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ELKINS -- Rashida Yost, a Republican candidate for governor, made a campaign stop in Elkins recently and talked to The Inter-Mountain about what makes her different from the others running in the May 2024 primary.
"I'm the people's choice, because I'm a people person," said Yost, a 51-year-old mother of four from Martinsburg. "I am the people and I don't think money fixes all the problems. I think good policies, education and good people solve the problems."
Including Yost, a total of eight Republican candidates for governor have either publicly announced or filed pre-candidate papers, including Secretary of State Mac Warner, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Shelly Moore Capito, Chris Miller, Terri Bradshaw and Edwin Vanover.
"We have the same thing going on term after term after term," said Yost. "It's the same thing over and over again. Nothing changes and nothing ever will. For things to change you have to do something different, like nominate someone like me who knows what the problems are. The only thing we can do is send one of us, the people in the problem, to represent the loudest and biggest voice and make a big change."
Yost, who runs the daycare center Yost Child Development Center in Martinsburg, said making things better for children and families will be her top priority if elected governor.
"We need more education and more assistance other than money," Yost said. "We need to provide paid training for the teachers and we need to incorporate reading into the daycares and preschools. You have a 99 percent chance a child is going to excel if a child can read... I want to make sure the state can fund, and we can, extra-curricular activities for children. We need more than just sports and bands out there for children."
When it comes to the field she is running against for governor, Yost compares herself to the turtle in the famous Tortoise and the Hare fable.
"Everyone is sitting down, spending a lot of time with their families, getting a lot of donations and waiting to place ads three months before the election, because they know their name is already out there," Yost said. "They are thinking there is no way the turtle is going to win, she's slow. But meanwhile, while they are relaxing and confident like the rabbit, this turtle has been working non-stop since last October, between running the day care, being a mom, being a wife, being a director, and also running for West Virginia governor, helping people non-stop."
Yost was born in Manassas, Virginia, but grew up in Singapore, where she began working in a child care center at the age of 20. She left that profession and worked at a bank for a year before returning to what she still does today -- take care of children.
"We are not doing things right. We have become very dependable on the government and if I'm elected we are not going to do that," Yost said. "The government treats us like we are pets -- 'here, fetch' -- and they throw us a couple thousand to shut us up for a couple of years.
"We are going to let West Virginia know how to fish. We are not going to give West Virginia fish everyday."
For more information on Yost, see her website at www.yost4governor.org.