Coop-Gonzales vows to serve Randolph, Pendleton counties
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CHARLESTON -- Today, Elias Coop-Gonzales will be sworn in as the delegate for the 67th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing Randolph and Pendleton counties.
Coop-Gonzales released the following statement to The Inter-Mountain regarding the swearing-in:
"My paternal grandparents grew up during the Great Depression in West Texas. Both of their mothers had American Indian heritage (Apaches, etc.). When my grandfather was a teenager, he only owned two shirts, which he alternated every day.
"My maternal grandparents grew up in a rural area in Central America with no running water or electricity, no exaggeration. They lived through the national trauma of thirty-five years of civil war.
"My father is American; because of this, I am too. Though not born on U.S. soil, I have enjoyed the privilege of being an American all my life.
"When I was twelve, I was given the choice that billions wish they had, to live in the United States of America, the greatest country in the world. And I will never be ashamed of either my American or my Guatemalan heritage. I am equally honored to call myself a West Virginian.
"I well appreciate how sweet and delicate liberty is, and I am aggrieved by the apparent indifference of too many of my generation toward it.
"I may not have gray hair on my head yet, but I do know a few things. Primarily, that:
"1. Character is the most important aspect of leadership.
"2. A man with God is always in the majority (John Knox).
"3. Man was meant to be free.
"Appreciating the adversity that our forefathers endured, I am humbled and thankful for merely the opportunity to carry the torch of freedom. It is my profound honor to say:
"'I, Elias Coop-Gonzalez, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of The United States of America and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Delegate to the best of my skill and judgement SO HELP ME GOD.'"
In the 67th District race in the Nov. 8 General Election, newcomer Coop-Gonzalez, a Republican, defeated Cody Thompson, a Democrat, to win the newly created delegate seat.