CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Senate President Bill Cole’s intentions to seek the GOP nomination in West Virginia’s gubernatorial race drew the kind of partisan responses voters can expect to hear now through the 2016 election.
State Sen. Mike Hall (R-Putnam County) said the 59-year-old Cole’s leadership qualities make him a capable candidate.
“Occasionally a person comes along who’s just a gifted leader, and Bill is,” Hall said. “He just comes with capabilities of setting an agenda and seeing it through. And he’s a fair man too. He’s great to deal with.”
The chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, however, called Cole’s policies selfish.
“When Bill Cole took the office of Senate President he began to lead the attack against hardworking West Virginia families,” Belinda Biafore said in a statement. “Bill Cole has spent his career in the legislature fighting for his own personal gain, not for the people of West Virginia. He has fought for legislation to boost profit in his personal business while taking money out of the pockets of hardworking West Virginians.”
Two Democratic candidates, Jim Justice and Jeff Kessler, previously entered the governor’s race.
Cole, an auto dealer with businesses in both West Virginia and Kentucky, is the first member of the GOP to declare his candidacy for 2016. He was appointed to the state House in 2010, elected to the state Senate in 2012 and became the president six months ago after Republicans took control in the 2014 general election.
One of his employees, Mark Warner, described Cole as a team player.
“He’s very upfront and very straight. He expects a lot of the folks that work with him and the folks that are part of his organization,” Warner said. “In the same token, he delivers a lot back to those people, so you feel like you’re part of a great team.”
Calling Cole a genuine man who would “not only be a great candidate, but would also be a great governor,” Warner said he was impressed by the way Cole reached across party lines.