There are currently twelve women in the one hundred member West Virginia House of Delegates and four women out of 34 Senators – that’s roughly 12 percent women in the legislature – the lowest percentage of women in a state legislature in the country. The highest percentage is Nevada with 60 percent women in the legislature.
In the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, there is one woman running for a Senate seat – that’s former House of Delegates member Patricia Rucker (R). Rucker is running against the incumbent John Doyle (D) in the 16th Senatorial District.
In the eleven House of Delegates districts (districts 89 to 100) in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, four districts will have only one Republican candidate on the ballot (90, 92, 93 and 95). District 90 is here in Morgan County, where Republican delegate George Miller is running unopposed.
But in the seven districts where there are competitive races, a total of six women are running, including Alyson Reeves (D) of Levels running in district 89 (which includes the western portion of Morgan County) against the incumbent Delegate Darren Thorne (R).
Also running in the eastern panhandle are Debi Carroll (D) (95), Aniqua Lower (D) against Lisa White (R) (96), Lucia Valentine (D) (97) and Maria Russo (D) (100).
Morgan County USA is putting two eastern panhandle House of Delegates races on Upset Watch – the 96th and the 100th.
In the 96th, Lucia Valentine is a singer-songwriter and environmental advocate who has worked at the state Capitol and helped pass bipartisan clean water legislation.
She has spent many hours canvassing the mostly rural and residential district that spans Berkeley and Jefferson counties.
Valentine is running against Republican Chris Anders.
Valentine calls Anders “extreme.” But while Anders baits Valentine on issues of gender, guns and abortion, Valentine remains focused on the needs of her district – addressing the booming growth in the district, ensuring opportunities for economic development and job creation, working to fully fund public education and public employees, and preserving clean air and water.
The district is almost evenly split between Republicans, Democrats and Independents. And Valentine is focusing her attention on what she calls “persuadable” independents and Republicans – the residents she meets going door to door.
With 12,000 registered voters in the district, she’s projecting she needs 3,000 to 4,200 votes to win it, if as expected, turnout is high in this presidential year.
Similarly, in House of Delegates District 100, environmental advocate and small business owner Maria Russo is running against incumbent Republican William Ridenour. The 100th district includes downtown Shepherdstown, Shannondale, parts of Shenandoah Junction, Uvilla, Bakerton, Harpers Ferry, Bolivar and Blue Ridge Acres.
Russo is a former high school teacher and track coach at Jefferson High School, a local farmer and small business owner, a public policy strategist in restorative drug policy, criminal justice reform, and environmental protection, and a clean water advocate.
Russo says she’s dedicated to “responsible policymaking and working collaboratively to develop community-based solutions.”
Russo is running for office because “she believes in a better, brighter future for West Virginia and she is committed to making decisions that support the immediate and long-term needs of the people of the district and the state.”
Russo says she “will focus on key issues affecting the community, such as ensuring clean water and air, improving pay for public employees, and upgrading infrastructure.”
If elected, Russo says she would work to improve pay for all public employees, provide resources for public school teachers and service personnel, upgrade infrastructure such as roads and internet access, and support emergency and medical services, restore reproductive freedoms, bring more good-paying jobs to Jefferson County, increase responsible economic development, and support working people and labor rights.