FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY)- The Fayette County Rotary Club held a meet the candidates’ event. This was for locals to hear the candidate’s policies and make an informed decision come November.
From local elections to statewide, all parties were there in the 20-candidate lineup. They each had a few minutes to speak on their stance and then were asked questions by the moderators.
WOAY spoke to some of the candidates and all were grateful to be here to talk to the people of Fayette County. County commission candidates, Gabe Pena (D) and Greg Ferrnet (R) say that they want to represent the people of Fayette County.
“Fayette County is important to me. It is what I am concerned with. I’m concerned with our state,” explained Ferrnet. “But first and foremost, local government has more of an effect on your life than national or state government. So I chose to run for local government.”
“I want to represent people that I know respect and love here in Fayette County, to bring benefits here in Fayette County to see more families and businesses thriving in Fayette County,” said Pena. “Because we have an opportunity to take those tourism dollars and drive those towards downtown redevelopment and infrastructure improvement, we have a lot of opportunities. But we need sound leadership working in the Fayette County Courthouse to make the Fayette County courthouse a place of hope, of inspiration, of leadership. ”
Candidates for West Virginia’s 9th district, Brian Helton (R) and Christy Cardwell (D) spoke about how busy they have been on the campaign trail. They both talked about the importance of talking with the public and how it helps share ideas and get to know who you’re voting for.
“It’s been great. You know, we’ve been very active out there with the people. I love the opportunity to get out and campaign,” said Helton. “Southern West Virginia is the greatest place on earth and to be able to get out and meet the greatest people on Earth in the greatest place on earth has been phenomenal. I’m so excited about this campaign. It’s been great to get out and share ideas and talk about the types of things we’ll do where we’re in office, and I’m just looking forward for that opportunity to get to serve southern West Virginia.”
“Well, I think it’s really, really important for any candidate who’s running for office to get to know the people that are voting for them and for them to get to know us,” explained Cardwell. “So it’s really important to me to come to an event like this where people can come and see what I’m about and what the other candidates are about and kind of make an informed decision about their vote.”
