Virgin of Greenup making first run for office [The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.]

Feb. 2—ASHLAND — Joseph R. Virgin of Greenup has announced his run for state representative of the 98th district, which serves Greenup and Boyd counties.

An independent insurance adjustor who does much of his work for the National Flood Insurance program, the 56-year-old is making his first run for office.

"This is the first time I've run for anything, but I've been around politics all my life," he said.

Virgin said he returned to the area from Lexington in 2012, and since has been active in the community with schools and local government.

"I can do things to help as a private citizen, but when I heard Danny Bentley was going to retire, I thought it was a good opportunity to take this to the next level," he said. Although a registered Democrat, he said he's not especially partisan.

"I'm not a party politician. I'm a people person, and we need someone to put the people first and I'm going to be that guy," he said.

The economy is of utmost concern to Virgin.

"The thing that affects us most is economic development," he said. "I've worked with the economic development board in Greenup County and I think we need state government to help. We need jobs."

He said education is another priority.

"The school system is doing amazing work. The kids are excited and having fun, and they are ready to go to work," he said. "It's amazing, and we should be supporting that as a government and as local citizens."

His top issues of concern go hand in hand: Education makes a work-ready workforce, which needs jobs; preparing for those jobs can be college, vocational school and certificates earned while in high school.

"They need the funding and the support from the state and from the citizens to make this happen," Virgin said. "We need career jobs. For the last 30 or 40 years, we've done nothing but bleed jobs and we need to turn that around. Boyd and Greenup counties are keyed up and ready to get jobs in and we need to help however we can help."

Virgin is a 1984 graduate of Greenup County High School.

He is divorced with one daughter and two granddaughters.

(606) 326-2661 — lward@dailyindependent.com

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