CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A former Clarksburg mayor has changed political parties and is running for the state House of Delegates. Margaret Bailey, a current Clarksburg city council member, announced her plans Thursday at the Harrison County Courthouse.
“I am so excited because I am finally coming back to my roots,” said Bailey. She initially registered as a Republican in 1965, but changed her party affiliation to Democrat, at the urging of others, when she joined Clarksburg’s City Council in 1999.
“During this time, I have tried so hard to become part of the party and to be a team member, to be an advocate, but it has left me, many times, so empty and I am so excited to be back to the value systems that I have known all my life,” she said.
Bailey said people who have voted for her over the years have not really voted for a Democrat. “I was elected to city council as a nonpartisan candidate and have served 14 years as a nonpartisan candidate,” she said.
On Wednesday, both Bailey and Diana Bartley, a longtime business owner in Lumberport, filed pre-candidacy papers for the 48th House district which covers all of Harrison County and a single precinct in Taylor County.
The current members of the 48th delegate district are House Speaker Tim Miley, a Democrat, and his fellow Democrats Ron Fragale and Richard Iaquinta, along with Republican Danny Hamrick who is in his first term.
Bailey was a guest on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”