Bader Giggenbach, Morgantown
Corporate money has a corrosive influence in politics. It is important to know where politicians get their support.
Republican Allen Loughry was elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court in 2012, and he received campaign contributions from coal, hospital, and insurance PACs. Now Loughry is under criminal indictment for mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering and lying to federal agents. He refuses to resign from the court, necessitating his impeachment proceeding before the Legislature — which unnecessarily costs all of us.
Republican Rep. David McKinley is the beneficiary of PAC money as well, coming from many out-of-state interests, such as the Koch brothers. In this last quarter, he received over $650,000 in PAC money.
His opponent (on Nov. 6), Democrat Kendra Fershee has taken zero PAC money. Fershee’s contributions come primarily from actual people who can vote. In this last quarter, she received nearly nine times the number of dollars from individuals than that of her opponent.
It makes sense to vote for candidates who get their support from actual voters and from residents of West Virginia.
