GOVERNOR
Mac Warner – Republican
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor of West Virginia .
My education , military service and career have prepared me for this office . I ’ m a graduate of West Point , WVU College of Law and University of Virginia School of Law . I served in leadership roles on four continents during a 23- year active-duty Army career and served another five years in Afghanistan with the U . S . Department of State advising four national ministries and leading the world ’ s largest Rule of Law Program . As West Virginia Secretary of State , I cleaned voter rolls , implemented voter ID , made it easier than ever to start a business , restored confidence in elections and streamlined the state ’ s entire business registration processes . Tackling and solving the most difficult problems is what I do and what I will bring to the office of governor .
Tell us about your four-year plan .
I will appoint competent , pro-business individuals as agency leaders and cabinet secretaries and , together , work to build trust and respect between the governor ’ s office and legislative leaders . I will maintain constant focus on education , energy and economic development . I will implement strategies addressing the state ’ s greatest needs , challenges and opportunities by engaging the whole of government , industry partners , civic leaders and subject matter experts . Together , we will develop and implement common sense solutions , continually evaluate our progress and adapt .
Why did you choose to run for governor ?
I ’ m a sixth generation West Virginian , and West Virginia is my home . Our state deserves a leader who will personally engage , actively listen , appoint the finest people and work collaboratively . I am uniquely prepared to be that leader . As the only teacher , veteran and grandparent in this race , I bring an invaluable nuanced perspective which others do not . I have five decades of applicable professional experience . I will drive competency , responsibility , accountability and conservatism into every aspect of state government . I seek no higher office ; this will be the pinnacle of my lifetime pursuit of service to others .
Steve Williams – Democrat
Tell us about your professional background and how it would help you serve as governor of West Virginia .
My private sector career consisted of assisting state and local governments with determining strategies to finance their infrastructure needs . I also assisted individuals in designing investment strategies to accomplish their personal financial goals . I managed some of the largest markets in the nation .
My involvement in public service has varied . I have been a mayor , a city councilman , a legislator , a city manager and an economic development professional in two communities . I learned how to transfer my knowledge of the financial markets and experience running a large business into an effort to transform a city and its public endeavors . Our efforts became entrepreneurial and set standards the nation seeks to emulate . If Huntington can set that standard , West Virginia can too . I am uniquely prepared and qualified to lead West Virginia as its governor .
Tell us about your four-year plan .
My vision is to set a course for the next 50 years . A four-year plan is akin to looking four steps ahead and not seeing the constant change coming on the horizon . A 50-year time horizon sets a vision and expectation that our infrastructure needs to be built , upgraded and invented so we can make our state a top-five state and not a bottom-five standard .
Our Appalachian culture created the nation ’ s first applied engineers . We must embrace challenges and find new ways to provide transformative systems to the world — solutions to the world ’ s greatest problems . Our colleges , universities and community colleges must be provided with the resources to ensure that our students learn how to use their minds to solve the world ’ s challenges .
Why did you choose to run for governor ?
We have done something very special in Huntington to transform our city and region . I believe I can help our state benefit from the transformative experience we have had in Huntington .
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