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Primary election candidates speak at special luncheon

ELKINS — Republican and Democrat candidates running for political office in the May 8 primary election took part in a special meet-and-greet event Friday.

The Randolph County Association of Retired School Employees hosted the event at the Steer Steakhouse in Elkins.

Taking part in the event were Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, incumbent, as well as his challengers for the West Virginia State Senate District 11 seat, including Delegate Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur, Margaret Kerr Beckwith and Laura Finch.

Karnes told the former school employees that his platform four years ago, when running as a Republican challenger for Senate, is the same as his platform this election cycle, noting a number of his goals were accomplished during his term.

“Four years ago when I ran, my platform was essentially: we’re going to create jobs and economic growth, work to reform our education system and we were going to work to make sure that we protect the liberties that West Virginia, I think more than most other states, value,” he said. “What I would say is, in four years, the things that I said I would work for, we have delivered on, and with four more years, those are the things I’m going to work on again. It’s going to be about jobs and growth and education and liberty all over again.”

Karnes said while in office many jobs have been created, Common Core was removed from the school system and the economy has grown.

“We’ve created a lot of jobs, and, in fact, a report just came out yesterday from WorkForce West Virginia saying that just in the last year alone 6,000 net new jobs in the state of West Virginia (were created) in the last 12 months,” he said. “So, the first part of what I said I would do over the last four years we’re clearly doing and we’re doing better than has been done in West Virginia in some time.”

Hamilton, who currently serves in the West Virginia House of Delegates representing the 45th district, touched on a number of goals he would like to address if elected for Senate including growing the economy, improving infrastructure, diminishing the opioid epidemic, and ensuring that education is prospering.

“We need to work for a better West Virginia by growing our economy and that includes education and finding a solution to the opioid epidemic,” he said. “I’m for fixing and improving our infrastructure. I supported whole-heatedly the road bond last year, I voted for the DMV fees, the whole-sale price of gasoline and for the sales tax on vehicles.”

Beckwith, a Democrat, told those in attendance she is appreciative of teachers and service personnel and was proud to stand alongside them on the picket lines. She also said she has valuable connections in the Legislature, federal government and other important sectors that she believes she may call on to work with her on key issues that need to be addressed.

“I want to be a voice for the people as we address some of the most basic human needs, such as education, health care, jobs, infrastructure and preparing for the future,” she said. “If people are empowered with a voice to present their interests, they can look forward to a better future. I will serve no special interest and I have no special interests, other than the ones that I have named and anything that has to do with West Virginia.”

Finch, a Democrat, was unable to attend the event but sent a letter to be read by the association’s president, Donna Auvil.

In the letter, Finch stressed that she believes the statewide drug epidemic is effecting teachers’ jobs, adding there are a number of improvements the state needs to make.

“We must do everything we can to make life better for all in our state and remove the incentives for drug use as a means to this end,” Auvil read. “We must improve the ability for working families to provide for their children, ensuring that kids arrive at school rested, clean, fed and ready to learn. When we cut benefits out of contempt for ‘freeloaders,’ we hurt these children most. It’s not families who are to blame for our predicament in this state, it’s private interests.”

Senate District 11 encompasses all of Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Upshur and Webster counties, as well as a portion of Grant County. State senators serve four-year terms.

Look for more from the RCARSE meet-and-greet event — featuring candidates for the House of Delegates, Randolph County school board and the Randolph County Commission — to come in The Inter-Mountain.

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