Toriseva

ELKINS — West Virginia Democratic Party Vice Chair Teresa Toriseva shared her ideas on how her party can be successful moving forward during the Randolph County Democratic Party’s Democracy Dinner Saturday night at the Elks Lodge. 

“What I came here tonight to do is tell you what I’m seeing,” she said. “Standing up here tonight I see all of you from this perspective, and those who have introduced or spoken know what I’m talking about. I see your excitement, your hope, your energy, and your questions, too. I see those and I hear those, and I want to talk about a few of those tonight.”

Toriseva, who is the Democratic nominee for state Attorney General, served as the guest speaker of the fundraising event, which also featured speeches from Steve Williams, Democratic nominee for governor; Glenn Elliot, Senate candidate; and Steve Wendelin, Democratic candidate for Congress.

Local Democratic candidates Mandy Weirich, who is running for the State Senatorial District 11 seat, and Cody Thompson, a candidate for the Delegate District 67 seat, also attended and spoke during the dinner.

Toriseva went into detail about President Joe Biden, saying the Democrats need to continue to show support for the Commander in Chief.

“I know in West Virginia that the statistical likelihood that President Biden is going to carry West Virginia is quite low, I understand that,” Toriseva said, and then referred to former President Donald Trump. “However, the presidential race is still very, very important. And it’s very important that we do not abandon our president, even here. Because if we don’t abandon him here, no one is abandoning him anywhere, because the ‘Orange Menace’ is not more popular anywhere in the country than West Virginia.” 

Toriseva added, “The reason President Biden’s race is important in West Virginia is because we can’t and won’t be beat down. We have an incumbent president who passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill that is flowing money and economic relief to this state… We need to stand up proudly and loudly and defend our Democratic sitting President. That is very, very important.”

Toriseva said it’s vital for the Democratic party to lead by example.

“Everyone else can do it, everyone else can follow suit, and if we can do it, they can do it,” she said. “Because it’s not harder anywhere in the country than it is here, in what is often referred to nationally as ‘MAGA Country.’ We have to hold the line, we as Democrats. And I’m here to report to folks that we are… We need energized Democrats and we need to energize our base. In the primary, seven out of 10 Democrats in West Virginia this year stayed home, and we need to change that.”

Toriseva added that the low voting turnout during the primary election was also a Republican problem.

“Seven out of 10 Republicans also stayed home, so they have the same problem. This is not a Democratic problem,” she said. “So why are voters not going to the polls? We know why, because they feel hopeless, apathetic, tired of fighting, tired of arguing with each other, tired of being attacked. It doesn’t matter which side you are on. If you are pro-Biden you get attacked, if you’re pro-Trump you get attacked. We are tired of hating each other.”

Toriseva then gave her solution for what Democrats need to do to get more people out to the polls.

“Democrats who support Biden are not changing their mind, Republicans who support Trump are not changing their minds,” she said..”Talk to people who are persuadable. That doesn’t mean give up on Republicans, I’m not suggesting that for a moment. We have to focus on fixing our own house. When democracy is threatened, when our freedom is on the line, when women’s rights are being taken away, seven out of 10 not showing up is unacceptable… If we could double our voter turnout, we would win elections up and down the ballot in West Virginia.”

Toriseva is a Wheeling attorney and a national litigator with experience in mass torts.