Local News

Rucker to challenge Blair for president of W.Va. Senate

CHARLESTON -- State Senate President Craig Blair will face a challenge for his gavel from Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Patricia Rucker when the Senate Republican caucus meets after the November general election.

Rucker, R-Jefferson, made the announcement on WV MetroNews Talkline that she plans to seek the votes of her fellow Republicans for president of the West Virginia Senate, an office that also carries with it the title of lieutenant governor and next in the line of gubernatorial succession.

Speaking by phone, Rucker said she believed it was time for new leadership in the Senate, though she said her effort should not be seen as a critique of Blair's leadership.

"I honestly feel I have a lot of strengths that I can bring to this position," Rucker said. "I get along with the vast majority of people. Even people who disagree with me from the other side of the aisle, and even people from the other side of the Capitol. I get along well with them because I respect them and they respect me. I'm honest and I do what I say and I say what I do. They know exactly where they stand."

Rucker was first elected to the Senate in 2016 following the retirement of former Jefferson County Democratic state senator Herb Snyder and defeated Democratic attorney Stephen Skinner. She was appointed as chair of the Senate Education Committee in 2019 by former senate president and Jackson County Republican state senator Mitch Carmichael.

Rucker believes that there needs to be more negotiations and compromise between Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Delegates. Rucker cited her work in 2019 on the education reform negotiations that became House Bill 206 which provided a number of reforms to the public school system, created the public charter school program, and provided teachers with a 5% pay raise.

"Even when we disagree on a goal, they know we can negotiate on the things we can agree on and it will be a fair negotiation because I'm not pretending, I'm not making any promises," Rucker said. "Then I listen and hear where they are coming from, and we try to focus on the things we can do together."

The Legislature is still in a paused special session after both bodies could not agree on a bill to create a modernized abortion ban, and disagreements over the best path to pursue on tax reform hit a brick wall in the Senate after it refused to take up Gov. Jim Justice's 10% personal income tax cut bill.

"People know I have been disappointed on how things have gone," Rucker said. "There are very important crucial things that we Republicans have run on, and now it's going to be the ninth session since Republicans took over and we have not done for our constituents."

Rucker has been a vocal advocate for education choice, championing the creation of the state's public charter school pilot project, the Hope Scholarship educational savings account program on pause due to pending litigation, and a successful bill earlier this year allowing for unlimited learning pods and micro schools.

Blair, R-Berkeley, has served as Senate President since 2021 after Carmichael, now the cabinet secretary of the Department of Economic Development, lost his party primary to Mason County school teacher Amy Grady and left the Senate at the end of 2020. He was elected to the Senate in 2012 after serving four terms in the House beginning in 2002.

Blair was unavailable for a phone interview, but he did confirm by text message that he had planned for the last several weeks to replace Rucker as chair of the Senate Education Committee with Grady. Rucker said she expressed her interest in seeking the gavel prior to those plans.

"He's known longer than that, that I was running for Senate President. That's all I've got to say about that," Rucker said.

Rucker's challenge to Blair makes the second time in the last several weeks that someone has expressed interest in challenging legislative leadership. Earlier this month, House Government Organization Committee Chairman Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, announced he would challenge House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, for House Speaker later this year.