It’s a three-way race to represent the delegate of West Virginia, District 7 | News, Sports, Jobs

MOUNDSVILLE — Incumbent Delegate Lisa Zukoff faces two challengers in the race for the District 7 seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Nov. 8.

Zukoff, D-Marshall, is in a contest with Republican Charles Sheedy and Mountain Party candidate Dylan Parsons.

– Zukoff, first elected in 2018, is seeking her third two-year term in the House of Representatives and is a full-time legislator. The Moundsville resident thanked voters for voting for her in the last two elections.

Before entering politics, she was a former chief executive of the Wheeling Housing Authority and worked in her small family business, Accessories Ltd. Moundsville.

She believes the connections she made as a housing director have helped her as a legislator as she has met many people and learned about the government process.

“I live in the community and work at home and see my constituents all the time — not just during election season,” she said. “I go out and listen to people. I believe communication and human relationships are key.”

Zukoff said the most pressing issue facing West Virginia is caring for its children.

Her efforts in the legislature focused on the high number of youth in foster care in the state, as well as the high number of children being raised by their grandparents.

“We need to give them the support they need to thrive in the future, stay in state and become productive citizens,” she said.

Zukoff noted that she has also voted “yes” to every economic development package that will be presented to the House.

“Our kids are leaving because the jobs aren’t here,” she said. “But we also need well-trained workers to get them here.”

Zukoff said the issue she hears most from voters is the condition of the roads.

She said she plans to continue moving forward on a bill first introduced by her predecessor, Marshall County Commissioner Mike Ferro, when he was a delegate. This legislation would return a percentage of oil and gas tax revenue generated in a county to that county to repair roads damaged by oil and gas trucks.

– Cameron’s Sheedy said he was “pro-life, pro-God and pro-guns”.

“I’m running because I looked at what my opponent in Charleston was promoting and decided that’s not what the people of Marshall and Wetzel counties wanted,” he said.

Sheedy said he will focus on senior citizen issues, veteran benefits and improving infrastructure.

“We need to lower taxes for seniors and veterans and help our military,” he continued. “I’m a veteran myself”

Sheedy said he would work in the legislature to exempt Social Security and pension benefits that seniors receive from personal income tax.

Sheedy served in the military for over 37 years in the US Army and National Guard Reserves and retired as a Master Sergeant.

He is also retired from the West Virginia Department of Highways, where he worked for 30 years. Sheedy started there as a machine operator and then retired as Marshall County Administrator for the DOH.

“Yes, the Department of Highways is broken and needs fixing,” he said. “I’ve spoken to House and Senate leadership about fixing the DOH and other state agencies as well.

“Wages need to be raised drastically to attract and retain workers. Equipment must be purchased for the work. They don’t have the equipment they need.”

– Parsons of New Martinsville said he was the working class candidate.

“Since West Virginia’s inception, it’s been exploited and sold out by the two-party system,” he said. “A hundred years ago, our working-class miners took up arms in Blair Mountain. Now we have a bipartisan coal baron governor (Gov. Jim Justice).

“No party represents the working class.”

A native of New Martinsville, Parsons graduated from Magnolia High School in 2016 and received a bachelor’s degree in history from West Liberty University in 2020.

He works for Northwood Health Systems as a direct care provider.

“I come from a working-class family,” Parsons said. “I’ve always moved from house to house because my parents rented different apartments and I never had a permanent apartment. Sometimes there was no stable income and that affected my outlook on life.

“No matter which party was in control, it seemed like we always struggled to make ends meet. All we saw were company handouts from both parties.”

He said the most important thing he’s hearing from voters is the need for better-paying jobs.

“People can’t make ends meet,” Parsons said. “They don’t get what they’re worth, they can’t pay the rent and they can’t put food on the table.”

He suggested that by legalizing cannabis, the state would thrive.

“Polls show that about 70% would support it, and it’s high time we did,” Parsons continued. “People across party lines really agree on that. It would bring in revenue and help fund our schools.”

Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox