solution to this is not a secret—we hear politicians say it all the time. We need to improve the business climate. Unfortunately, what they mean is the climate for the very industry or company that funded their campaign.
Although the attorney general is not a policy making position, the office plays an important role in sending the message that West Virginia is a place that will apply the laws to all businesses and industries fairly, regardless of size and free from bias and corruption. As attorney general, I will advise legislators and agencies of their responsibilities to the citizens of West Virginia and remind them that the government has limitations and should not consider itself the solution to every problem. I will do everything in my power to stop government from overreaching and interfering with West Virginia’s progress toward becoming a great place to do business.
Why did you decide to run for attorney general?
I believe people are trapped into voting for the same ineffective candidates each election. People have legitimate concerns about the current attorney general. But what is their choice? Vote for the same party we as voters kicked out of office in the last election? West Virginia can do better.
I am running to give West Virginians a meaningful choice this election who will be an attorney general for the people. I believe the position is more important than some realize in shaping the climate here in West Virginia.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
The Libertarian Party is not like the Republicans or Democrats, as we have no political dogmas that must be followed—no groups we have to pay back. As a Libertarian, my only obligations are to the people of West Virginia, and that gives me a lot of power to set an agenda at the office of attorney general that only serves the state of West Virginia. So much of what goes on at the attorney general’s office is kept hidden away. When I am elected into office, the first thing I will do is bring my work into the open. People need to know what the attorney general’s office has been up to and what they spend their time doing. Then I will have a dialog with the people of West Virginia about what we like about the attorney general’s office and what we can improve. Allowing the public to have a say in the way their government is run is very important to me.
Michael Sharley – Mountain Party
Tell us about your professional background and how it has prepared you for the role of attorney general.
I graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) in 1990 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and from the WVU College of Law in 1993. I opened my own office in Monongalia County in 1995, where I practice in the areas of criminal defense and civil rights. I’m on the court appointment list for both state and federal court. I also handle cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
I serve on Westover’s planning council. I am also the treasurer for the West Virginia Senior Legal Aid and serve on the board of the Morgantown Community Coalition for Social Justice. In the past, I served on the Bartlett House’s board, where I served as the president in 2010.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
I have never been a professional lobbyist or a businessman. I have dedicated my professional life to the citizens of West Virginia, and this has provided me with the skills and experience that are needed to be the attorney general of West Virginia. By representing people who have been accused of breaking the law, I have dealt first-hand with many of the problems that affect West Virginia, such as drug addiction and unemployment. Additionally, I am a person with a disability. I have cerebral palsy, and I have experienced discrimination myself. Therefore, I understand many of the problems that affect the people of West Virginia.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
The two biggest challenges in West Virginia are drug addiction and education. Whereas the attorney general’s office cannot directly improve the education challenges in this state, it can deal with the drug addiction problem. There needs to be more drug rehabilitation programs in West Virginia. As a defense attorney, I know what it’s like to have a client on a waiting list for a drug rehab. Additionally, I would like to follow up on the lawsuit by the McGraw administration against opioid manufacturing. These lawsuits have not been prosecuted by the current attorney general, and, prior to becoming attorney general, Morrisey was a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.
Why did you decide to run for attorney general?
I think there ought to be a candidate for attorney general who is a true progressive.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
The first thing I would do as attorney general is drop the lawsuit against the EPA about the environmental regulations. I will not run the attorney general’s office as a legal aid for big business. If the coal companies want to fight the EPA, they have legal departments and do not need to rely on the attorney general’s office. I will also drop the case against the Obama administration over transgender bathroom use. I will not use the attorney general’s office to oppose anyone’s civil rights.
Patrick Morrisey – Republican (Incumbent)
Tell us about your professional background and how it has prepared you for the role of attorney general.
I have taken my 24 years of private sector and government experience and used it to work to transform the Office of the Attorney General into a high-quality law firm.
First, I implemented new policies and procedures that increased efficiency and saved taxpayer dollars. To date, the office has voluntarily returned more than $33 million to the state’s general fund in part due to these quality-driven practices. We also increased transparency by reforming how the state hires outside counsel, which has saved taxpayers more than $4.3 million.
Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse has been a top priority for our office as we continue to push aggressively to reform state government. In late 2015, we worked with the Social Security Administration to form a federal-state collaborative disability unit to take on disability fraud, the first such agreement in West Virginia history. In 2014, I called on the West Virginia Legislature to audit and review the performance of all state agencies in order to identify and eliminate any abuse of taxpayer dollars.
In addition to implementing these practices, I previously worked on many high profile health care matters in the private sector and therefore have a broad array of experience in regulatory issues, Medicare, Medicaid, policy, fraud and abuse investigations, legislative matters and strategic counseling, as well as legal and policy challenges to federal statutes and regulations. I was a partner and then a practice group co-chair at two of the largest, most respected law firms in the country.
From 1999-2004, I served as the deputy staff director and chief health care counsel to the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee, helping draft and negotiate major legislation, including the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and the Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness Act of 2002. I served as the principal liaison for the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee on health care issues to the White House, the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
The number one thing I have found throughout my career to be helpful in achieving success is hard work. As the product of a working class family, I paid my way through undergraduate and law school. My father was a World War II veteran, and my mother was a Veterans Administration nurse. I was never handed anything. If I wanted something, I had to work for it.
That’s why I’m not afraid to take on the big fights as attorney general. A lot of people said we couldn’t do the things we’ve done over the past four years. They said we couldn’t take on the Obama administration’s crippling EPA regulations, but we did, and we won. They said we couldn’t clean up corrupt practices in Charleston, but we did.
I think West Virginia is worth fighting for, and I won’t ever back down from fighting federal government overreach, eliminating our substance abuse epidemic and aggressively targeting fraud, waste and abuse.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest challenges?
We need to protect and promote West Virginia jobs and supercharge economic growth in our state. A big part of that is continuing to be vigilant in keeping the federal government off our backs. The regulations coming out of Washington these days have made it difficult for West Virginia businesses to survive, let alone thrive. The Obama Power Plan would have killed thousands of jobs throughout our state, and that’s why I’m proud to have led the charge to stop it.
Regulations lacking any common sense, such as the Waters of the United States rule, which would have regulated a stream in your backyard the same as the Ohio River, present serious problems for our business community and land owners, as well as farmers and ranchers. That’s why I’m proud to have helped put a stop to such a ridiculous regulation.
We see this liberal agenda, totally out-of-touch with West Virginia values, coming out of Washington, D.C., nearly every day. The people of West Virginia deserve an attorney general who will fight federal government overreach.
We also must remain committed to the fight against substance abuse in our state. That’s why I’ve been leading the fight to tackle this epidemic from a supply, demand and educational perspective.
Experience matters, and we need an attorney general who has the expertise and work ethic to help West Virginia reach her potential.
Why did you decide to run for attorney general?
I ran for attorney general because I felt the office was no longer serving the people and wasn’t doing enough to protect West Virginia jobs. During my first term, I worked to ensure all enforcement in our office is blind to political affiliation and economic status in an effort to create a level playing field for businesses and consumers. I also ran to help transform the office into a high quality law firm that advanced the best ethical practices.
I love West Virginia and believe our state—through its people—has so much to offer. However, the burden of federal government overreach and the poor business climate here has inhibited growth and job creation.
In light of West Virginia’s work force participation rate, which is currently the lowest in the country, I believe every statewide public official must do everything in his or her power to remove obstacles to job creation in our state.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
My top priorities have been, and will continue to be, combating this terrible substance abuse epidemic, which is killing a generation of West Virginians, and protecting West Virginia jobs. In 2015, our office established a partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in West Virginia’s Northern District that designated two special federal prosecutors to help prosecute drug traffickers. I have also partnered with Ohio’s attorney general to advance faith-based initiatives to tackle the substance abuse crisis from a grassroots approach. We have dramatically expanded our office’s substance abuse capabilities, including increasing the number of investigators in the office to five. In May 2016, we announced a comprehensive Best Practices Initiative aimed at dramatically reducing the use of opioids in West Virginia by 25 percent.
Additionally, we will continue fighting for our state’s economic health and jobs for our people. We will continue our aggressive litigation against the Obama administration’s illegal overreach, which has been successful in defeating some of the president’s top initiatives of his liberal agenda. We obtained an unprecedented stay of the Obama Power Plan, the president’s illegal amnesty program and other illegal regulations that targeted West Virginia job creators. I look forward to winning more victories for the people of our great state.
State Treasurer
John Perdue – Democrat (Incumbent)
How has your professional background prepared you for the role of state treasurer?
When I first took on the role of state treasurer in 1997, the office was fragmented and fragile. With my background as Governor Gaston Caperton’s top aide and years in a leadership role with the Department of Agriculture, I knew I could rebuild the state’s bank. I started by focusing on the core management of the state’s operating funds. I hired professional, qualified CPAs and lawyers. I worked to grow our Consolidated Fund. Under my direction, our two money market pools are AAAm-rated by Standard and Poor’s and the Board of Treasury Investments now has a chartered financial analyst on staff, which is one of the most respected designations in finance.
My tenure also includes building up the state’s unclaimed property program from virtually no activity to returning more than $13 million to rightful owners this past fiscal year. We now frequently lead the nation in our efforts to return unclaimed property and fight for citizens’ rights. We’ve been featured on numerous national media outlets for our leadership in this area. Most recently, I took on the issue of reporting and returning unclaimed life insurance policies in both the state Legislature and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The high court ruled in our favor, and now there are specific guidelines insurance companies must follow to turn over unclaimed funds.
Of course, with education being a strong passion of mine, I helped create the state’s SMART529 College Savings Program, which is now a $2.2 billion program. When we started developing this program, the college savings industry was in its early stages. It was exciting to work on shaping the program from the beginning, but my true pride comes from seeing West Virginia children of all backgrounds investing in higher education.
How can the skills and experience obtained through your career help you be successful in this role?
I am proud of my office accomplishments, and I believe I have been a strong leader in the state throughout my public service career. The banking services we provide the state and the programs that are made available through my office didn’t become successful overnight. I believe my tenure and experience in this role and having that first-hand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t will only be beneficial moving forward as treasurer.
I have taken some great risks and made some bold decisions in my career, and I think my successes in those moments show my ability to manage the unclaimed property division, the SMART529 program, the state’s deferred compensation plan and all the other programs under the state treasurer’s purview.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest financial challenges?
It’s no secret that the decline in the coal industry has been detrimental to individuals and the state budget as a whole. The revenue that coal severance and other taxes have generated in the past just isn’t there anymore, and it will be hard to replace. We have to make tough decisions. We have to look to new and diverse ways to fill the budget gaps, but I have the experience to help make sure the state stays on track. I understand the needs of our state, and I know how to seek out the long-term solutions to keep our state strong.
Why did you decide to run for state treasurer?
This is the place where I can continue to make a difference. Public service has to be your passion; you have to have a strong commitment to your community and your state. I’m not done working to better our state, and I’m not done growing the Treasurer’s Office.
For example, I created a nationally award-winning financial literacy program called NetWorth. Now, other states are reaching out to us to see how they can take our program and put it to use in their own states. We are growing that initiative and have plans to make sure all students in West Virginia have access to quality financial education.
As for college savings, a successful program isn’t good enough. I want to get to the point where every child in our state has a growing nest egg for some type of education beyond high school. I believe every child born in West Virginia should have a 529 investment account, and I want to make that happen.
On another note, we’re starting a brand new program in our office, thanks to the passage of the ABLE Act. Soon people with disabilities will be able to save and invest without losing their need-based benefits or being overly-taxed. I’m proud my office will lead the development and implementation of this program in West Virginia.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
My number one priority as state treasurer is to maintain the financial integrity of the state and this office.
I work closely with my staff and other elected officials in the state to ensure we have an open and engaging system. I want people to know how the state manages their tax dollars, where to find the information they need and what resources are available to them. That philosophy will continue to drive my priorities moving forward as state treasurer.
Michael Young – Libertarian
How has your professional background prepared you for the role of state treasurer?
I have a long and extensive business record, along with serving in the United States Air Force. I have worked for small businesses and corporations alike. I know how business works, from getting the best from those under you to making sure the books always add up. I made sure the business always hit its goals while addressing needs and planning for future success.
How can the skills and experience obtained through your career help you be successful in this role?
It is critical that we keep a close eye on our state’s finances, especially in these fiscally troubled times. It is not enough to merely have business skills, although I have had plenty of valuable experience over the years. My practical experience plus my political orientation in support of smaller, leaner government combine to position me as the best advocate for the beleaguered West Virginia taxpayer. I will lead my staff to promote transparency, approachability and service to the public above all. We will ensure that the public’s dollars are properly invested and effectively managed. As treasurer, I will work closely with the state auditor—presumably Libertarian Brent Ricketts—to protect the public’s interest.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest financial challenges?
The West Virginia tax system in its current form—taxes are too high, too bureaucratic, too centralized—is the biggest financial challenge in our state. We need less control and top-down mandates in Charleston and more autonomy at the local level and among citizens. Although the treasurer is a non-policy making job, I will use it as a bully pulpit to advocate for lower individual and business taxes. I will search out wasteful spending in the treasurer’s office itself and look for ways to advance the taxpayers’ interests. I have no special interests backing me, and I will always remember that I serve the public, not the other way around.
Why did you decide to run for state treasurer?
As a Libertarian, I believe government is best which governs least. I favor citizen autonomy, basic government services at minimal cost, maximum transparency in the interactions of public officers and humble, service-oriented government. Not every state office needs to be in the hands of Republicans or Democrats. I stand for individual liberty, where citizens are the prime decision makers in their lives and not the wards of government experts.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
My biggest priority will be to ease the financial burden on the citizens of West Virginia. Every dollar the state spends, wastes or mismanages comes out of the pockets of working people. I’ll look on my job as a frugal trustee of the public’s hard-earned money.
Ann Urling – Republican
How has your professional background prepared you for the role of state treasurer?
After a successful 30-year career as a professional banker, I was recruited by the Republican party to run as treasurer for the state of West Virginia. I am a graduate of West Virginia University and have worked at Summit Community Bank since May 1999. I am a graduate of the West Virginia Bankers Association School of Banking as well as a graduate of the Lloyd P. Calvert Graduate School of Banking. I am currently the senior vice president of commercial lending, and I have my property and casualty insurance license. I bring proven leadership, team management and banking experience to this role.
How can the skills and experience obtained through your career help you be successful in this role?
As a professional banker, I frequently have the opportunity to work with my clients to help them achieve their financial goals and look at ways to get their financial house in order. I am committed to working with our state’s leadership to bring our state’s financial house in order.
What do you see as West Virginia’s biggest financial challenges?
I think our biggest financial challenge is that we have been so dependent on coal for revenue and jobs rather than diversification. We’re accustomed to having more than sufficient funds to operate, but this singular dependence has hurt us. Further, we lack transparency. It’s very challenging to see where our state’s revenue is and where it goes. Here is my plan for transparency and integrity. First, eliminate the top-heavy staff in the treasurer’s office to save the taxpayers’ money. Next, complete a top-to-bottom review of the department to eliminate unnecessary expenditures. Put the state’s checkbook online so the taxpayers can see where their money is spent. Then eliminate the taxpayer-funded public relations team in the unclaimed property department to save taxpayers money.
Why did you decide to run for state treasurer?
I had never considered running for public office before and was approached before church one Sunday last fall by one of my husband’s friends who had run for a statewide office. He said they were looking for an experienced banker to fill the state treasurer’s role on the Board of Public Works and my name kept coming up and would I come talk with them. After talking with my husband, my family and party leaders, I decided to run.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
My number one priority will be to bring a fresh set of eyes to how the treasurer’s office is currently run and restore integrity to an office that has served as the political machine of the 20-year incumbent.
Commissioner of Agriculture
Walt Helmick – Democrat (Incumbent)
Tell us about your professional background.
I’ve been in the political world for 40 years. I’ve had the privilege of serving in five different offices over five decades. In my personal career, I’ve owned several different small companies, I’ve employed West Virginians, and all of it has led to the knowledge and opportunity to take care of businesses today in the role of commissioner of agriculture.
I’ve been elected to the board of education. I was president of the county commission for 10 consecutive years in Pocahontas County. I was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates for Randolph County and a member of the West Virginia Senate. Each one of these gave me experience in public service and public policy and led to the opportunity to be the commissioner of agriculture. My professional background in business also helps today when we try to manage more than 300 employees. In my private life in small business in West Virginia, I’ve managed employees. In today’s trying times, you have to have the knowledge I’ve garnered over the years—from my business opportunities to political connections to my involvement.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
Education is going to be imperative. We have to have an educated work force in agriculture in West Virginia. My background as a school teacher, vocational teacher and member of the board of education have all helped prepare me for the challenge of preparing an educated work force for the future and the anticipated growth in agriculture. I feel very comfortable talking with people from the vocational departments and the state board of education about the role we’d like them to play in the practical application of agriculture because I served in both capacities.
I was elected to the Pocahontas County Commission, where I managed the budget. I was the president of the county commission for 10 consecutive years. We operated the county government, which gave me significant insight into all the different entities and managing and preparing a budget for all the different agencies. In the state Senate, I learned even more about the budget. I was there for a quarter of a century, and during that time I chaired basically every committee. I served many years as the chair of the finance committee, and I was there during difficult times. But during that time, we were able to pay off a lot of our old time debt and pay our pension programs ahead of schedule. We also had $1 billion in our rainy day fund. That helped prepare me for the agricultural budget, because we have a diversified entity. We have six different departments within the Department of Agriculture, and we have to manage our monetary resources. Each one of those has been supported by my vast experience.
Tell us about the recent growth in West Virginia’s agriculture industry and how you will help advocate for continued growth.
We see the growth in agriculture. With our administrative staff and through our oversight of the industry and work with other agencies, we look to put a significant emphasis on economic development and job creation within agriculture. We looked back at when West Virginia was truly an agriculture state and studied it with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We looked at the point when we basically grew everything we ate and even had enough to sell to the outside world. We looked at people who were brokering in West Virginia and at the different communities. What we are doing is bringing that research forward to meet today’s needs. We grew everything until the state turned to heavy industry. We had to diversify then, and now we need to diversify again. We want to be a significant part of that diversification. We want to challenge the surrounding states. We’re looking at a significant amount of inside growth. We’re going to be competitors.
We see tremendous opportunity. We have our youth excited through vocation programs, including our 4-H programs. We have to say to our children, “You can stay in these mountains. You can make a good living out of agriculture.”
We’ve had a lot of positive impact, but we need to expand. We need to be innovative. We’re so blessed to have so many positives when it comes to agriculture in West Virginia. The growth is there, it’s happening, but we can see a significant amount of growth that is yet untapped for the future. We’re consuming $7.7 billion worth of food in West Virginia, and we’re only growing $1 billion, so we import $6 billion worth of food. Now, do we see that as a problem or as an opportunity? We literally have a $6 billion opportunity lying on our plate.
We have a plan for all of West Virginia—including Southern West Virginia, where the agriculture industry is very fitting. We expect a boom in places like McDowell, Logan and Boone counties. They have so many positives for building the poultry industry, the big beef industry and the hog industry there because they are close to the feed sources and have an abundance of land and water and level land that’s remote. They have mountain tops that have been flattened and a low cost of living. I think we are pretty close on some solid arrangements with some big companies down south to bring agriculture to Southern West Virginia. The south is going to be a significant part of our agricultural diversification.
We are also working with the Veterans in Agriculture program. We are going to expand the program this year, but we have been challenged with putting together a structure for it. We have veterans in all 55 counties, and we have to figure out what best fits each area. I think this will be the end result: it will be insider growth. It will use veterans in different parts of West Virginia, and they will be growing year-round and selling the products to our corrections system. The corrections system has been a large part of our growth. They use us, and they’ve given orders this year for 500,000 pounds of potatoes already. We’re training our vets and making available significant opportunities, and we are planning to spend some money on growth facilities for vets so they can sell more product. The federal government’s USDA is offering a 50/50 match program. If we put up $100,000, and we’ll find it, then the USDA will match it. We’re going to find a way to match it because it’s for veterans. The USDA likes our program. They say it’s the best one in the country for vets in agriculture.
What are the biggest challenges facing West Virginia’s agriculture industry, and how do you plan to address them?
The biggest challenge is promoting and developing a work force, and number two is putting together a distribution of the product that is growing in West Virginia. We have to change the culture, develop a work force and continue promoting agriculture and sell the product. We are working with distributors as we grow the products here in West Virginia and prepare it to the point that it will meet all of their requirements to put it in the marketplace in West Virginia. They are there now, they’re on board with us, and we’re moving in the right direction.
Why did you decide to run for commissioner?
I looked at my past, and I looked at all the experience I’ve garnered over the years, and I asked myself a question: how can I best help West Virginia with all this experience? I didn’t just wake up one morning and say, “I want to become the commissioner of agriculture.” It’s where the opportunity was. I had decided years ago that I was going to pursue this office, and when the time was right, I was ready to step forward.
What an opportunity we have to help West Virginia. There is economic development in agriculture. This is where that $6 billion was lying on the table. This was the opportunity to help people in West Virginia. I think you can see we’ve put together a good team.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
Moving agriculture to where it is a comparable industry to the surrounding states and developing a culture in West Virginia that will allow agriculture to be out front and continue on the front page of West Virginia. We intend to create a significant amount of jobs in agriculture in West Virginia—that’s our number one priority.
Buddy Guthrie – Libertarian
Tell us about your professional background.
I have an undergraduate degree in business administration and a master’s degree in software engineering, both from West Virginia University. I have a background in family farming. I’ve worked a myriad of jobs from construction, event staffing and even fitness instruction. Most personally fulfilling, I have long been a volunteer for Boys and Girls Clubs and for programs bringing inner-city kids to the country for outdoor sports and character building. I also teach snowboarding at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. What all this means is that I offer a more bottom-up, rather than top-down, approach to the job of commissioner of agriculture. In this day and age, that’s a good thing.
Food is a staple of life—agriculture is simply the business of exchanging for that food. We make this all way too complicated, and the reason for this being it’s always about control. Regulations, laws, licensing and permits are typically what falls in the way of farmers being successful and consumers getting good deals on good quality food. As commissioner, I would be fighting to make the exchange of goods between individuals as simple of a process as possible.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
There’s nothing wrong with big ag, but agriculture is more than a corporate business. It’s family farms, farm-to-table food production and distribution and localized and personalized agriculture. From my perspective, I can see a better world of farming than the bureaucratized, taxed, regulated and impersonal system we have now. I’m running to bring back free enterprise. The government needs to get out of the way and let both farmers and consumers, exchanging voluntarily, meet our agricultural needs. I’m bringing a fresh perspective to this job.
Tell us about the recent growth in West Virginia’s agriculture industry and how you will help advocate for continued growth.
Agriculture is one of the last bastions of economic production that directly connects consumers and producers and involves the old-fashioned reliance on God’s good earth and bounty. What drives agricultural success in West Virginia is also what animates our state motto, “Montani Semper Liberi.” With hard work, individual liberty and old-fashion self-reliance, the everyday citizen can make a successful business in farming and sustain his or her family and community. I don’t want to lose that in our pursuit of government-driven solutions to government-induced problems. Take hemp production, for instance. It’s one example of an agricultural industry that is perfect for progress in West Virginia. I’ll advance that agenda vigorously.
What are the biggest challenges facing West Virginia’s agriculture industry, and how do you plan to address them?
Our food system has been turned into a bureaucratic maze of health codes, regulations, licensing, taxation and other roadblocks that have crushed our small farmers and destroyed innovation. I’ll advocate for cottage food law reform to enable home-based agricultural businesses to flourish. I’ll speak out for local poultry farming—not just the industrial poultry processing facilities. I’ll represent small dairy and beef farmers seeking to break down barriers between producers and consumers. I support sustainable permaculture farming practices, such as those advanced by farmer, author and permaculture legend Joel Salatin.
Why did you decide to run for commissioner?
In fall 2015, it seemed to me that politics in this country as well as in our state had broken down into warring factions of conservative versus liberal, red versus blue, Republican versus Democrat. As a Libertarian, I wanted to see more choices on the ballot. Then I realized I could be the change I wanted to see. That’s when I decided to run for commissioner of agriculture on the ticket of the Libertarian Party.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
My number one priority will be to represent the small farmer. It’s like that saying, if you watch your pennies, your dollars will take care of themselves. If we watch out for the little guy in agriculture, we’ll have agricultural success all across the board in West Virginia.
Kent Leonhardt – Republican
T
ell us about your professional background.
Following graduation from college with a degree in wildlife management that included courses in soil sciences, agricultural economics and livestock and meat science, I was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps (USMC). I retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel with 10 personnel decorations including the Legion of Merit and Combat Action Ribbon. I led a 68-man special intelligence team during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. My tours of duties included multiple joint service duties, where I was successful in coordinating operations with all branches of the service. I had the privilege of being a fellow to the director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Marine Corps Liaison Officer to the NSA. I am a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Defense Intelligence College and Defense Language Institute and hold a master’s degree in business management.
Upon retirement in 1996 from the USMC, my wife, Shirley, and I retired to a farm that had been abandoned since the late 50s. We grew the initial 205 acres into a 380 owned acres and five additional pasture. We raised cattle, sheep, goats and some produce. We know what it takes to start and build a farm—Shirley and I did it from scratch.
In 2014, I was elected to the West Virginia Senate where I was appointed chairman of the committee on the military and served on other committees including agriculture, transportation and infrastructure, health, parks and natural resources, government organization and judiciary.
How can the skills and experience obtained throughout your career help you be successful in this role?
I have led men and women in peace and war for almost 21 years. I have worked under stress and performed in emergencies. I bring people together with different ideas and opinions to accomplish missions. I have led organizations larger than the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and rebuilt military units returning from war. I know agriculture and what it takes to grow agriculture. Shirley and I know firsthand what it takes to build a farm from the ground up. I am an accomplished legislator, having a thorough understanding of how our government works and the challenges we face together. These skills and experiences are needed in the West Virginia Department of Agriculture: leadership experience, agriculture experience, legislative experience.
Tell us about the recent growth in West Virginia’s agriculture industry and how you will help advocate for continued growth.
Sadly, the current situation in West Virginia agriculture is not as rosy as the incumbent agriculture commissioner would like us to believe. According to the USDA, West Virginia lost more than 2,000 family farms from 2007-2013. All indications are that the number has continued to tick downward since. According to the USDA, in 2012 the top five counties reported $800 million in crop and animal revenues. Today on the WVDA website, the department reports statewide revenues of $700 million in agricultural products for 2015.
Many of the perceived positives in the industry have come in the form of propped up government gimmicks, like the mistake-prone potato investment that your tax dollars have paid for.
With that said, with proper investment in the things we do have going for us, we can grow agriculture in this state. I want to see incremental improvements in the regulatory side of production agriculture. I want to see private investment in building infrastructure to process West Virginia-grown products. I want to see the WVDA provide leadership in marketing West Virginia food products. I want so see veterans returning from service learning agriculture sciences through partnerships with veteran support groups, colleges and others. I want to see the WVDA collaborate with our vocational programs, colleges and other agencies to provide opportunities for West Virginians to build businesses in agriculture.
What are the biggest challenges facing West Virginia’s agriculture industry, and how do you plan to address them?
First, the youth drain. The average age of the West Virginia farmer is rising, and our youth are not returning to the farms or starting an agriculture business.
We have all heard of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) focus in education. I propose we change that to STEAM, adding Agriculture. After all, we do eat three times a day. Agriculture is not all about growing livestock or traditional crops—it’s applying technology to make the process of growing our food easier and safer. By combining the educational components into STEAM, we can grow the technology side of agriculture and allow for better business opportunities. This can be addressed by truly growing agriculture in West Virginia.
Second is healthy communities. We have a shortage of doctors and medical clinics in our rural areas. I sponsored the APRN bill in the legislature that reduces the regulatory process on nurses. This action will allow nurses in our rural communities to prescribe basic medication and keep the patients closer to home. This bill does not allow nurses to prescribe opioid drugs but will allow them to offer patients prescriptions for blood pressure and other basic medicines. Our rural health care system is a mess, and we must find ways to help our rural communities survive. Along with improved access to health care, we must find ways to improve the access of rural communities to fresh, non-processed foods. Fresh produce is essential to improving our health and will reduce the health care cost to the state as the reimbursement rates for Obamacare decrease.
Third is food insecurity. As a student of military science and history, I know and you know many wars have been fought over the lack of food. Food insecurity in West Virginia is rising and is a serious issue in today’s poor economy and turbulent times. If trouble breaks out in our nation’s capital, those folks will be heading west to West Virginia. Our population could double literally overnight with many folks stranded. We need proven leadership to build a plan, work with other agencies and train staff on the challenges that lie ahead.
Why did you decide to run for commissioner?
I was asked by many farmers and constituents to invest the time. The agriculture community has recognized the need for a farmer to lead other farmers in adopting technology and thinking outside the box of what our agribusinesses can and should look like.
I first entered statewide politics as an unknown running for commissioner of agriculture in 2012, narrowly losing to a career politician and the current incumbent. In the Senate, I learned we cannot legislate good government. We turn over funds and resources to executives to manage. With my heart being in agriculture, the farming community behind me and knowing from the inside that we are losing ground in agriculture, it was an easy decision to decide to run.
What will be your number one priority if elected in November?
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture has lost many key staff in the last few years in the area of food safety. As I said before, most of us eat three meals a day, so my first concern is with food safety. I want to review with WVDA staff their roles and identify areas of concern. I then want to address the resources necessary to meet those concerns. Our dinner has traveled, on average, 1,500 miles before we have a chance to enjoy it.
Those 1,500 miles allow for a lot of opportunity for spoilage and tampering. Should we have the confidence that the food at the grocery store has been inspected? I will work with other agencies—local, state and federal—to ensure we have a coordinated approach to food safety in West Virginia. We do not need multiple agencies providing the services. The West Virginia citizens through their government do not have time or finances to waste on special projects and special staff. Limited financial resources shall be direct toward food safety.
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West Virginia Executive
I assume that you are not aware that as of August 15, I became qualified for ballot access for Governor. Please contact me at your earliest convenience as I would like to be included in your Ask The Candidates 2016.