Republican candidates in the House of Delegates 38th and 40th Districts said Friday they want to bring common sense to the Legislature, even if that means defying leadership at times.
Two of the three candidates interviewed by Gazette-Mail editors said they opposed legislation passed last session to make West Virginia a right-to-work state and to repeal prevailing wage rates for large state-funded construction projects.
Ronald Shamblin, a union crane operator from Clendenin running in the 40th, said he sees right-to-work as an attack on labor unions.
"I'm running because I think we're going in the wrong direction," he said, adding, "When you see our working-class men and women getting hammered and hammered hard by our legislators ... we need to stop the punishment."
Shamblin said he also would work to reinstate prevailing wage rates, saying it creates a level playing field for contractors bidding for state contracts and assures a living wage for workers.
Lewis Taylor, a recent University of Charleston graduate and an evangelical minister from Charleston also running in the 40th, said he also opposes right-to-work and supports reinstating prevailing wage.
"I'm running not for the party's interests, but for the workers' interests and the people's interest," he said, adding, "You've got to put the people first, and what's best for West Virginia."
The third candidate Bob Keller, a Cross Lanes businessman running in the 38th District, said he supports right-to-work and repeal of prevailing wage, saying workers should not be forced to join unions to advance their careers, and contending that prevailing wage rates were "way, way out of where the market is."
Shamblin and Taylor face a tough challenge running in the single-member 40th District primary, attempting to unseat House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, elected to nine consecutive terms in the House beginning in 1998. Armstead did not attend Friday's meeting.
Taylor said he's running to give the voters a choice, noting, "I did recognize the fact I'd be running against a multi-term delegate who happens to be the first Republican speaker of the House in 83 years."
Keller, meanwhile, is running for the single-member district seat being vacated by Delegate Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha, who is not running for re-election. He said his motivation for running is so his daughters will not have to move out of state to find employment, as he did for 12 years.
"I don't want them to face that same decision," he said. "That decision of, 'If I'm going to get a good job, I guess I'm going to have to leave.'"
Keller, who taught at WVU Tech for 10 years before starting his own businesses, said he would like to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses in the state.
He recalled being routed between multiple state agencies to complete the paperwork necessary to set up his first business, saying, "It becomes almost like a game of pinball."
Keller said he believes there is not enough emphasis on promoting small businesses in the state.
"Our state Economic Development Office has focused for at least the last 20 years in hooking the big fish," he said.
Shamblin, however, said that while small businesses are important, the state cannot rely on an entirely service sector-based economy.
"We need to seek out some industry, too," he said.
Taylor said the Legislature has passed a number of pro-jobs, pro-growth measures in the past two years, but has not done a good job communicating with the public about the benefits of those changes.
Two other Republican candidates in the 38th, David Bender and Nancy Reagan Foster, did not attend the meeting.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.