Kessler eyes Governor’s race; embraces Democratic Party

The historic victories by West Virginia Republicans in last year’s election have plenty of Democratic hopefuls searching for the way forward in 2016.  One of the first Democrats contemplating a run for Governor next year believes he has one.

Senator Jeff Kessler says he’s “not going to be afraid to be a Democrat.”

One of the criticisms of Democrats last year was that they ran as Republican-lite candidates; they criticized the Democratic President, parsed their comments carefully on Obamacare, and generally separated themselves from the leftward leaning national Democratic Party.

The results were devastating:  Natalie Tennant lost by 28 points to Republican Shelley Moore Capito for U.S. Senate;  Republicans won all three Congressional races, including WV-3 where long-time Democratic incumbent Nick Rahall was ousted; Republicans gained control of the state House of Delegates and Senate.

Kessler has started his pre-candidacy campaign, however, by embracing his party affiliation.  “We’ve done some wonderful things as Democrats and we’ve run from being Democrats, unfortunately, for the last few cycles,” he told me on Talkline yesterday.

For example, Kessler embraces the Affordable Care Act, saying that putting thousands of poor West Virginians on Medicaid is a positive.  Kessler also spent considerable time during the recent legislative session speaking on behalf of labor, and that included organizing a rally of hundreds of union members at the Capitol.

Still, Kessler has some strength on his right flank.  He is strongly pro-life and he supported the bill that passed this session prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks.  The Marshall County Democrat also voted in favor of a bill that eliminated the requirement for a permit and training before a person can carry a concealed weapon.

Kessler’s path has already been cleared somewhat by Senator Joe Manchin, who has managed to maneuver successfully down the increasingly narrow route for moderate to conservative Democrats by embracing a populist approach.   Additionally, Manchin’s relentless campaigning—he even showed up at the girls and boys high school basketball tournaments to hand out trophies—contributes significantly to his political success.

Manchin has openly opined about possibly running for Governor again, though he seems increasingly more comfortable in Washington.   Kessler said on Talkline that he will not base his decision on Manchin’s plans.  Of course he has to say that, but a Manchin entry would essentially nullify the rest of the Democratic field.

West Virginia has become a red state, and it’s hard to imagine the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee spending time and mollifying positions on coal and the environment to try to secure the state’s five electoral votes.  Therefore, West Virginia Democratic candidates will be on their own again in 2016.

If Kessler gets in the Governor’s race, he says he’ll run as a proud Democrat. That was a road less traveled in the last election.  A Kessler campaign next year will answer whether that’s the best campaign strategy for the wounded Democratic Party.

 





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