Sledgehammer hands. A Brooke County guy. Built his own house. Helped his son build his, too. Brick by brick. Involved in everything, that man, and he knew everyone.
His name? Walter “Warren” Fluharty. Passed away in 2004.
Worked hard. Made a good living. Raised his family. And “Pap,” from what grandson Shawn Fluharty has explained, was a role model for his kids and his kids’ kids.
“I remember when I was growing up, grandfather was a construction worker, and he’d pick me up from baseball practice in his truck. He had a green one when I was little-little, and then he had his red one, and we’d travel north from Marshall County to Brooke County where my family has a farm,” Fluharty recalled. “He lived there with my Mamaw Betty and they had a nice home where they raised their family.
“While we traveled up and down the panhandle, I’d get to hear all of things my grandfather was involved in. All of the projects he was working on with people, and the initiatives he work on with other people from all over the counties in the panhandle,” he said. “He had a lot of pride in his work, where he lived, and in his friends, and my mom and dad were the same way.
“And I’m a product of that same mindset and work ethic my dad had as an electrician with the IBEW (Local 141) and my mom had as a special needs children’s aide at John Marshall.”
Perhaps that’s why he ran three times before he was elected to the House of Delegates in 2014, and perhaps it’s the reason why, despite a Republican super majority in chamber, Fluharty is unafraid to stand and speak when he feels he needs to correct misinformation on the House floor or when he feels he needs to remind his lawmaking colleagues they are governing in West Virginia and not in Washington, D.C.
That’s one of a lot of reasons why running for a seat in the state Senate has been on my mind for a few years, but now I know it’s time for me to represent the whole Northern Panhandle,” he said. “I’ve represented a lot of the residents in Wheeling and Ohio County now for a number of years, but I think people are familiar with me throughout the entire district because I’ve fought for them since Day 1. I’m looking forward to getting out in the entire district and having real conversations with real people who care about real solutions.
“What I’ve gathered from my time in office, especially in the last couple of years, is that people are sick and tired of the culture war legislation that we’re seeing coming out of Charleston, and they’re especially tired of the Northern Panhandle being ignored,” Fluharty believes. “This is about reining in the extremism that we’ve seen, especially in the Senate, and bringing it back to the people who actually care.”
Make-Sense Mindset
The tragedy took place less than a decade ago.
Raylee Browning was 8 years old in 2018, and she lived in Oak Hill, West Virginia, a Fayette County city of less than 10,000 residents. Raylee died from severe abuse, starvation, and neglect, and following the child’s passing, three adults were convicted of neglect.
It’s a case that revealed worrisome gaps in the state’s child protection and homeschooling laws, and the young child’s death inspired “Raylee’s Law” to prevent similar cases/ The proposed legislation – with Fluharty as its primary sponsor – won bipartisan support in the House of Delegates, but in the Senate?
“It’s one of several reasons why I know the time has arrived for a new mindset in the state Senate, and that’s because I worked for two years in the House to get Raylee’s Law passed in bipartisan fashion, and then what happened to the legislation when it went over to the Senate? Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he said. “That’s incredibly frustrating, and it should be frustrating for everyone in the state.
“Every West Virginian who cares about protecting our children should be frustrated, too,” he said. “There are young people who are in danger because they are not a priority in the Senate, and that needs to change.”
Raylee’s Law is just one of a number of topics he plans to discuss with potential constituents when he finally gets to officially hit the campaign trail this spring following the state Legislature’s regular session.
“I’ve always been fighting for the Northern Panhandle, along with serving as the delegate representing my district in Ohio County. That’s been my mindset when I’ve walked into the House chamber over the past decade,” Fluharty said. “But now, I believe it’s time for me to actually represent the panhandle, and while I’m running for office, I’m not going to get caught up in partisanship and all the nonsense and BS.
“I’m going to roll up my sleeves and go meet the people where they’re at. I’m going to talk to them in their communities, in their homes, and I’m going to have real conversations before elections are supposed to be about the people and what they need,” he added. “That’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned while serving the residents in Ohio County, and now I’m ready to do the same for everyone in the Northern Panhandle.”
