Independent Congressional candidate Ed Rabel today denounced the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce for excluding him from a candidate forum to be held this Friday at the Greenbrier Resort located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Accusing the Chamber of Commerce of unfairness, Rabel said he was being ignored because the forum is being sponsored primarily by oil, gas and coal industries which he has criticized.
“The Democrat Nick Casey and the Republican Alex Mooney are beholden to the oil, gas and coal industries,” Rabel said. “Both Casey and Mooney favor mountaintop removal mining and fracking. I oppose both. Those who support the destructive practices of these giant corporations get invited to debate the issues of the day. Those who oppose it don’t.”
“Both the Democratic and Republican parties in this state are corrupt to the core,” Rabel said. “The only way out is for the citizens of this state to vote Independent in November.”
XTO Energy, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, is the naming sponsor of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 78th Annual Meeting and Business Summit August 27 to 29 at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
Other corporate sponsors include EQT, Chesapeake Energy, Dow Chemical, Toyota Motor Company, the West Virginia Land and Mineral Owners Association, Consol Energy, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association. Axiall and AT&T, and FirstEnergy.
The Casey and Mooney campaigns have raised more than $1 million each, primarily from corporate sources.
(Update: We received the following email from West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts:
“The members of the Chamber want to meet with and hear from the person who will be elected to serve and represent the people of West Virginia,” Roberts said. “The Chamber therefore decided to invite the major party candidates given that one of them will be elected in November. Not unlike the Presidential debates our members want to hear from the candidates who are leading in the polls and of whom we can be sure will represent us after the election.”)