Coop-Gonzalez

ELKINS — Two-term 67th District Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez did not file to run for re-election in the May 12 Primary Election, saying he plans to serve in the military.

Asked by The Inter-Mountain for information about why he did not file to run in the primary, Coop-Gonzalez declined to comment, instead forwarding a link to a 2025 post on his Instagram page.

“I am blessed to have opportunities to continue rising in elected office or to go fully into private business,” the delegate wrote in the post. “However, I want to take advantage of my youthful years to fulfill my lifelong calling to serve in the Armed Forces. For this reason, I will not seek reelection next year. I am blessed to be an American and will be honored to join on the 250th anniversary of our founding.

“I look forward to completing a fruitful and final session next year. Thank you everyone and God bless,” the post states.

Coop-Gonzalez, a Republican, was first elected to the House of Delegates in November 2022, and won re-election in 2024. He was 20 years old when he was first sworn into office.

During the current legislative session, he introduced House Bill 4720, the Creating Opportunities for Academics in Rural Schools (SOAR) Act, designed to remove barriers to high-quality academic programs in rural schools, support innovative learning models, and help rural districts better access resources and talent so every West Virginia student can receive an excellent education.

Last year, fighting to try to save the Harman K-12 School, he introduced HB 3139, which passed the House of Delegates and was eventually combined with HB 2167. He has continued to advise that Harman can be saved as a charter school.

Statewide, Coop-Gonzalez may be best known as the lead sponsor for the controversial House Concurrent Resolution 33 in 2025, which sought to rename the tallest point in West Virginia, Spruce Knob, as “Trump Mountain.”

Coop-Gonzalez moved to West Virginia from Guatemala when he was 13. He graduated from Tygart Valley Christian Academy and was a lifeguard at the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA for three years.

During President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in 2020, Coop-Gonzalez was the youngest member of the Republican National Convention from West Virginia.

He went on to intern for then-Congressman Alex Mooney and work for Leadership Institute — an educational non-profit that prepares conservatives to win in the public policy process.