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ELKINS -- Today's political landscape is much different from what some refer to as the "good ol' days" when many citizens and politicians proudly chose a political party and backed that brand for life.
It's becoming more difficult to keep up with who's a Republican, who's a Democrat, or who's an Independent. Switching parties is happening across the board both locally and nationally, and it appears to be just the start of a new trend in politics.
In West Virginia alone, voters witnessed Gov. Jim Justice switch from Democrat to Republican in 2017, and just this spring Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong Democrat, switched his party registration to Independent.
At the local level, it was a bit of a surprise when Randolph County Commissioner David Kesling switched from Democrat to Republican earlier this year, but that pales in comparison to the recent news that longtime Democratic leader Julia Stevenson has switched her party affiliation.
"I have changed over to Independent," Stevenson told The Inter-Mountain. "I decided to switch over because I think there are some people becoming more involved on the Democratic side of politics, who were never involved with politics before. I just decided I didn't want to be a part of it and didn't want to do anything for those types of people."
Not many can stake a claim to being affiliated with a political party for as long as Stevenson. Not only was she a registered Democrat for 75 years, she also served as chair of the Randolph County Democratic Executive Committee for more than 20 years.
"I became a Democrat when I was 21 years old and I had to sign up to vote. I'm now 96," she said. "And I was registered as a Democrat for all that time until not too recently."
Stevenson said the days are gone when not only West Virginia, but Randolph County, bled blue.
"Randolph County has gone Republican," said Stevenson. "It's been that way the last two years or so, about the same time I resigned from the Democratic Executive Committee. I remember years ago when Gus 'Sunday' Demotto rode a donkey through the Forest Festival Parade, that's how Democratic Randolph County once was."
Now an Independent, Stevenson has no ties to this year's Presidential candidates, but she does have an opinion.
"I think that Republican big mouth (Donald Trump) will probably win it," she said. "And I don't like that woman's attitude they have as the Democrat (Kamala Harris)."
Stevenson said there are still some politicians out there she cares about and will continue to support.
"There's our beloved Joe Manchin, who I'm really behind," she said. "But he's going to quit politics. And I really like (state) Sen. Bill Hamilton from Buckhannon, he's a good man and a friend of mine. He's been in there a long time and uses moderation."