After several people contributed to this list of 50, I’m asking you to vote from the following list for the Top Ten People to Watch in WV Politics!
Here's the list of 50 West Virginians involved in politics whose names were mentioned as people to watch over the next two years, in no particular order. Vote for your top ten!
- Carte Goodwin
- Robin Davis
- Joe Manchin
- Earl Ray Tomblin
- Truman Chafin
- Jeff Kessler
- Joe Minard
- Natalie Tennant
- Kent Carper
- Rick Thompson
- Doug Reynolds
- Harry Keith White
- John Perdue
- Betty Ireland
- Evan Jenkins
- Jim Justice
- Brooks McCabe
- Deborah Linz
- Kenny Perdue
- John Raese
- Richard Browning
- Larry Puccio
- Don Blankenship
- Oliver Luck
- WV Tea Party
- Matt Woelfel
- Chris Doddril
- Doug Skaff
- Tom Cambell
- Dave Hardy
- Daniel Hall
- Ryan White
- Jason Pizatella
- Andy Richardson
- Tish Chafin
- Larry LaCorte
- Danielle Waltz
- Ryan White
- Brian Powell
- Jennifer Sayre
- Ry Rivard
- Carrie Clendening
- Rachelle Beckner
- Tiffany Lawrence
- Meshea Poore
- Suzette Raines
- Conrad Lucas
- Stephen Skinner
- Steve McElroy
- Steven Adams
- _______________(write in)
In no particular order....'
ReplyDelete1) Joe Manchin: With many West Virginians yearning for the Democratic days of Sen. Goodwin, Sen. Manchin is off to a rocky start. The question for Democrats & West Virginia before the 2012 US Senate race is going to be whether the Democratic party has a real Democrat to support with Sen. Manchin.
2) Earl Ray Tomblin: Is is time to Re-Elect Gov. Tomblin already?
3) Jeff Kessler: Will settle nicely into the WV Senate President role. It's possible that Sen. Kessler may want to affect change in that role and forgo a run for WV Governor.
4) Natalie Tennant: When the world is your oyster, what office to seek next is like tryig to decide which beautiful package under the tree to open first. The test: What is she fired up about? The issues she chooses over the next year to publicly advocate for will tell us her future.
5) Rick Thompson: Yeah, yeah, I know he's Speaker but really, who is he? Will we really get to know Speaker Thompson over the next 1-2 years? So well that he could be Governor? My guess: Tomblin & Tennant are ahead in that race.
6) Brooks McCabe: SMART, SMART, SMART. Thank God we have him in the trenches tackling the tough issues like OPEB. If he could give a speech like Bill Clinton, the sky is the limit.
7) Kenny Perdue: With his statement condemning Sen. Manchin's AWOL stent, missing votes on the DREAM Act and Repeal of DADT, his voice and encouragement may be the motivating factor for a primary opponent for the 2012 US Senate Race.
8) Tiffany Lawrence: Brains, Beauty, Balls (proverbial, of course). She could be a powerful voice from the Eastern Panhandle and within the entire WV Democratic Party.
9) Meshea Poore: A Rising Star!
10)Stephen Skinner: With all the publicity surrounding Repeal of DADT and Sen. Manchin's absence, LGBT issues will be front & center during the next two years. Couple that with Anti-Bullying legislation that is sure to be a hot topic, that makes Stephen Skinner, an attorney and President of Fairness WV a constant fixture in the media and at the capitol.
Coy
#1. Cartney McCracken
ReplyDeletethe rest in no particular order,
Joe Manchin
Earl Ray Tomblin
Jeff Kessler
Natalie Tennant
Rick Thompson
Betty Ireland
WV Tea Party
Doug Skaff
adding - Mike Stuart
No particular order
ReplyDelete1. Robin Davis
2. Earl Ray Tomblin
3. Truman Chafin
4. Jeff Kessler
5. Richard Thompson
6. John Perdue
7. Betty Ireland
8. Natalie Tennant
9. Brooks McCabe
10. John Raese
11. Richard Browning
12. Mike Green
Forgot to add a very special and talented woman to my list
ReplyDelete1. Robin Davis
2. Earl Ray Tomblin
3. Truman Chafin
4. Jeff Kessler
5. Richard Thompson
6. John Perdue
7. Betty Ireland
8. Natalie Tennant
9. Brooks McCabe
10. John Raese
11. Richard Browning
12. Mike Green
13. Patti Hamilton
Shelly Moore
ReplyDelete1 Robin Davis – says she will be on the ballet in 2012, but not necessarily for a judicial seat. It has been a long time since a seated member of the Supreme Court has ran for nonjudicial office while on the Court – how will she balance the political and nonpolitical? The big question is will she announces early and lets other candidates react to her, or will she wait, see who is filing for other offices and then come late to the party?. More than that, if she is running for political office, who will she align with in the other races.
ReplyDelete2 John Perdue – should be one of the stronger candidates for Governor, but has not been in a competitive statewide race forever. You do the targeting and he should be the one to win.
3 Jeff Kessler – will running the State Senate be enough to keep him out of the governor’s race? At least at the Special Election level?
4 Don Blankenship – No way he takes his severance package and individual wealth and retires to a rocker on his front porch. Does he buy back into coal? Does he put millions and millions into being a candidate?
5 Kenny Perdue – Kenny and the AFL-CIO are on a role. Will they be able to expand that and again make the AFL-CIO into one of the major political players in 2011 and beyond?
6 Earl Ray Tomblin – Has done a good job in his first few weeks as Governor. More than that, he has transferred attention away from gubernatorial succession to Senate President succession and has done so in such a way that anything the State Senate does about gubernatorial succession can be positioned as sour grapes.
7 Larry Puccio – A new governor usually wants his own person as party chair. By tradition this change usually happens between the primary and the general election. Will Tomblin make a change? Will his choice for party chair come from senate staffers out of work if Kessler in Acting Senate President?
8 John Raese – Raese has a history of running strong, statewide races, coming close, but not winning, then going home and being off the political grid. Is 2011 the year when he positions for another race, or does he disappear down the rabbit hole again?
9 Carte Goodwin – Shelly looks strong for 2012, but Goodwin looks to be a weaker and weaker candidate the longer he waits.
10 WV Tea Party – 2010 was a lot of Tea Party smoke and not enough fire to have a noticeable impact on the primary, general or special elections. In 2011 do they become a footnote in West Virginia political history? Or do they figure out that their message only appeals to radio talk show hosts and needs to be changed to reflect the feelings of more typical West Virginians? My guess, bet on footnote status.