LEWISBURG, WV (WOAY) – There’s a new candidate in the ring for West Virginia’s first congressional district.
Jim Umberger joins the race to be West Virginia’s newest congressman. He is running on the Democrat ticket and will face off against the other candidates including the incumbent Congresswoman Carol Miller (R).
As a lifelong Democrat, he joins the race as the only Democrat on the ticket. As it stands now, he will face off against the Republican primary winner, either Derrick Evens or Carol Miller. That could change if more people join the race.
West Virginia’s first congressional district encompasses parts of the southern and western areas of the state.
Umberger, who was the director for Greenbrier Helps, believes that improving both physical and mental healthcare, our educational system, and preventing substance abuse will help improve economic growth and keep jobs in West Virginia.
“We need to have comprehensive solutions to problems that are facing us so we can create a more positive future for our state. We have a state that is rich in natural beauty and natural resources, maybe the one of the richest places on earth,” Umberger said. “And yet our people are poor and have been neglected on both sides, really, both Republicans and Democrats.”
He wants his constituents on both sides to help solve the problem.
“I feel like that a lot of our solutions to our problems in West Virginia can come from the people that live here involving the folks that live in our communities, whether it’s ward out in McDowell County or Elizabeth up in Wirt County, that the people that live there have to be involved in the solutions to their problems,” explained Umberger.
Umberger believes that we need to take action to get the problems solved.
“We need to solve our problems, not just sit around and talk about them,” said Umberger.
