CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One of the seven Republican candidates for Congress in West Virginia’s 2nd District says he thinks the federal government has grown detached from the citizens it serves and Robert Fluharty — a private investigator from Charles Town — says he’s running for states’ rights along with the restoration of fiscal responsibility in Washington, D.C.
“It’s gotten to the point that you’re paying a lot of money in taxes and, I think I speak for most people when I say, we don’t have a problem paying taxes, we just want the government to spend our money right,” said Fluharty on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
“Anyone who will read the Constitution will find that the federal government’s powers are supposed to be few and far between and, those powers not specifically designated to the federal government, according to the 10th Amendment, lie with the states and the people.”
In addition to working as a private investigator, Fluharty is currently a member of the West Virginia Air National Guard and has had a more than 20-year long career in the military.
He defined the 2nd Amendment this way: “To keep, to me, is to have possession of firearms and to bear arms is to carry arms. We’ve advanced, as a society, to the point that this isn’t the Wild West, but nowhere should your ability to defend yourself or defend your freedoms….be imposed.”
On his website, Fluharty said he’s financing his Congressional campaign himself with a $4,000 personal budget and is not accepting campaign contributions.
His appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” was part of a series of a interviews with the statewide candidates ahead of West Virginia’s May 13 Primary Election. Early voting continues through May 10.
In addition to Fluharty, the other Republican candidates in the 2nd Congressional District are Ken Reed, a pharmacist from Morgan County; Alex Mooney, a former Maryland state senator; Steve Harrison, a former Kanawha County state senator; Charlotte Lane, a former PSC chair and former commissioner of the U.S. International Trade Commission; Jim Moss, a cost management specialist with Toyota Motors Manufacturing and Ron Walters, Jr., a financial consultant in Charleston.
The Democrats running in the 2nd Congressional District are Nick Casey, a former state Democratic Party chair, and Meshea Poore, a Kanawha County delegate.