He may only be one of just 24 Democratic delegates in the 100-member House, but W.Va. Del. Shawn Fluharty (D-3rd) still plans to have an impact when the state Legislature finally returns to Charleston for its regular session in February.
Once again, Fluharty will join W.Va. Del. Erikka Storch (R-3rd) with representing the majority of Ohio County residents in the state capital as the two lawmakers were re-elected to the positions on Nov. 3. Storch collected 11,340 votes and Fluharty gained 8,840.
“It doesn’t matter what the numbers look like, I’m still going to be heard because I’m going to continue representing my district, and I’m still going to call out what needs to be called out,” Fluharty said. “I have worked hard with House members who are Republicans in the Legislature, and that’s why I have earned the respect from the Republican Party.
“Having those kinds of relationships bodes well for me as we move forward,” he insisted. “That is why I am not concerned about having my voice heard because my Republican colleagues know that my goals are not driven by the Democratic Party’s agenda but instead are driven by the fact that I only want to improve our state with legislation that makes sense for everyone in the state.”
Why the Results?
Not only did Fluharty predict President Trump would win West Virginia in 2016, but he also was not surprised when the Republican was voted in as the commander in chief. Because of the president’s continued popularity in the Mountain State, Fluharty was confident another “Red Wave” would ripple once again.
That is why, the lawmaker believes, the Republican Party now possess supermajorities in the Legislature’s two chambers.
“I am not surprised by the results because I knew there would be a red wave because it was a presidential election year and President Trump has been very popular in the state of West Virginia,” Fluharty said. “For a lot of years, the Democratic Party held the majorities, but now the state has basically taken a 180-degree turnaround.
“It was a flip that this state hasn’t seen in a lot of years,” he continued. “There was a time when West Virginia was a heavy blue state in Charleston and in Washington, D.C., but over the last decade that has really changed for a lot of reasons. We have not seen what we have now in at least 100 years.”
But how will those results impact how he serves the people of the Third District?
Fluharty served as the minority vice-chair of the House’s Judiciary Committee and was a member of the Industry and Labor Committee, as well. With only 24 Democrats now in the House of Delegates, Fluharty hopes to gain a leadership
“I think the Democratic Party should take notes from what I have been able to do here in Ohio County because my representation has always been about the people and the issues in my district,” Fluharty said. “I have always worked well with Del. Storch because our parties don’t matter when it comes to our constituents, and that’s because that’s the job we’re elected to do.
“I believe for many other members of my party, working with colleagues on the other side of the aisle has not been an option for whatever reasons, and the voters saw that and reacted by voting for the other candidate in the race. The voters are voting for the person now and not the party,” he said. “Moving forward, I would like to increase my role in leadership in the minority and try to help do what is best for the people of Ohio County and for the state of West Virginia.”
What’s on the Agenda?
The Speaker of the House of Delegate, Roger Hanshaw (R-33), will remain in place as he was won his re-election bid, but the state Senate will have a new president after Mitch Carmichael (R-4) was defeated in the Republican Primary on June 9.
Sen. Craig Blair (R-15) announced over the weekend that he believes he has enough votes to become the next Senate President, and as the chair of the chamber’s Finance Committee he strongly supported tax reforms that would have required amending the state’s Constitution. That is one reason why Fluharty and his Democratic colleagues do not know what to expect from the GOP’s legislative agenda.
“There were occasions when, even though the Democrats were in the minority, we still had enough members to be able to do some things procedurally, but when we go to the regular session in February we will not have that option,” Fluharty explained. “Now, the Republicans in both chambers can pass any piece of legislation they want to because they have supermajorities in the House and in the Senate.
“What are we going to see from the Republicans? That’s the question a lot of people are asking right now,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the House because there are so many new members coming into the Legislature, and no one knows how they feel about things like organized labor, the greyhound industry, and tax reform.”
