Pulled pork, peach pie and politics came together Saturday afternoon as Brenda Hutchinson kicked off her independent campaign for the West Virginia House of Delegates (District 58, Morgan and Hampshire Counties).
More than 100 people attended the pig roast along the banks of the Cacapon River in Great Cacapon, West Virginia.
Children played along the river. People danced to rock and roll music by The Flashbacks. The crowd reveled in pulled pork, peach pie, hot dogs (and other dishes — among them a lentil, tomato, parsley salad — hey, it’s Morgan County!)
And Hutchinson laid out her platform to unseat Republican Delegate Daryl Cowles, the House minority whip.
If she wins the November 4 election, Hutchinson will be the first independent elected to the West Virginia legislature in more than 100 years.
Hutchinson went after Cowles for being one of only five members of the 100 member House of Delegates to vote against a $1.50 raise in the West Virginia minimum wage.
“I am for a living wage for our working class people here in West Virginia,” Hutchinson said. “I’m one of those people. I’ve always had to work for a living. And I’ve always had to worry about what was going to be a living wage.”
“We started out, like a lot of people in West Virginia, in a trailer. And we managed to build a house. We need to make sure that we are looking out for the people who are working for the minimum wage. My opponent wouldn’t even vote to bump it up $1.50.”
Hutchinson chastised Cowles for listening to out of state corporate interests that have donated thousands of dollars to his campaign.
“I am opposed to fracking and mountaintop removal — but my opponent isn’t,” Hutchinson said. “He isn’t listening to his own constituents. He’s not stopping out of state corporations from destroying your mountains, poisoning our water and threatening the health of all of us.”
“Instead, he’s listening to the corporations that have contributed thousands of dollars to his campaign over the last six years.”
“When my husband was a boy, you could still drink the water out of the Cacapon River. You can’t do that today. But it’s still clean enough for us to swim, and fish and boat in. And I want it to stay that way. We have to stand up and protect our rivers from further pollution before it’s too late. We need to stand up and stay — water is important, the mountains are important, our rivers are important and they are not for sale.”
Hutchinson also called for shifting the tax burden off of the backs of West Virginia families and onto out of state corporations that aren’t paying their fair share.
“The out of state corporations are running off with our resources and our money and they are not paying their fair share of taxes,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson urged people to get involved in what she called a grassroots campaign.
“If you want people to stand for a living wage, then you will vote for me,” Hutchinson said. “If you want people to stand up to out of state corporations, then you will vote for me.”
“It’s going to be difficult to win as an independent. But it can be done. We need feet on the ground. You need to get out there. You need to put up yard signs. You need to make donations to the cause. Pick up those rack cards and hand them out to people. We need word of mouth. Knock on the doors. We need people to make phone calls. We need people standing at precinct places — holding the signs on election day. This is a grassroots effort. And we need everybody to help us out.”