Marion County Democrats turn out for 'Pancakes and Politics'

MONONGAH — Last year, headlines announcing proposed cuts to programs such as Head Start made Allysen Rinker nervous.

Rinker, whose child is on the Autism Spectrum, receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and got her health insurance through the Affordable Care Act when she had a seizure. A later diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and treatment would have cost tens of thousands of dollars for her mother, Rinker said. And all Rinker saw last year was cut, cut, cut to programs people needed, she said.

So, it was in a combative mood Rinker found herself at the Politics and Pancakes event the Marion County Democrats held in Monongah on Saturday.

"I think West Virginians are waking up," Rinker said. "All these companies have been coming in and just absolutely using our state for everything for years. And we're waking up because we don't want it anymore. We want better for ourselves. We want better for our children. So when I fight, I fight for my child. I fight for my neighbor. I fight for my family and friends, even if they don't understand why I'm fighting."

With this year's primary election on May 12 approaching, Marion County Democrats and Republicans are preparing for the electoral competition. At Saturday's event, Democrats introduced their candidates for Board of Education, County Commission, House of Delegates and State Senate. Republicans are launching their primary season with the grand opening of their election headquarters on March 28 at 500 Fairmont Ave.

Board of Education candidates Sam Brunett and Donna Costello appeared. County Commission candidates Warren Hilsbos, Tom Mainella, Tim McAteer and Shaun Petracca also appeared. Senate candidate John Williams and House candidates Frankie Delapas, Linda Longstreth and Rick Garcia also introduced themselves.

U.S. Senate candidate Rachel Fetty Anderson and Jeff Kessler, and U.S. House candidates Stephanie Tomana, Ace Parsi and Steven Wendelin also appeared.

"We're feeling a real groundswell of energy," Marion County Democratic Party Chair Jarryd Powell said. "Our events continue to get more attendance, and it seems like a lot of people are looking forward to making their voices heard both in the midterms and in the general."

Marion County's more experienced candidates channeled the frustration and anger that's developed against Republican leadership that's developed over the past year. Tomana said two thirds of state residents live in communities where potholes outnumber paychecks and are ignored by politicians. She, and several other candidates, assailed the Republican push to bring data centers to the state.

"Our history has been plagued with a cycle of out-of-state opportunists coming in, taking what they need, from timber, coal, oil and gas, and now it's water and farmland," she said.

Similarly, Longstreth assailed Republican leadership in this past legislative session for killing a bill designed to protect children from abuse in homeschool settings, a bill known as Raylee's Law.

"The Republican Party has done its damage, we know that," Longstreth said. "They have busted unions with right to work signs all over the place. They call the Democrats baby killers, 'we love abortions, we want them.' We have to get back to the main things people care about. What they care about is their jobs, their families, the schools the kids go to. The child abuse that's going on."

However, while the room as a whole was on board with the fighting spirit channeled by the candidates, doubts lingered. Elizabeth Opyoke, who's been a Democrat her entire life, said the one thing Democrats are not really good at is messaging.

"We can cheer up as many Democrats as we want," Opyoke said. "The Democrats are way under the amount of population we need to win races in the state of West Virginia. We need to capture those independent voters. Those independent voices who don't want to be associated with both parties. You need to give me reasons why to vote for you, as opposed to just voting against the other person."

Opyoke said the party needs candidates who have a platform and are not scared to ask hard questions and advocate for policy positions to let voters know what they stand for.

Parsi also brought up the communication problem during his stump speech.

"I have been an advocate for the last 15 years for public education," Parsi said. "We, as Democrats, have to stop using their phrases. This is not a hope scholarship. This is an attack on public education."

On that same token, Kessler received criticism from some members in the room for using the president's language, "the Democrat Party," to refer to their party.

Parsi also said affordability is a major theme of his campaign, as did other candidates.

A major theme of the event was a change in the political wind. It's one Rinker herself has seen hints of. While she has hardcore Republicans in her family, some of her Republican cousins are starting to criticize what the president is doing more and more, especially where the president's withholding of SNAP is concerned. She said SNAP is something she and her cousins both can come to terms on because it's something they all grew up on.

Rinker added that people are starting to understand that change comes from the local level. But would this slate of candidates appeal to some her family members?

"That's difficult to say," she said. "I think a couple would definitely appeal to some family members and some family members would be probably so closed off they wouldn't want to even talk about it."

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