Submitted photo Elkins City Council member Cody Thompson attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a West Virginia delegate.

ELKINS — An Elkins City Council member was among the delegates representing West Virginia at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and reports that he’s never seen so many people hyped up before in one room.

Cody Thompson was one of the 24 delegates selected to represent the state at the DNC in August. Two alternates were also sent. Thompson was elected as a district level delegate for the Second Congressional District.

All 24 West Virginia Democratic delegates cast their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party nominee in the 2024 Presidential Election.

“It was an honor to go represent the Democrats of the state at the DNC, and also at the state convention,” Thompson, who represents Elkins’ Fifth Ward, told The Inter-Mountain. “I really enjoyed my time there.”

The convention ran from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22. Nearly 50,000 people, including party delegates from all 50 states and six U.S. territories, were projected to have attended the DNC that week.

Thompson, who was also a national convention delegate in 2020, described the week as “very, very busy, but very awesome,” citing the overall energy as a factor. He said that he could instantly tell what the energy of the convention was going to be like throughout that week.

“So hyped up. People were just really motivated,” Thompson said. “I’ve never seen a room with that many people that hyped up before. You could literally feel the energy, you could feel the momentum. You could feel it. It was pretty powerful.”

The DNC occurred one month after Harris announced her plans to run a campaign for the 2024 election following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race as the Democratic nominee.

When asked what he enjoyed about the DNC, Thompson said he appreciated listening to all the different speakers, who came from different parts of the country with different backgrounds, talk about things that were going on in their communities, adding that it was really good to hear the similarities and differences to our own state.

He also liked the speech given by actress Eva Longoria and the DNC’s spin on the traditional roll call this year, which included a DJ and cameos from celebrities, such as director Spike Lee, actor Sean Astin, actor Wendell Pierce, and rapper Lil Jon.

Another part of the convention that Thompson enjoyed was the amount of speakers who are current or were former Republicans, and former members of former President Donald Trump’s administration who now support Harris for president.

“To hear from them and their perspectives, I think that kind of carries some weight,” Thompson said. “With West Virginia being more of a one-party state, it was really cool to hear that kind of perspective of why they’re Republican and why they’re supporting Harris.”

Thompson and several other West Virginia delegates found themselves sick with COVID-19 after the convention, but that did not dampen the experience for Thompson. He said how nice it was see old friends and make a lot new ones at the convention, as well as speaking to other states’ delegates and U.S. congressmen.

Thompson added he believed that by the end of the week everyone went home with optimistic feelings

“It’s kind of indescribable,” Thompson said. “Everyone was really excited, everyone was happy. I think everybody was leaving, going back to their homes all across the country, with a feeling of just hope and optimism.”

Thompson is the Democratic nominee for the District 67 Delegate seat in the November election.