For the West Virginia House of Delegates 51st District, The Dominion Post endorses Democrats Danielle Walker, Barbara Fleischauer, Evan Hansen and John Williams and Republican candidate Justin White.
Danielle Walker has proven that she will be a voice for the voiceless while still keeping the best interest of all West Virginians at heart. To her, being a delegate is more than 60 days in Charleston — it’s a year-round job. Walker does more than talk the talk; she walks the walk. Her actions always back up her words, and every time we turn around, there she is, advocating for West Virginians in Monongalia County and elsewhere.
Barbara Fleischauer brings to Charleston her experience and her work ethic. Fleischauer co-sponsored an insulin price-capping bill last session as well as co-organized a bus trip to Canada to purchase insulin, where it’s much cheaper. HB 4543 is a game-changer, capping insulin co-pays at $100. She also joined legislators and engineers to tour Mon County’s roads and get a better idea of what can be done to fix them. And her extensive experience will be beneficial when we face redistricting in 2021.
Evan Hansen is a scientist — and if this pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that we need more scientists in positions that can affect change — and a small business owner. Hansen spearheaded and successfully passed a solar energy bill with bipartisan support. His specialty in and passion for the environment makes him the perfect candidate to move West Virginia’s future forward.
John Williams is coming into his own as a delegate, and we don’t want to stop his momentum now. His youth means he’s looking at West Virginia’s potential from the perspective of someone who still has many years left to live in this state — and he wants to make West Virginia a place where young people want to stay and where new residents want to come. His DOH funding formula bill passed the legislature but was vetoed by Justice; we hope he’ll try again, because it’s obvious that what the DOH is doing now isn’t working.
Justin White is a small business owner with an impressively varied educational background. White’s platform is job creation — all-inclusive job creation, which means equity in employment opportunity. White understands fossil fuels are the current industry in West Virginia, and we need to capitalize on downstream job opportunities. But White knows that West Virginia’s energy future can’t depend solely on fossil fuels and sees the state embracing renewable energy. He also has ideas for more efficient ways for the DOH to distribute funds (White and Williams should get together on this) and emerging technologies for road repair.
We foresee a bright, beautiful, prosperous future for West Virginia and Mon County. These are the candidates for the 51st District we believe will get us there.
